Bye-bye, Blanco

The Padres signed 37-year-old Henry Blanco to a one-year, $750K deal on Wednesday. Blanco will back-up and mentor young Nick Hundley (no relation to Randy or Todd). From the Padres Web site: "I thought it was very important," (Padres GM Kevin) Towers said of the mentorship. "Two of the guys we identified were Brad Ausmus and Henry Blanco. And a lot of it was what they have done throughout their career. "Henry has done it with [Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany] Soto. Hopefully he will help Nick develop into one of the elite catchers in the game." Blanco, who hit a career-high .292 for the Cubs last season while throwing out 10 of 22 would-be base-stealers (46%), seems to be a consolation prize for the Padres, who lost out in the bidding for the longtime Astro, Ausmus. The 39-year-old signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Dodgers, also on Wednesday. No closure yet on the numerous reports--make that threats--...