The Padres don’t just have offseason work ahead of them. They have a roster that needs serious patching in multiple places, and the most pressing problems are impossible to separate from one another.
A.J. Preller is staring at a checklist that starts with the rotation and quickly spills into the bullpen, the lineup depth and the budget. San Diego still has a star-studded core and one of the best closers in the league, but there’s not enough certainty around the supporting cast to treat this like a normal winter.
The first and most obvious item: starting pitching. Everything else comes after that.
Michael King can opt out of the final two years of his contract, and that seems likely after he logged 32 starts, posted a 3.21 ERA and dominated in the postseason. Nick Pivetta could be back, but only if the Padres pick up his option after he missed more than 130 days with a right elbow flexor strain.
Joe Musgrove returned for the postseason, though he is still working his way back to a full starter’s workload. Yu Darvish has yet to decide whether he will try to come back from elbow surgery.
That leaves San Diego with possibilities, but not much certainty.
The Padres did add some arms during the season - Walker Buehler, Casey Mize and Robbie Ray - but all three can reach free agency. That makes the search even more precarious.
The cleanest path is to pay King. If not, the Padres are left trying to find the next Pivetta before the rest of the market catches on.
Depending on bargain hunting to carry a contender is a risky way to spend an offseason, and it could come back to bite them by halfway through the 2027 season.
Once the rotation picture is addressed, the bullpen needs attention too, even with Mason Miller locking down the last three outs. The problem is everything before that.
Adrián Morejón is on track for free agency after throwing a career-high 86 innings with a 2.83 ERA, and Jason Adam can also hit the market after a right shoulder strain cost him nearly three months. Those are two major names for San Diego to potentially lose.
Jeremiah Estrada and Bradgley Rodríguez give the Padres power arms to work with, but Morejón’s workload and ability to handle leverage are not easy traits to replace. Those aren’t things a front office can simply wish into existence with the next reliever on the board.
The lineup has its own unfinished business. Ty France turned in a career year, became a real part of the offense and is now a free agent.
Austin Hays is also eligible for free agency, while Luis Rengifo’s mutual-option situation is complicated by his recovery from a torn ACL. The core of the offense is still there, but the Padres have clear needs at first base and on the bench.
France should be the first name in that conversation. He wants to stay, he fit, and replacing what he provided would likely be tougher than keeping him.
The unavoidable issue sits over everything else: ownership has to define the budget. José E.
Feliciano and Kwanza Jones inherited an expensive roster, along with arbitration raises and competitive-balance-tax concerns. At the same time, they’ve taken over a fan base with little appetite for watching a contender trim itself down to meet the rules.
That means the Padres need a real plan, not just a promise to “live within our means.” If that’s the goal, what exactly do those means allow them to build?
They need starters. They need a late-inning bridge.
They need enough offense to replace meaningful departures. That’s the cost of staying serious.
In Other News...
Ethan Salas Just Made One Padres Decision A Lot More Complicated
Ethan Salas changed the conversation behind the plate for the Padres during the 2026 postseason, where his emergence gave the organization a real reason to think differently about the catcher spot going forward. What had looked like a position group with a clear pecking order now feels much less settled, especially with 2027 shaping up as a year when the club could be choosing between keeping a young catcher in the mix and preserving flexibility elsewhere on the roster.
The Padres already have four catchers on the 40-man roster, and Luis Campusano remains part of the equation thanks to his offensive upside and possible trade value. But with roster and salary pressure already looming in other areas, especially on the pitching side and at first base, carrying multiple catchers may not be as simple as it once was. Salas rise did not just create optimism at one position, it added another layer to a front office puzzle that already had plenty of moving parts. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Could Have A Surprising Infield Plan If Ty France Leaves
The Padres are expected to spend most of their offseason energy on starting pitching, but first base could become a quieter area of interest if Ty France moves on. San Diego has been linked to Jazz Chisholm Jr. as a possible fit there, and the idea makes some sense for a club looking for help without overcommitting financially. Chisholm, who is coming from the Yankees, is being viewed as a player who could give the Padres a different look while fitting into their broader payroll picture.
What makes the possibility more intriguing is the balance of upside and cost. Chisholms recent performance and contract expectations point to a budget-friendly addition, which is exactly the sort of move that can appeal to a team trying to improve multiple spots at once. If France does leave, San Diego may not need to chase a marquee replacement to keep the infield from becoming a concern, and Chisholm could wind up being one of the more surprising names tied to that opening. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Prospect Is Forcing A Bigger Right-Handed Bat Conversation
Alex McCoy is making noise in the Arizona Fall League at just the right time for a Padres organization that has been hunting for more impact from the right side. The prospect added another calling card to his resume with a home run at Peoria Sports Complex, a blast that left the bat at 118.2 mph and carried 435 feet, a reminder that his power is playing not just in the minors, but against a more advanced level of competition.
For San Diego, the interesting part is less the single swing than what it says about the broader conversation around adding a bigger right-handed bat. McCoy has shown power throughout the minor leagues, but doing it now in the AFL gives the Padres a fresh look at how his strength translates when the competition tightens, and it leaves the organization with another name worth tracking as it evaluates its future mix of impact hitters. [Read more 🡒]