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James Shields signs four-year deal with San Diego Padres

By Cory Buck

Oct 26, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher James Shields throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning during game five of the 2014 World Series at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 26, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher James Shields throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning during game five of the 2014 World Series at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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The San Diego Padres have reportedly signed free agent pitcher James Shields to a four-year deal.

After months of speculation and calculation, the San Diego Padres have finally stepped up and signed free agent and former Kansas City Royals pitcher James Shields to a four-year deal which will be worth somewhere between $72 and $76 million, per MLB.com.

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The 33-year-old right hander was most recently seen in the World Series as one of the anchors on the mound for the surprising Kansas City Royals, who were one win away from winning the championship this past fall. The Royals hadn’t made an aggressive play to bring back Shields, but they weren’t alone in their tepid interest.

According to MLB.com, “Shields will be the first free-agent pitcher to sign a contract in excess of $50 million after Feb. 1 of a given year.”

Shields posted a 3.21 ERA and a 180/44 K/BB ratio in 227 innings in 2014, but still it took this long for him to sign with an MLB team. That could be a matter of his age or the fact that he’s right-handed, which puts him at a less premium position than a left handed pitcher.

Or it could just be that the San Diego Padres are the right team at the right time for the durable Shields, who has made 33 or more starts in each of his last seven seasons. The team spent most of this offseason making aggressive moves to drastically improve its roster, including those that brought in Justin Upton, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp.

Now with Shields and Andrew Cashner atop their starting pitcher rotation, the Padres could be in line to make a serious run to the top of the NL West, where life hasn’t been easy with the bigger-spending Los Angeles Dodgers and three-time World Series champions San Francisco Giants.

If the Padres want to hang with the big boys in their division, they know they have to bring it on the mound. Signing James Shields to a four year contract with an option for a fifth year may be a slight overpayment in term and money, but the Padres had to seize on a legitimate opportunity to sign the righty given that he moved to the San Diego a year earlier and that he showed strong interest in playing for the team.

With Shields in tow with their other offseason acquisitions, expect the Padres to make the NL West one of the most competitive divisions in the MLB.

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