The San Diego Padres are staring at another rotation reset, and one name has already surfaced as a possible answer: Freddy Peralta.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report is projecting that AJ Preller and the Padres will chase the former New York Mets and current Tampa Bay Rays starter in free agency, landing him on a four-year, $84 million deal. Miller called Peralta “a tantalizing buy-low candidate,” and his prediction pegs San Diego as the team willing to take that swing.
It’s not hard to see why the Padres are being linked to pitching again. They’ve already gone out and traded for Robbie Ray and Casey Mize this season, but both are rentals.
And the long-term picture is still messy, since both pitchers will reach free agency after the 2026 season. Michael King could also opt out of his current deal and test the market, which leaves San Diego with plenty of work to do.
Peralta would fit the “high-risk, high-upside” mold. If he were coming off his 2.70 ERA season with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2025, the market would look very different. Instead, he’s carrying a 5.37 ERA, a 5-9 record, and a -0.5 bWAR through 23 starts in 2026 between the Mets and Rays.
That ugly stat line is exactly why he could be available at a price the Padres might be willing to pay. Peralta is 30 years old and was once among the top pitchers in baseball, so there’s still plenty of appeal if a team believes the downturn is temporary.
San Diego may need multiple rotation additions over the offseason, and a reunion with King, a re-signing of Mize or Ray, or a run at Peralta are all part of that conversation. The price tag Miller projected - $21 million per year - would be a hefty commitment, but it would still come in below the qualifying offer and short of what other starters with similar upside are making.
There are obvious concerns about betting that much on a pitcher who has struggled this season. But for a Padres team needing arms, Peralta’s ceiling is enough to keep him in the mix.
In Other News...
Padres Ownership Change Just Became Real With Huge Questions Ahead
The Padres are moving toward a new era as the franchise works through a record $3.9 billion sale, a deal that would reset the market for baseball ownership if it clears the final league hurdles. Jos E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones are set to take over, and the expected change has already started to reshape how people around the club think about the future, even though the baseball side of the operation is staying steady for now with A.J. Preller still running the front office.
What makes this moment so significant is not just the price tag, but the uncertainty that always comes with a handoff of this size. The new ownership group has said the right things about its commitment to the team and the community, but the real test comes after the paperwork is finished and the approval process wraps up, with questions lingering about how quickly the transition will happen and what kind of direction the franchise will take next. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Fans Have Another Reason To Trust A.J. Preller
The Padres turned a low-profile bullpen move into something more useful down the line, sending reliever Ron Marinaccio to Pittsburgh for $500,000 in international bonus-pool space. Marinaccio barely got a chance to settle in with the Pirates, and San Diego used the added flexibility to strengthen its position in the international market, where clubs can stock up on young talent well before those players reach the majors.
A.J. Preller has long treated roster churn as part of the job, and this is the sort of transaction that keeps the Padres in business on more than one front. Even after Marinaccio moved on and landed with Cincinnati on waivers, San Diego came away with something it can actually leverage, and for a front office that has built much of its reputation on finding value wherever it can, that matters. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Suddenly Have A Pitching Concern They Cant Ignore
The Padres 6-3 loss to the Astros was only part of a busy day that added a little more texture to the clubs pitching picture. Robbie Ray took the loss in his Padres debut, while the roster churn around Dustin Harris came and went quickly enough to barely register outside the clubhouse, with the outfielder being released and then brought back on a minor league deal shortly after.
More pressing for San Diego is the latest update on Nick Pivetta, whose rehab progression has been paused after he had to leave a recent outing early. Pivetta said he is approaching the recovery day by day, which is hardly the kind of timeline a team wants to hear when it is trying to stabilize a staff that already has enough moving parts. [Read more 🡒]