James Shields signed a 4-year, $75 million deal with the Padres (there's also a vesting option for the 33 year old in 2019). Shields had hope to land a 5-year, $125 million deal, but at least he gets to pitch in California where he is from. He also gets to pitch in a park that favors pitchers and for a team that suddenly looks like a potential powerhouse in San Diego. 

THE MINORS

Drafted in the 16th round in the 2000 Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

TOTALS: 2001-2006: 37-32, 3.57 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 over 585.1 innings

THE MAJORS

2006: Went 6-8 with a 4.84 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over 124.2 innings for the Devil Rays.

2007: Appeared in 31 games going 12-8 with a 3.85 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 215 innings.

2008: Won 14 games with a 3.56 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 4.00 K/BB ratio over 215 innings.

2009: Went 11-12 with a 4.14 ERA ,1.32 WHIP and 167 strikeouts over 219.2 innings for the Rays.

2010: Had his lone down season going 13-15 with a 5.18 ERA and 1.46 WHIP over 203.1 innings.

2011: Rebounded with his best season winning a career best 16 games with a career best 2.82 ERA and 249.1 innings pitched. Also sported a career best 1.04 WHIP with 8.12 Ks per nine.

2012: Won 15 games with a 3.52 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and career best 8.82 strikeouts per nine over 227.2 innings.

2013: In his first season with the Royals he went 13-9 with a 3.15 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 196 strikeouts over 228.2 innings.

2014: Won 14 games for the AL Champion Royals with a 3.21 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 227 innings. Also posted a 4.09 K/BB ratio. 

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THE SKILLS

James Shields has always been one of my favorites as I seem to have him on my roster every year. Why does the Oracle favor Mr. Shields? The first and most obvious answer is that he's good. He may not be great at anything, but I seem to value consistency more than most, and when it comes to pitching that consistency is much harder to find than people seem to think.

Shields has thrown at least 200-innings each year since 2007. There are only three men who have done that: Justin Verlander, Mark Buehrle and Shields. Shields is also the only hurler in baseball who has thrown 225 innings in each of the past four seasons - the only one. 

Shields has won at least 11 games each year since 2007. There are only three men who have done that: Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver and Shields. The new Padres' arm has also won at least 13 games each of the past five years which only four men have done: Clayton Kershaw, C.J. Wilson, Verlander and Shields. 

Because of all the innings, Shields also racks up the strikeouts. Over the past five seasons he struck out at least 180 batters each campaign, something only four men have pulled off: Cole Hamels, Felix Hernandez, Kershaw and Shields. Shields has also struck out 160 or more men each year since 2007. Only Hamels, Hernandez and Shields have done that. 

The last four seasons Shields has posted an ERA over 3.21 just one time at 3.52 in 2012. His four year ERA is 3.17 which is the 14th best mark in baseball. 

The last four seasons Shields has posted a WHIP under 1.25 each time. His four year WHIP is 1.15 which is the 14th best mark in baseball. 

Add it all up...

How many pitchers have an ERA under 3.55, a WHIP under 1.25, at least 13 victories a seasons with 180 or more strikeouts each of the last four seasons? The list is a mere three men long: Madison Bumgarner, Kershaw and Shields.

Shields isn't elite, but his durability, and success, is becoming legendary in today's game of wussy hurlers (or at least it should be). 

The negative list follows.

(1) Shields has thrown a ton of innings, so he's no normal 33 year old. Hasn't been an issue at all to this point, but you have to be a bit concerned that he's racked up so many innings.

(2) His strikeout rate has deteriorated. After posting 3-straight years with a mark of more than eight per nine innings, including a career best 8.82 per nine in 2012, Shields has failed to crack 7.75 per nine the last two seasons. The 2014 season also saw him saddled with a 7.14 per nine mark, a five year low. 

Now honestly, I'm looking, but other than those two situations it's hard to pinpoint a real downside here. Shields posted a 4.09 K/BB mark last season, despite the lack of punchouts, and only one in the last eight years has that mark been under 3.20. He's also allowed less than a homer per nine innings in each of the past four seasons. His ground ball rate is 44.7 percent for his career, and last season the mark was 45.2 percent, the third time in four seasons that it was at least that high. His .295 BABIP was only two points off his career norm. The 74.6 percent left on base mark last season was less than a percentage point above his career mark of 73.7 percent. 

There's not a lot of give in his game, and now he adds two bonus points to his resume.

(1) For the first time in his career he will pitch in the National League.

(2) He will be pitching at Pecto Park. Not only is that a pitching centered environment, he will also get to twirl outings in Los Angeles and San Francisco, two other pitching centered locations. Just hope he doesn't get bombed in Coors Field.
 

CONCLUSION

As I started this piece saying, Shields has always been one of my favorites. As durable as they come, he may not be an elite arm, but all those innings allow him to win games and pile up the punchouts. The move to the NL, and Petco, shouldn't do anything but aid his ability to continue to post strong, if not elite, ratios. The only worry to this point is the huge workload. 

10 team lg: Wondering how many arms you would trust over Shields as your SP2? Can't be a long list, can it? With the move to San Diego the hype will likely go up making him a pitcher you now have to pay for as an SP2 rather than just grabbing him when no one was looking at the tail end of the SP2 run. 

12 team lg: Stability, a key word with Shields. While others are adding Yu Darvish or Chris Sale, unarguably more talented arms, maybe you can just grab yourself a Shields. A rock-solid SP2 in this format.

15 team lg: Might even sneak into the very bottom of SP1 talk in this format, but certainly a strong option as an SP2 if you don't want to take a chance on younger relatively unproven arms like Gerrit Cole, Sonny Gray or Tyson Ross. 

NL-only: I'm all in. Shields is an SP1 for me in this format. How can you overlook the park and the durability?