David Wells is finished with his hometown San Diego Padres, and it’s possible that baseball has seen the last of the boisterous left-hander.
General manager Kevin Towers said Wednesday that the Padres will cut ties with the struggling 44-year-old today in order to activate all-star Chris Young from the disabled list.
Towers and manager Bud Black told Wells on Tuesday night that he wouldn’t be making his scheduled start Saturday in Cincinnati. They gave him two options for his departure.
“If he still wants to play, we’ll designate him for assignment and see if other clubs have interest, or if he wants to hang them up, he can retire,” Towers said. “We’re waiting for him to get back to us.”
Towers called the 235-game winner “one of the great left- handers this game has seen.”
Marlins: Center fielder Alejandro De Aza was activated from the disabled list after missing nearly four months with an ankle injury.
De Aza, a rookie, started on opening day and batted .303 in nine games before being sidelined.
The Marlins also optioned pitcher Carlos Martinez to Triple-A Albuquerque and designated outfielder Joe Borchard for assignment.
Cubs: Chicago put outfielder Angel Pagan on the 15-day DL and recalled outfielder Felix Pie from Triple-A Iowa.
Manager Lou Piniella said Pagan has colitis, a digestive disease.
Reds: Outfielder Jason Ellison was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.
Cincinnati also announced outfielder-infielder Ryan Freel’s season is over. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage and clean out his right knee.
Blue Jays: Third-base coach Brian Butterfield accused the New York Yankees of making “two terrible slides” into second base during the first two games of their current series.
Butterfield became upset when talking about Johnny Damon’s slide into second baseman Aaron Hill on Monday and Shelley Duncan’s takeout of shortstop John McDonald on Tuesday.
“They were both terrible – you can print that,” Butterfield said. “Two terrible slides. They’re terrible, if they don’t agree with that, they’re looking through different colored glasses.”
Rangers: Texas placed infielder-outfielder Jerry Hairston on the 15-day DL because of a sore back.
The Rangers don’t plan on adding a player to take Hairston’s roster spot until Friday.
Twins: Rookie infielder Brian Buscher has a rapidly growing infection in his leg and was flown back to Minneapolis, where he may be hospitalized.
The infection apparently stems from when Buscher fouled a ball off his right leg “five or six days ago,” manager Ron Gardenhire said.
He said Buscher would be placed on the DL and the contract of infielder Tommy Watkins would be purchased from Triple-A Rochester.
MLB: While Barry Bonds was breaking the home run record in San Francisco, commissioner Bud Selig was in New York, preparing to meet with his chief steroids investigator.
Selig watched Bonds’ 756th homer on television Tuesday night, then met with George Mitchell on Wednesday before returning to Milwaukee.
