Woody Williams is back.

The 38-year-old free agent agreed to a one-year contract, with an option for 2006. He is guaranteed $3.5 million and could earn up to $14.5 million over two seasons if he starts regularly.

“It’s not often as a GM that you can make a mistake and then get an opportunity to bring that mistake back and have him in a Padres uniform,” Towers said. “To this day, people ask me what’s the worst deal I ever made. I say the worst trade I ever made was trading Woody Williams.”

Williams joined the Padres during their post-World Series rebuilding in 1999 and was sent to St. Louis for outfielder Ray Lankford and cash in a waiver deal shortly after the trading deadline in 2001.

Williams was popular with his teammates and fans, but was due to make $7.25 million in 2002. The Padres were shedding salary because the move into their new downtown ballpark had been delayed for two years by several lawsuits. Meanwhile, they got very little production from Lankford, who made about $10 million in less than two seasons with the Padres.

“The tough thing was watching him pitch every year in St. Louis, not only beating our tails, but pitching in the postseason, doing great things for them,” Towers said. "To have him back, I can't tell you how excited all of us are.”

Williams said he moved fast after the Padres called, and is eager to help Towers make up for lost time.

“I think that’s why he brought me here,” Williams said. “I definitely have a responsibility here and a bigger job than just pitching every fifth game.”

He said he’ll help tutor the team’s younger pitchers “and do everything I can to get the team to the postseason.”

The Padres have a much different look now than when Williams was pitching for them back then, they were in the midst of five consecutive losing seasons. Now they’re in their new ballpark and made a run at the wild card last season before finishing third in the NL West.

“They came up a little short, and hopefully I can be a piece of that puzzle that doesn’t allow that to happen again,” Williams said.

Williams was 11-8 with a 4.18 ERA for St. Louis last season. He started the season 2-5 before winning 10 of his last 13 decisions. He started Game 1 in all three postseason series for the Cardinals, going 2-0 and getting a no-decision in Game 1 of the World Series against Boston.

He is 103-84 with a 4.05 ERA in 12 big league seasons with the Blue Jays, Padres and Cardinals.

Williams was 10-8 for San Diego in 2000, and overall was 30-28 for the Padres.

“We were horrible and he had a winning record,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “That showed what he's all about and that’s why we’re excited to have him back.”

In May 2000, the Padres hung Williams jersey in the dugout during a game the night before he had surgery to repair an aneurysm near his right armpit, sidelining him for two months.

The signing of Williams came less than 24 hours after the Padres offered arbitration to David Wells, giving them an additional month to negotiate with the left-hander.

“Our hope now is that we’re able to find a way to come to terms with Boomer,” Towers said. “We’d have a pretty strong rotation with that kind of postseason experience and young arms.”

The Padres also added bench depth by signing Geoff Blum, a switch-hitting infielder, to a one-year contract.

Williams can earn an additional $4 million in performance bonuses next season, $125,000 for each start he makes.

If he has 15 starts, a 2006 option at $4 million would become guaranteed, and if he makes 25 starts, the 2006 salary would rise to $5 million. If he has the lower salary, he could make $3 million in performance bonuses in 2006, $100,000 for each of his first 30 starts. If he has the higher salary, he could make $2 million in performance bonuses, $66,667 for each of his first 30 starts.