The San Diego Padres are shaping up as one of the winter’s more intriguing teams, and Tarik Skubal keeps coming up as the name that could change everything.
That’s not because the Padres have endless room to spend. Far from it.
They have a pile of free agents heading into the offseason, and the reality is they can’t bring everybody back. If this winter is about reshaping the roster for a real run at a championship, moving on from some familiar pieces may be part of the equation.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel said some evaluators have already pegged San Diego as a sleeper in the Skubal sweepstakes.
"The Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres were mentioned in this category; the Angels and Padres have new ownership, and the White Sox have a new owner in waiting," McDaniel wrote. "In most high-end free agent bidding processes, there's at least one surprising or mystery team. After circling back with some sources after the projections were in, the Padres seemed to be the consensus pick for the most serious bidder in this group."
McDaniel identified the New York Mets, Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the real heavyweights in the chase for the two-time Cy Young winner.
The price tag is expected to be staggering. Skubal is projected to land a deal worth north of $400 million, a number that would put him alone atop the list of the highest-paid pitchers in MLB history.
Whether San Diego can actually get there is the big question. Much depends on how aggressive the club’s new ownership wants to be.
Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones spent $3.9 billion to buy the Padres, and they inherited a payroll that already comes with plenty of weight attached.
They want to win, but the approach is expected to be careful, not reckless.
Still, if the Padres believe the numbers work, they may not hesitate.
Skubal has the kind of profile that makes a front office dream anyway. The 29-year-old lefty went 12-7 with a 2.72 ERA, 186 strikeouts and a 0.96 WHIP in 26 starts and 158.2 innings in 2026, splitting time between the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers. He has also captured two American League Cy Young awards over the last two years.
For a Padres club whose rotation looks like its biggest weakness, that matters. Skubal would instantly become the headliner of the staff and, as the source of the buzz suggests, the sort of arm that can swing a postseason series by himself.
The problem, of course, is fitting that kind of move into a winter that already figures to bring major rotation turnover. The Padres need help on the mound. The question is whether they can chase the best arm on the market and still patch together the rest of the staff around him.
In Other News...
Dodgers Make Urgent Game 2 Lineup Change After Costly Missed Chances
After a frustrating Game 1 loss, the Dodgers are making a notable adjustment before Game 2 against the Brewers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is set to take the ball for Los Angeles, while Milwaukee will counter with right-hander Logan Henderson, and the lineup change reflects a club looking to get more out of an offense that left opportunities on the field the night before.
Freddie Freeman and Will Smith were among the Dodgers hitters who struggled to break through in the opener, adding to the urgency around the rematch. With the series still early and the margin for error already feeling thin, the new batting order is the latest sign that Los Angeles is searching for a better rhythm at the plate before the matchup gets any tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers May Make A Stunning NLCS Change Against The Brewers
Shohei Ohtanis postseason slump has become one of the bigger subplots around the Dodgers as the National League Championship Series shifts to Game 3 against the Brewers. Ohtani has struggled at the plate in recent months, and the power outage has been especially stark, with no home runs since Aug. 18. For a lineup built around star production, that has put Los Angeles in an uncomfortable spot at exactly the wrong time.
The Dodgers are at least weighing a bold response, with the possibility of sitting Ohtani for Game 3 and using rookie Josue De Paula as the designated hitter instead. No formal decision has been made, but the idea alone speaks to how seriously the club is treating the issue as the series tightens. If Los Angeles does make the move, it would be one of the more surprising calls of the postseason. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Face Unthinkable Ohtani Decision At Worst Possible Time
Shohei Ohtanis first season with the Dodgers has reached a delicate stage, with the club weighing whether his recent stretch of struggles and injuries calls for a change in his role. Dave Roberts said he plans to sit down with Ohtani and sort through the best course of action, a sign that the conversation is moving beyond routine maintenance and into something more consequential for a team still trying to balance patience with urgency.
Josue De Paula has surfaced as one possible option to fill the lineup spot if the Dodgers decide Ohtani needs a break, but nothing has been finalized. For now, the situation leaves Los Angeles in an uncomfortable holding pattern, with one of its biggest stars under the microscope and the team trying to decide whether the smartest move is to keep running him out there or make the kind of difficult adjustment no one saw coming. [Read more 🡒]