Padres' Rea to undergo Tommy John surgery

Colin Rea, the beleaguered right-hander traded back to San Diego four days after exiting his Miami Marlins debut with elbow soreness, will undergo Tommy John surgery on his troublesome right elbow, Padres manager Andy Green confirmed Friday.

Though the Padres sent Rea for an MRI on Monday, one day after he was placed on the disabled list by Miami, the 26-year-old attempted to downplay the elbow soreness that compelled Marlins general manager Michael Hill to inquire about reworking the original seven-player deal that sent Rea and Andrew Cashner to Florida.

"Every pitcher kind of goes through some soreness here and there throughout the season," Rea told MLB.com's AJ Cassavell. " ... For me, that's what it was. It wasn't anything more. It was something I was able to throw through. It didn't bother me at all. Then, obviously, in the start on Saturday, it just got a lot worse in those last couple innings to the point where I couldn't throw anymore."

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Despite being diagnosed Friday with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, though, Rea was "healthy" when San Diego originally sent him to Miami on July 29, according to a Padres source.

"Colin Rea was healthy," the source told Cassavell. "Colin Rea made every start. Colin Rea made every bullpen session, never saw a doctor."

Still, even with Rea's elbow in dubious condition, Padres general manager A.J. Preller felt an impetus to send prospect Luis Castillo back to Miami to reacquire him.

"We went back and forth with them in terms of their contentions, and we had our position," Preller said. "Ultimately we felt like the best thing was to try to work something out for both sides. When it was proposed Colin for Luis, that was a deal that we liked.