Mighty Micah Steps Up to the Plate

FINALLY!  The Padres make a signing to address our offensive woes.  Word came down today that the Padres will be signing right handed pitcher, and 2007 Silver Slugger Award Winner Micah Owings to a Major League contract (tweets Ken Rosenthal).  This looks to be the last piece to the 2012 puzzle.  We definitely needed anotther free agent starter to throw in the mix and why not kill two birds with one stone here.  Owings is a prolific hitter (for pitchers' standards).  He owns a career line .286, with 9 homeruns and 35 RBI.  Not too shabby, that's better than 90% of the 2011 Padres position players.  Not only can he hit, but he isn't that bad on the rubber too.  He pitched in a relief role for the division champs Diamondbacks last year, including a 8-0 records and 3.57 ERA over 33 appearances.  I get the feeling, with this being a Major League contract, that he will compete for that fifth starter spot with Dustin Moseley with the loser moving to the pen.  For a million bucks, I say this was a low-risk/high-reward move by Byrnes.