Back on May 5, we wrote a blog titled, “Wells needs to produce.”Here are some excerpts from that article:
Wells, making his sixth start of the season tonight at Florida, is to be paid bonuses for his 11th through 27th starts this year. If all is met, he’ll make an extra $3 million.
This is the same Wells that the Padres let pitch on short rest the final day of 2004 to make a $250,000 bonus. It’s also the same Wells who walked away to the Boston Red Sox in 2005.
David Wells: Worth the investment? Let the next few starts unfold.
Wells has made 22 starts thus far, 17 since we first brought up the topic of his contract.
Now, it’s obvious that it is time for Wells to go.
Not only is his ERA 14.04 over his last four starts, the Padres have paid him $2.1 million in bonus money for starts No.11-22. This is on top of his $3 million base salary.
Wells is a product of Point Loma High School and a well-known figure in the community.
It’s time for him to stick around, but only as a San Diego County resident. His days as a Padre should be over.
