Fossum went four and third innings of six hit, one-run ball at Triple-A Portland on Wednesday. Since he only pitched four and a third innings, I can easily see San Diego bringing him up to pitch for Chris Young on Sunday. Clay Hensley is scheduled to start Saturday, leaving Ledezma as the only other possibility to start on the current roster. Also in the mix could be Tim Stauffer at Triple-A.
Honestly, come September, it's really just about who's left standing on a given pitching staff. The Padres will be facing the Phillies this weekend, who without Cole Hamels, will need to find a fifth starter as well.
In case you haven't been following it lately, David Wells has been awful the last few weeks. Dreadful. I'm talking Anthony Reyes/Edwin Jackson bad. In his last four starts -- all Padres losses -- Wells has given up at least five runs, failed to go more than five and a third, and has seen his ERA go up by nearly a run and a half. Such less-than-stellar performance has left his Padre future in question.
The Padres weren't saying last night, but after the 44-year-old gave up seven runs to raise his ERA to 14.04 over the past four games, what manager Bud Black didn't say suggested Wells is near the end of line.
It wouldn't be surprising if the Padres released Wells this week.
"As of now," Black said after the 10-5 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, "he's scheduled to pitch Saturday in Cincinnati. That's where his next turn is."
Black then scooted out of his office and met with his pitching coaches and a member of the team's front office.
Wells? He didn't make himself available to reporters, a rarity for him even after bad outings.
That to me, is pretty telling. Wells has never shied away from any type of publicity -- good or bad. Come on now, this is the same guy who has his post-game press conferences sponsored. Seems like he's definitely feeling the heat. And all of a sudden, the acquisition of Wilfredo Ledezma at the deadline is looking a whole lot more useful. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the rotation next week.
"I think today's (moves) caught people off guard," Hoffman said. "There's a bit of scrambling around not knowing what happened or why. I'm a big believer in clubhouse chemistry. ... It's dangerous. There are only so many spots. Its musical chairs and you better get a chair."
Those complaints from Hoffman came only a week after he termed the trade of setup man Scott Linebrink "incomprehensible." While I'm not a member of the Padres clubhouse, I do have to say that team is better off with the moves they've made. Their bench is significantly stronger, just as GM Kevin Towers reasoned. Maybe they're losing not because of the lack of chemistry, but because there's only so long a pitching staff can dominate at the rate the Padres had been without having a good offense to pick them up. Had the Padres been playing better, I'm not so certain you'd be hearing the same complaints.
Two teams vying for the playoffs made deals for big names. Two last place teams swapped players. Guys you thought were gone ended up staying. Teammates weren't happy. But really, it was just a bunch of vagabond players switching uniforms.
Here are your winners and losers:
Winners:
Atlanta Braves
Sure, they gave up a top young player in catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (that last name is just way out of control) but picking upMark Teixeira -- even though his power's a bit down -- brings a proven power hitter on board and a quality defensive first baseman to boot. If Andruw Jones can knock out of his season-long slump (which he seems to maybe be doing) the Braves have a shot at taking over the Mets in the NL East or at worst picking up the Wild Card. In the long run this might not work out in Atlanta's favor, but for the here and now it did.
It's pretty incredible the way pitchers play musical chairs towards the end of a season. We saw the Padres acquire Wilfredo Ledezma and subsequently cut David Wells, who has since signed with the Dodgers. Now with Chris Young's back hurting, the Padres have signed Casey Fossum to a minor league deal. 
In case you haven't been following it lately, 
Because of all the trading they've been doing lately. They got rid of a declining 
Two teams vying for the playoffs made deals for big names. Two last place teams 
