LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers' latest effort to plug the holes in their starting rotation clearly has some risks, but manager Joe Torre isn't too worked up about them.
Vicente Padilla was picked up by the Dodgers on Wednesday, the day he became a free agent following his release by the Texas Rangers. He'll pitch Saturday in Albuquerque, then make his Dodger debut Thursday in Colorado, Torre said.
Padilla, 31, was 8-6 with a 4.92 ERA this year for Texas, and 94-85 in an 11-year career with Arizona, Philadelphia and the Rangers. More problematic than the numbers, though, is Padilla's reputation. His release by Texas led to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram story headlined "Rangers bid farewell to malcontent Padilla."
In that story, outfielder Marlon Byrd was quoted as saying, "About time. It's absolutely a positive for this team. We have to get rid of the negatives to make a positive, and I believe this is a huge positive for this team." And general manager Jon Daniels said the move was "a culmination of things. It's about being a good teammate, acting like a professional and representing the team the right way."
Angels fans will also recall that Padilla was a key figure in a September 2007 incident in which the Angels and Rangers engaged in a two-day exchange of beanballs, a sequence which led to a five-game suspension for Padilla, another Rangers pitcher, three Angels and the managers of both teams. This season, he was involved in incidents with Oakland and the Yankees.
Torre made it clear he isn't interested in the reputation Padilla brings with him, only in what he does as a Dodger.
"Through my experience ... I've had players that have been questioned for one thing or another," said Torre, "and I've always felt it would be fair to judge them on the time you spend with them.
"I guess what had me think that was getting traded from Atlanta to St. Louis, and I was in St. Louis for a year or two before somebody came up to me and said, 'You're not a troublemaker.' I said, 'I didn't know I was.' Evidently, that's what everyone was prepared for.
"So I just decided that it's probably the safest thing. Because you can't do anything about your past. ... He's going to have a clean slate here and play baseball."
That being the case, Torre also said he's not concerned Padilla could disrupt the chemistry of what is considered to be a particularly harmonious clubhouse.
"I don't think it's a risk," he said. "I think we're, as a team, far enough along that if someone is a bad influence, I don't think that's going to affect other people. ... If there's an issue, we'll deal with it. And I have not had an issue with this man."
Padilla's signing follows the decision Wednesday to place Hiroki Kuroda on the disabled list as he recovers from his concussion, but Torre said one did not necessarily lead to the other: "I still think we'd probably look to be better. I'm just thinking about starters we have right now. ... We were talking about him before he got hit in the head."
Torre also said the Dodgers had been talking about John Smoltz, just released by Boston, but Smoltz signed with St. Louis on Wednesday and will join the Cardinals on Thursday in San Diego.
Padilla fits into a piecemeal and ever-shifting Dodgers rotation that had Clayton Kershaw start Wednesday, though that was in doubt Tuesday after Kershaw showed flu-like symptoms.
"We had Jeff Weaver at the ready," said Torre. "We sent him home (Tuesday) night saying, 'You're pitching Thursday, but you may pitch tomorrow.' So we had a backup plan where we would have flip-flopped them, if we felt he needed another day. But he feels pretty good."
Weaver, then, will pitch the opener of the series with Chicago. Randy Wolf goes Friday, knuckleballer Charlie Haeger gets his second start on Saturday and Chad Billingsley goes Sunday.