Padres finalize 1-year deal with Brandon Morrow

Brandon Morrow will hope for better luck than Josh Johnson had as he prepares to follow in his former teammate's footsteps and attempt to revitalize an injury-plagued career in San Diego.

The San Diego Padres and Morrow finalized a one-year deal on Tuesday worth a reported $2.5 million. The California native can earn $5 million in incentives if he is a starter or $1 million as a reliever, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com. 

A hard-throwing right-hander, Morrow spent the last five years with the Toronto Blue Jays, but saw a promising career limited to 87 2/3 innings over the past two seasons thanks to numerous injuries. He missed the last four months of the 2013 season due to an entrapped radial nerve in his right forearm, and then missed four months in the middle of last season with a severely torn tendon sheath in the index finger of his pitching hand. 

The 30-year-old has thrown more than 150 innings just once in his eight seasons in the majors, which was Padres general manager A.J. Preller's motivation in reportedly offering an incentive laden deal. 

When healthy, Morrow has the makings of a top-of-the rotation starter. In 2012, he posted a 2.96 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 21 starts while striking out 108 batters in 124 2/3 innings. However, as has been the case for his entire career, Morrow missed more than two months of that season with an oblique injury.

San Diego has a strong trio of pitchers in Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner and Ian Kennedy at the top of the rotation, so Morrow is likely to slot in at the back end. 

After an injury-filled and ineffective 2013 campaign in Toronto, Johnson inked a one-year, $8-million deal with the Padres last November in hopes of re-establishing his value. Unfortunately, the two-time All-Star suffered a strained right elbow in spring training that resulted in his second Tommy John surgery.