3:05pm: Suppan will earn $950K if he makes the Major League roster, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. He obtained an invitation to Spring Training.
12:07pm: The Padres will sign righty Jeff Suppan to a minor league deal today, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock. Suppan is represented by Lapa/Leventhal.
Suppan, 37, posted a 4.78 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 1.25 HR/9, and 10.1 H/9 in 165 2/3 innings for the Royals' Triple-A affiliate last year. The 16-year MLB veteran has 138 wins and a 4.69 ERA in his career.
Soup Dude has a new job
This just goes to show that if you are durable and can eat innings, you can hang around forever
I’m baaaack!
Wouldn’t you just retire at this point? The guy’s made somewhere around $60M in his career. Why suffer the humiliation of a minor league contract?
Maybe he just likes playing baseball? What a strange concept.
exactly, as long you keep the love of playing baseball…
I agree. I can’t bear to imagine the embarrassment of playing our national pastime and getting paid near one million dollars to do so, in the beautiful city of San Diego. Jeff should take a leaf out of Jermaine Dye’s book.
This man obviously loves the game. More power to him.
I pray we don’t see him in a San Diego Padres uniform this year. That would mean 3 to 4 starting pitchers are hurt. This is such a Kevin Towers type move.. Josh, you’ve been doing so good, why Suppan?
Depth and leadership come to mind. With so many young pitchers on the squad, he could be a guy that helps them out. It’s not always about on field performance.
He pitched a whole season in AAA for KC last year and could be a spot starter for a few games. Hes got experience and durability but hes going to have a marginal role at best.
Maybe he just wanted to go home. He is from Encino, CA, and will be an hour and a half from there. Lots of players do that at the end of their career.
I wish the Brewers had signed him to a minor league deal in 2006. What? It was $42MM? O.
I remember when Pirates fans were praying he’d sign here after his run in St Louis and then he signed with Milwaukee. Everyone was so upset, but it couldn’t have been better news.
Regardless, Suppan seems like a really good guy and while he may not have much left, more power to him for not giving up.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And this is desperate!
Why?
No really, why is this a desperate move. This has been a constant comment towards every team who signs a player to a minor league contract. Soup is at best their number 5 pitcher if the entire pitching staff break their arms simultaneously. Meanwhile they have a guy who can give advice to young players as they stop off in AAA.
start_wearing_purple is correct. Kansas City signed him last year as an insurance policy, but more so, he was in Omaha to tutor their young pitching staff on what it takes to prepare and become a major-leaguer. He was like a player coach, and the young kids really had rave reviews about what they learned from Suppan…..It’s actually a great signing….
Good minor league depth signing. With so many promising young pitchers coming through the farm, its nice to have an MLB vet on the AAA staff so that the youngsters can learn from someone who has basically seen it all over his career.
I couldnt agree more – hes almost in a player/coach type role. A young staff can really get alot out of watching how Suppan goes about his business both in preparation for a game, during a game, and after. Plus this guy has some of the cleanest mechanics ive seen in a pitcher.
If he can still keep the ball down PetCo might not be a bad place for him to fill in for a few games. Good luck Soup, keep getting paid to play the game you love!
i thought he retired. but then i see he pitched the whole season at AAA. and two complete games??? more power to the guy who doesn’t hang it up despite what everyone says. Good luck Supp
They must have heard about the no-hitter i threw with him in MVP 2004
He comes back, pitches to a sub 4.00 ERA in PETCO, and Ned Colletti signs him to a backloaded 2 year, 10 million dollar deal.
I hear Steve Trachsel is looking for workt oo
Hmmm maybe he is friends with Brynes and he is helping a brotha out? Good for him though