Offseason In Review San Diego Padre

Its rare for the same team to be on opposite ends of blockbuster trades within one offseason. This Padres front office isnt afraid to break convention. San Diego was the traditional seller in the winters biggest trade as they shed a lot of money. That didnt stop them from dealing a trio of well-regarded prospects to upgrade their rotation in a late-spring strike. Major League Signings LHP : (deal includes conditional opt-outs after 2026 and 27 seasons) LHP : (deal includes opt-outs after 2024, 25 and 26 seasons) RHP : (including buyout of 2026 mutual option) LF : 2024 spending: $9.35MM Total spending: $50MM Option Decisions RHP $7.5MM player option DH $5.5MM player option Team, RHP respective options covering 2024-25 seasons Team, RHP respective options covering 2024-25 seasons Trades and Claims SS off waivers from Pirates RHP off waivers from Cubs RHP off waivers from Red Sox RHP to Guardians for RHP Selected RHP from Mariners in Rule 5 draft LF and CF to Yankees for RHP , RHP , RHP , minor league RHP , and C LHP , DH and $1.5MM to Braves for minor league OF RHP off waivers from Rays minor league LHP to Tigers for international bonus pool space RHP from White Sox for RHP , minor league RHP , minor league OF , and RHP Notable Minor League Signings , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Extensions None Notable Lo ses Barlow, Carpenter, , , (released to pursue NPB opportunity), , Grisham, , (still unsigned), (non-tendered), Iriarte, Kerr, (non-tendered),Lugo, Martinez, (non-tendered), , , ,Soto, Wacha, Wilson Under A.J. Preller, its fair to presume the Padres are in for a headline-grabbing offseason. Yet while the past few years had been defined by major acquisitions, most of this winter was about departures. Late in the 2023 season, it emerged that the Padres were planning to cut spending. That came on the heels of Diamond Sports Group abandoning their local broadcasting contract midseason and amidst reports about the Padres falling out of compliance with MLBs debt service ratio. San Diego had key free agents , ,and ;option decisions on and which theyd decline;and projected for the largest arbitration salary in league history. (Hader and Snell declined qualifying offers, so the Padres landed two draft choices after the fourth round for their departures.) It was clear thered be a lot of roster turnover. Before they could even addre s that, the organization needed to settle on its leadership structure. Tension mounted between Preller and manager Bob Melvin towards the end of their underwhelming season. While they made some effort to smooth the relationship going into the winter, everyone decided a break was ultimately in the organizations best interest. The Padres allowed Melvin to interview for and accept the managerial role with the Giants without demanding any compensation from their division rivals. They reportedly considered former Angels skipper Phil Nevin and previous Cubs manager David Ro s but ultimately stayed in-house. San Diego moved Mike Shildt from an advisory position in the front office back to the dugout, giving him his second managerial opportunity at the big league level. Bench coach Ryan Flaherty also interviewed for the position. When San Diego went with Shildt instead, they let Flaherty depart to serve as Craig Counsells top lieutenant with the Cubs. The Padres left the position vacant for 2024. Of course, one would be remi s to discu s the Padres leadership structure without mentioning Peter Seidler. The San Diego owner pa sed away at age 63 in the middle of November after a battle with illne s. Few owners were as widely respected around the league and by their fanbase as Seidler, who consistently approved star acquisitions and ran the organizations player payroll as high as third in the majors entering last season. This was a franchise that ranked among the leagues bottom-five spenders throughout most of the 2010s. It didnt always work, but there was little questioning Seidlers commitment to giving the team a chance to win. Eric Kutsenda took over as the organizations control person. It surely wasnt easy for the front office to step right back into daily operations after Seidlers death, but the calendar unfortunately didnt afford them much time. That week, they were faced with a handful of key arbitration decisions. The Padres made the easy call to non-tender after a disappointing tenure in San Diego. Whether they mightve done the same with reliever wont be known, as the Friars found a taker for the righty just before the non-tender deadline. San Diego flipped Barlow to the Guardians for . It was a one-for-one bullpen swap that saved the Friars around $6MM. De Los Santos doesnt have the kind of swing-and-mi s potential that Barlow offers and is probably better suited for middle