Padres’ Wells has diabetes

San Diego Padres left-hander David Wells has Type 2 diabetes, which the team says is controllable.

“It’s something he’ll have to manage and something we’ll have to help him manage,” Chief Executive Sandy Alderson said Monday.

“It’s not unprecedented by any means.”

Wells, 43, was diagnosed two weeks ago, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in Monday’s editions.

Asked whether he feels less energy at times, Wells said, “It depends.” He declined to comment further Monday.

Wells, 6 feet 3 and 248 pounds, signed a one-year contract in January to return to his hometown Padres as the No. 5 starter.

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Cincinnati Reds Manager Jerry Narron said he expects to start Ryan Freel in center because Ken Griffey Jr., 37, is still working his way back from a broken left hand he suffered in the off-season while wrestling with his children.

Griffey, a 10-time Gold Glove winner in center field, has taken fly balls and made throws from right field in practice.

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New Florida Manager Fredi Gonzalez selected left-hander Dontrelle Willis to make his second consecutive opening-day start, on April 2 when the Marlins visit the Washington Nationals.

It will be the first time a team from the nation’s capital has opened the season in the District of Columbia since April 5, 1971, when the expansion Washington Senators started their final season before moving to Texas.

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Right-hander Thomas Diamond, selected by the Texas Rangers with the 10th selection of the 2004 amateur draft, will have elbow-ligament replacement surgery today and will sit out the season.

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Three years after changing their stadium name to Ameriquest Field, the Rangers severed a 30-year naming rights deal with struggling lender Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and renamed their home field as Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.