With Adrian Morejon headed for free agency, the Padres have moved quickly to shore up the left side of their bullpen.
San Diego has agreed to 2027 contracts with Wandy Peralta, Yuki Matsui and Kyle Hart, giving manager Craig Stammen a trio of southpaws to lean on even if Morejon does not return. Morejon remains the big name in the group, and the Padres would love to have him back.
He has also said he wants to return. But until a deal is actually signed, the uncertainty of free agency leaves the door open for a different bullpen picture in 2027.
That’s why the Padres’ latest moves matter. Instead of waiting around, they’ve locked in three left-handers from their 2026 relief corps and ensured there will be some continuity when Stammen goes to the mound and calls for a lefty.
Peralta was the first to make it official, announcing Saturday that he would exercise his $4.45-million player option. The veteran is set for his fourth season in the Brown-and-Yellow after working 65 games and posting a 3.71 ERA across 77.1 innings.
Then came word Sunday, via MLB.com's A.J. Cassavell, that Matsui and Hart are also back for 2027. Matsui will return by exercising his $6.5-million player option, while Hart’s $2.5-million team option was picked up.
Matsui’s 2026 season was the best of his Padres tenure. In his third year in San Diego, he turned in a career-low 1.83 ERA over a career-high 64 innings. Across three seasons with the club, he now owns a 3.17 ERA in 179 games and 190 innings.
Hart gave San Diego useful bulk out of the bullpen last season, throwing 64 innings in 46 appearances while finishing with a 4.92 ERA.
The Padres also have another possible answer already in-house. Right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez emerged in 2026 with a 2.19 ERA in 68 games and 74 innings, striking out 81 and walking only 20. That kind of season could put him in line for the eighth-inning setup role ahead of closer Mason Miller.
In Other News...
Padres Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Pitching Plans
The Padres have already started sorting out the edges of their pitching staff for the seasons ahead, and the latest moves say a lot about how they view two familiar arms. San Diego exercised its $2.5 million club option on Kyle Hart for 2027, keeping a left-hander in the mix after a 2026 season that showed improvement even if the results were not always clean. It is the kind of decision that suggests the Padres still see value in continuity, especially with a pitching group that has to survive injuries, workload swings and constant turnover.
Yuki Matsui is also staying put for now after declining to opt out of his contract, which keeps him tied to the Padres with a $7 million player option for 2028. Since arriving in 2024, he has given the club durability and effectiveness out of the bullpen, making him one of the steadier late-inning pieces on the roster. Still, the underlying numbers hint at some possible regression, so the Padres are betting that his track record holds while they continue shaping the rest of their pitching plans. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Suddenly Have More Roster Holes To Solve This Winter
The Padres offseason picture got a little wider this week when Miguel Andujar, Lucas Giolito and Griffin Canning all moved into free agency, leaving San Diego with three more decisions to replace than it had a day earlier. The club declined its end of the mutual options on Giolito and Canning, while Andujar turned down his side of the deal, and each player will walk away with a buyout as the front office starts sorting through a roster that already had plenty of winter questions.
For a team trying to stay competitive in a crowded National League race, the timing matters as much as the names. Andujar gave San Diego a useful bat, Giolito and Canning were part of the pitching depth the Padres were counting on, and now all three are on the market with the organization left to decide how much of that production it wants to try to recreate internally or chase elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Quietly Get Bullpen Help At A Time They Needed It Most
Wandy Peralta is sticking around in San Diego, and the timing matters for a Padres club that has leaned heavily on its relief corps. The left-hander has exercised his $4.45 million player option to remain with the team for the 2027 season, giving the bullpen another experienced arm and extending a run of continuity that has quietly become part of the Padres late-game identity.
Peralta has now chosen to stay with San Diego in each of the past three offseasons, a sign the fit has worked for both sides. With the bullpen still a central piece of how the Padres want to win, keeping a dependable lefty in the mix helps stabilize a group that can never have too much depth, especially when the season starts to test the back end of the staff. [Read more 🡒]