Padres Sign Duaner Sanchez

It didn’t take long for Duaner Sanchez to find a new home — he’s been signed to a minor-league deal by San Diego.

The pitching-starved Padres jumped on the opportunity to ink the former Mets setup man, who appeared in 66 games last year and posted a 4.32 ERA. It’s a low-risk, high-reward move for San Diego, who are relying on another former Met, Heath Bell, to be their closer after allowing all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman to jettison.

Sanchez’s velocity was frighteningly low this spring, a good 8-10 MPH less than the 92-93 needed to be effective. However, the Mets didn’t have the patience to wait for him to come around — not while he was collecting on what would’ve been a $1.675M contract.

According to the MLB report, Padres GM Kevin Towers is optimistic about Sanchez:

Towers said Sanchez’s velocity ran about 87 mph and that he has complimentary pitches that could make him the late-inning reliever the team is looking for, possibly the eighth-inning specialist to set up former Mets teammate Heath Bell.

How ironic would it be if Sanchez were able to return to form, and eventually set up games for Heath Bell? A longshot, for sure, but eerie nonetheless.