Padres sign Minor Leaguer Buschini with camp invite

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres have signed a Minor League player with an intriguing background in 25-year-old second baseman Adam Buschini.

Buschini recently won the Triple Crown of the Australian Baseball League, hitting .363 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs in 42 games for the Canberra Cavalry.

Buschini was recommended to the Padres by Canberra manager Michael Collins. Collins is a former Padres Minor League catcher who managed the Padres' Dominican League summer team in 2012. Collins will manage the Padres' entry in the Arizona League this summer.

"Quite frankly, he tore it up," said San Diego vice president of player development and international scouting Randy Smith. "He had very good numbers, runs well, is a good athlete. So we gave him a Spring Training invite. We'll see what he can do."

Buschini will report to the team's Spring Training facility in Peoria, Ariz., on March 1 with the rest of the Minor Leaguers. He figures to start the season with Double-A San Antonio.

Buschini was selected in the fourth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft by the Phillies out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He played two seasons in the Phillies' system and the last two seasons in independent leagues. Buschini is a native of Oakland, Calif.

Also, the Padres are asking 26-year-old first baseman/outfielder Cody Decker to give catching a shot, as he caught some Minor League pitchers last week in Arizona. The hope is Decker -- who will still play first base and the outfield -- can be a third catcher if needed, adding to his versatility.

Decker, a 22nd-round pick out of UCLA in 2009, has hit 87 home runs in his first four professional seasons in the Padres' system.