Dodgers add Jon Garland to rotation

Owner Frank McCourt’s divorce proceedings loom in the background and top-tier free agents appear remain out of their price range, but this winter has so far been a productive one for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers signed their third starting pitcher of the off-season Friday, adding Jon Garland to be the final member of a rotation that General Manager Ned Colletti called the deepest of his six-year tenure with the team.

Garland, 31, signed a one-year deal that is guaranteed for $5 million and can earn an additional $3 million in incentives based on the number of innings he pitches. The contract includes an $8-million club option for 2012 that vests if Garland reaches 190 innings, something the innings-eating right-hander has done in all nine seasons as a full-time starter.

Garland, who was 14-12 with a 3.47 earned-run average with the San Diego Padres last season, rounds out a rotation that includes Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly and Hiroki Kuroda. Lilly (three years, $33 million) and Kuroda (one year, $12 million) also recently signed new contracts.

“We have five guys who can throw 190-plus innings, make 30-plus starts and win 10-plus, 12-plus games,” Colletti said.

The return of Garland, who made six starts for the Dodgers as a late-season acquisition in 2009, marks a shift in approach for Colletti, who in recent years was comfortable heading into spring training without a clear-cut fifth starter. Prospect James McDonald was the No. 5 starter in 2009, a position knuckleballer Charlie Haeger earned last season. Both pitchers didn’t last long in the rotation and are no longer in the organization.

The lack of a depth in the rotation was damaging last season, as injuries limited opening-day starter Vicente Padilla to 16 starts and forced the Dodgers to give 40 starting assignments to group that included Haeger, McDonald, John Ely, Carlos Monasterios and Ramon Ortiz.

A graduate of Kennedy High in Granada Hills, Garland took less guaranteed money to be able to play for his hometown team. Earlier this month, he declined a $6.75-million option that would have kept him in San Diego for another season.

“It was special just being around the family,” Garland said of his experience with the Dodgers two seasons ago. “It makes a difference to a person.”

Because Garland was a Type B free agent, the Padres will receive a compensatory draft pick between the first and second rounds for losing him.

With the start of the winter meetings 10 days away, Colletti said his top priorities are to add a hitter and a relief pitcher, and to figure out what the Dodgers will do at catcher. Russell Martin is recovering from a season-ending hip injury and might not be retained.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com