relief, but he was a capable reliever for Cleveland over the past two seasons. Given their payroll restrictions, adding a more affordable reliever whom they control for three years was a tidy bit of busine s for San Diego. Once the non-tender deadline pa sed, much of the leagues attention turned to two players: and Soto. (The Padres were never serious threats for the former.) The chance for a second Soto blockbuster in le s than 18 months was one of the offseasons biggest storylines. It quickly became clear that the Yankees were the favorites. The sides pulled off the ma sive deal at the Winter Meetings. San Diego packaged Soto and center fielder to the Bronx for a pitching-heavy return. They added , who excelled in a limited stint out of the New York rotation late last season. He stepped into the staff behind and . Righties and have big league experience and could battle for spots at the back end of the rotation. At the time, it seemed that pitching prospect might soon join them at Petco Park. The Friars also landed as a backup to young catcher , allowing them to let depart in free agency. Any Soto trade was unquestionably going to make the Padres worse. With so many gaps to plug on the roster, they werent prepared to carry him on an arbitration salary that eventually landed at $31MM. The volume approach allowed them to backfill some of the rotation depth they lost in free agency, but it subtracted two-thirds of their starting outfield. The Padres were never going to be able to replace Soto with a player of comparable quality. Yet they also opted against the traditional rebuilding return, pursuing a quantity-driven package of major league ready talent whom they control cheaply for multiple years. Prioritizing pitching meant leaving ma sive questions in the outfield. The Padres never really answered them. They Elvin Hayes Jersey were linked to star KBO center fielder , but it quickly became clear his asking price was going to be well beyond their comfort level. He eventually ended up with the Giants on a $113MM pact. San Diego also showed reported interest in and but, thus far, their only major league outfield transaction was to bring back on a $1MM deal. Profar will likely be the Opening Day starter in left field. remains unsigned and has been linked to a San Diego reunion throughout the winter. His camp and the Padres are reportedly discu sing a deal in the $3-4MM range. If Pham signs, hed bump Profar down a peg on the depth chart. That obviously wont happen before tomorrows regular season opener in South Korea, though. Whoever is in left field will share time with and 20-year-old . San Diego is calling the latter directly from Double-A on the heels of a monster Spring Training. Hell be the teams starting center fielder despite never playing there in a minor league game. Its a risky move borne partially out of nece sity after the Padres mi sed on their other center field targets. At the same time, its not an uncharacteristic roll of the dice for an organization that hasnt shied away from aggre sively promoting its top prospects. is likely to occupy the fourth outfield role, although minor league signee could also see some time on the gra s. While San Diegos pursuit of Lee didnt get far, the Padres remained one of the leagues more active teams in Asia. After succe sfully pursuing players like , and Martinez in previous offseasons, San Diego made another pair of acquisitions from the Asian pro leagues. They added one player apiece from Nippon Profe sional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization to their bullpen. Left-hander was the bigger signing, as he landed a surprising five-year, $28MM guarantee that allows him to opt out after years three and four. Matsui is coming off three straight sub-2.00 ERA showings with plus strikeout rates in Japan. Evaluators are split on whether his stuff translates to a late-inning role in MLB, but the Padres clearly expect him to find succe s. While Matsui was a little behind in camp with back tightne s, he should be on the Opening Day roster and could compete with Suarez for the closer role. signed a two-year, $4.5MM pact after a seven-year run in the KBO. Hes young and throws hard, but the modest price tag reflects a general agreement that he projects more as a middle reliever than a high-leverage arm. Go was a closer in the KBO but had inconsistent command. The bullpen overhaul didnt stop there. The Padres added ground-ball specialist to the middle innings. They signed the former Yankee to a four-year, $16.5MM contract that allows him to opt out after each season. The contract length and overall guarantee were above expectations, but thats a tradeoff San Diego made to keep his annual salaries low. Peralta has been particularly effective against same-handed hitters over the past couple years, providing