Goodbye Boomer!

The good news is that Padres All-Star pitcher, Chris Young is back from a strained left-oblique muscle. The bad news is that veteran left-hander David "Boomer" Wells was designated for assignment in order to make room on the roster for the 6'10" starter.

The San Diego native and former Point Loma High School graduate (1982) had struggled in his last four starts with the Padres. Wells went 0-3, allowing 26 earned runs over 16.2 innings (14.44 ERA, 7 home runs allowed). In his 22 starts this season, Wells went 5-8 with a 5.54 ERA (73 ER/118.2 IP), 33 walks and 63 strikeouts.

In his latest start against St. Louis, Well had cruised through the first four innings until he allowed seven straight hits (en route to an MLB record tying, ten straight hits for the Cardinals). Unable to record an out that inning, Wells allowed seven runs in what looks to have been his last as a Padre.

Earlier this year, Wells had been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes during Spring Training. It is unknown if fatigue, decreased energy or changes in lfestyle may have contributed to Boomer's problems in the last two months.

Over parts of 21 Major League seasons, Wells has compiled a 235-156 record and a 4.12 ERA (1556 ER/3400.1 IP) with 2,182 strikeouts (versus only 402 walks) in 653 games (482 starts) with eight Major League teams (the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and his hometown Padres).

It is unknown if Wells will try to resume his career with another team or if he will retire after his release. It seems as if every division features some tight competition. Well's veteran savvy could be enticing to a number of teams pushing toward a pennant or a wild-card.