Garrett Mitchell caught the ball, and the Padres were left to sort through everything that came before it.
That ending will hang around all winter, but San Diego can’t let one swing define the whole picture. The postseason hurt, no question. Still, the work now is about what comes next, not just replaying how it finished.
Manny Machado’s selection to MLB.com’s All-Postseason Team at least gives his October the recognition it deserved. A quick exit can bury a lot, especially when the last memory is the one that stings most.
Machado’s run shouldn’t get swallowed by that. He earned better than that.
He batted .350 with a 1.080 OPS in the postseason, the kind of production the Padres want from the player at the center of the franchise. And that’s where the real pressure point sits for San Diego: this wasn’t just a nice October. It was a reminder of what Machado can still give them, and a reason the offseason has to matter.
Watching the Brewers finish the job only sharpens the frustration. The Padres were close enough to make the series feel competitive, close enough to show the gap was manageable. Milwaukee still got the win and kept moving, but San Diego didn’t look outclassed.
That’s why Machado’s October matters beyond the honor itself. It’s easy to remember the regular season frustrations, the stretches when the Padres were waiting for the version of Manny who can take over an at-bat and tilt the lineup. In October, that player showed up again.
A brief postseason won’t answer every question from a long season, but it does give Machado something concrete to carry forward: production against playoff pitching, with every opponent trying to solve him. The Padres need more of that, and they need it sooner than October.
If this recognition means anything, it’s that Machado reminded everyone how much he can still raise San Diego’s ceiling. Against the team that eventually won it all, he looked like a player capable of changing the direction of the Padres’ season.
In Other News...
Padres Face Tough 40-Man Calls On Prospects They Cant Risk Losing
With the Rule 5 draft still stuck in limbo until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is in place and the lockout ends, the Padres are in a holding pattern on one of the more delicate parts of their offseason. They cannot make their Rule 5 decisions until the process gets moving again, but the clock is still ticking on a group of young players who have put themselves on the radar and may need roster protection before another club gets a chance to grab them.
Among the names in that conversation are Tucker Musgrove, Gutierrez, Jagger Haynes, Braedon Karpathios and Jake Cunningham, a mix of arms and bats that gives San Diego plenty to weigh. The Padres have to balance immediate 40-man pressure against the risk of losing a prospect who could help them down the road, and with the timing still unresolved, those calls are going to linger a while longer than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Face A Costly Pitching Dilemma They Cant Ignore
The Padres are heading into an offseason where the rotation has to be the priority, and not just because the 2026 season exposed how thin the starting pitching picture has become. San Diego has already been linked to free agent Freddy Peralta, a sign the front office knows it needs a proven arm if it wants to stabilize the staff and keep the club from chasing innings all year.
The challenge is that the pitching market may not be kind to them. Michael King has declined his player option and is projected to land with the Mets, while Adrian Morejon is also forecasted to move on in 2027, leaving the Padres to weigh how much they can realistically spend to keep multiple key arms in place. Financial pressure is now part of the equation, and it could force San Diego to choose between adding at the top of the rotation and trying to hold the rest of the staff together. [Read more 🡒]
Padres May Have Found An Outfield Prospect Nobody Saw Coming
When a farm system sits at the bottom of the industry rankings, every small breakthrough tends to draw extra attention, and Alex McCoy has given the Padres one worth watching. The undrafted outfielder signed in 2024 has pushed his way into the Arizona Fall League and started showing the kind of pop that can make evaluators take a second look, including a home run that came off the bat at 116.3 mph.
For a Padres organization trying to uncover value wherever it can, McCoys rise is notable because it has not come from the usual prospect pipeline. His work in Double-A and now the AFL points to real offensive upside, even if the strikeout issues remain part of the conversation, and that mix of promise and risk is exactly why he has become one of the more interesting names in the system. [Read more 🡒]