Vicente Padilla signs with Japanese club

Former Phillies, Rangers, Dodgers, and Red Sox right-hander Vicente Padilla has signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the SoftBank Hawks of the Japanese Baseball League, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com:

Source: Former Red Sox pitcher Vicente Padilla has agreed to a one-year deal for $3.25M with Japan's SoftBank Hawks. MLB.com

— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 16, 2013

Padilla, 35, earned just $1.5 million from the Red Sox in 2012, so his deal with the Fukuoka club will net him far more money than he would have received from any MLB club.

A starting pitcher for the bulk of his career, Padilla threw exclusively out of the bullpen for the Red Sox last season. The right-hander appeared in 56 games on the season, posting a 4.50 ERA and an impressive 9.2 K/9 rate in 50 innings of work.

Padilla began his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks but moved along to Philadelphia in 2000 as part of the Curt Schilling swap. The right-hander spent five seasons in Philly before moving on to multi-year stints in Texas and Los Angeles, finally ending up in Boston on a one-year deal.

Padilla owns a 4.32 ERA and 2.03 strikeout-to-walk ratio across more than 1,500 innings in 14 big-league seasons.