Padres have signed Rudy Seanez to a 1-year deal worth $550k (possibly kicking up to $950k based on incentives). This will be the Brawley native’s third stint with the Friars.

In mentioning Seanez as a possible target earlier this month, I said “…he’s basically an older version of [Antonio] Osuna, so why not just re-sign the latter instead?” That was too harsh. When healthy, he is a huge asset to a big-league bullpen. And to answer my own question, Osuna won’t come that cheap.

The downsides to Seanez are that he’s 36 years old and that he’s managed to stay healthy enough to pitch more than 40 games in a single season just once since 1989. On the other hand, he’s coming off a season in which he spun a 129 ERA+ over 46 innings. Here’s how Seanez’ 2004 campaign compares to Osuna’s:

         G   IP  H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 ERA+
Seanez  39 46.0	7.63 0.59 3.72 9.00 129
Osuna   31 36.2 7.85 0.74 2.70 8.84 163

And their respective career numbers:

          G    IP  H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 ERA+
Seanez  323 333.1 7.88 0.92 4.83 8.99  97
Osuna   407 486.1 7.83 0.78 3.74 9.27 117

Not as young as Osuna, not as good. But cheaper. And cheaper and younger than Doug Brocail.

The way the market is shaping up this off-season, I’m pretty happy with the signing of Seanez. If nothing else, it takes some of the pressure off kids like Blaine Neal, Ryan Bukvich, and Brad Baker. And it shows that the Padres are looking in the right direction. Incentive-based deals to players with upside are precisely the kind Kevin Towers and company should be trying to make.