a matchup option for Shildt in the middle to late innings. San Diego also made a trio of waiver claims. They snagged from the Cubs, brought back former top prospect from the White Sox, and grabbed righty from the Red Sox. The Padres selected out of the Mariners system in the Rule 5 draft. They might not be able to keep everyone from that group. Patio is out of minor league options and seems likely to be designated for a signment, as he wasnt included on San Diegos travel group to Seoul. Kolek cant be sent down because of his Rule 5 status. is out of options himself. Even if the Padres move on from Patio, they could have five or six new faces in the relief corps. Matsui, Go, De Los Santos, Peralta and Estrada all seem ticketed for key roles. In addition to the free agent departures of Hader, Martinez and , the Padres subtracted a couple relievers in trade. They flipped to the Braves to get Atlanta to take on $4MM of underwater deal. seemed ticketed for a middle relief spot as recently as last week, but he was an ancillary part of a late-offseason stunner. Trade talk surrounding had quieted going into Spring Training. That changed last week, as Chicago reengaged with teams like the Rangers and Yankees in an effort to move the righty before Opening Day. The Padres were initially viewed as more of a peripheral team in the Cease market, but Preller and his staff pushed back in for another star player. Thorpes stay in the organization lasted all of a few months. The key prospect received in the Soto trade wound up headlining a Cease package that also included upper minors righty , Low-A outfield prospect , and Wilson. Cease steps into the upper half of the rotation and adds a third established arm alongside Darvish and Musgrove. King slides into the fourth spot, leaving one season-opening role available for Brito, Vsquez, Avila or . San Diego dealt a trio of quality but not top-tier prospects and a decent reliever with four years of club control. Cease is making an $8MM salary that fit within their reduced budget. Hes eligible for arbitration once more. Even if he doesnt recapture the form that made him Cy Young runner-up in 2022, Cease has been exceptionally durable over the past few seasons. He owns a 3.58 ERA going back to the start of 2020 and has a power arsenal that mi ses bats at an above-average rate. Cease should be a fixture in the San Diego rotation for the next two years, although itd be foolish to count out San Diego pivoting and putting him back on the market this summer or next offseason if the team doesnt perform up to expectations. The one area of the roster that was not dramatically overhauled, at least in terms of personnel, was the infield. The Padres floated in talks but didnt find a trade partner. Thats no surprise, as hes coming off a down season and entering the first year of the seven-year extension that he signed last spring. Kim was a much more in-demand trade target heading into the final season of his four-year deal. The Padres decided not to move him, at least not to another team. San Diego is pushing Kim back up the defensive spectrum to shortstop, however. is flipping to the other side of the bag, as hell become a second baseman for the first time in his career. It was always expected that Bogaerts would move off shortstop fairly early into his 11-year free agent deal, although few wouldve predicted that to happen after only one season. will eventually slot back in at third base. Hes likely to be limited to DH duty for the first couple weeks as he continues working back from last falls elbow surgery. San Diego has and as short-term options to cover third base, but they may turn to yet another prospect. Former 13th-round pick has dramatically elevated his stock in pro ball. Hes coming off a .308/.393/.539 batting line between High-A and Double-A. The Duke product continued to rake this spring, turning in a .314/.400/.486 slash over 16 games. The Padres included Pauley in their travel group to Seoul, suggesting theyre considering jumping him directly from Double-A, just as they plan to do with Merrill. The offseason work might not be 100% complete as they try to push a Pham deal acro s the finish line, but the Padres are a few hours from kicking off the regular season. Theyll do so with a team that looks a lot different than the one that finished 2023. Most outside expectations arent as high as they were at this time last year, but the late push for Cease shows that the organization still expects to compete for a playoff spot. Plenty of top-end talent remains. The question is whether the roster is deep enough to hold up over a 162-game stretch. How would you grade the Padres' offseason? B 44.07% (1,189votes) C 30.02% (810votes) D 11.30% (305votes) A 9.12% (246votes) F 5.49% (148votes) Total Votes: 2,698 Robert Covington Jersey