Free-agent shortstop Alexei Ramirez agreed to terms of a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres on Thursday, pending passing a physical.
The 34-year-old Ramirez had spent his entire eight-year career with the Chicago White Sox.
Upgrading at shortstop was one of San Diego's top off-season needs. Alexi Amarista made 78 starts there last season while Clint Barmes made 51.
Ramirez was an All-Star in 2014. His average dropped to a career-low .249 last year.
Reduced sentence for Bosch
The former owner of a South Florida clinic at the center of a Major League Baseball steroids scandal that swept up New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez will get out of prison more than a year early because of his extensive cooperation with prosecutors, a federal judge in Miami ruled.