The Padres made a run, won a round, and still got shown the gap between surviving and really belonging with the best teams.
San Diego’s season was built on patchwork from the start. The rotation was shaky even before it was hit by the departure of Dylan Cease, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in free agency and went on to have a Cy Young caliber season. Then the injuries started stacking up: Nick Pivetta went down with a forearm/elbow injury, and Joe Musgrove never finished completing his comeback from surgery.
That left GM A.J. Preller trying to keep the staff together with limited money and a constant stream of fixes.
He kept working, but the end result was a bullpen that had to carry too much. Against Milwaukee, that load finally cracked.
Adrian Morejon and closer Mason Miller both came up short in key moments, and the Brewers made them pay.
Preller’s deadline additions were supposed to steady the ship. Instead, the two trades that brought in Casey Mize and Robbie Ray became part of the story of what went wrong. Both starters failed in big spots, and it now looks unlikely either will return, with the Padres expected to rework the rotation once the new ownership group settles in and figures out a budget after the lockout ends.
The offense had its own issues. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill all got off to slow starts, forcing San Diego to scrape for a playoff spot before a late surge finally got them in. That finish mattered, but it also underscored what might have been if those three had been steadier from the beginning.
There were moments when the veterans gave the Padres huge nights, even if the overall numbers tell a less flattering story. Jake Cronenworth, Gavin Sheets and Xander Bogaerts spent much of the year as weak spots in the lineup, and San Diego often had to do more with less.
That was the problem against Milwaukee, too. The Brewers kept pressing in tight games, and the Padres just couldn’t match them. However far San Diego went, the final answer was plain: they were beaten by a better team.
In Other News...
Padres Offseason May Finally Force A Core Roster Decision
After a strong season, the Padres are heading into an offseason that could end up defining the next phase of the roster as much as anything that happened during the year. The front office has a few obvious priorities, but the bigger backdrop is familiar in San Diego: how far ownership wants to go, and whether the club is content to keep its current shape or start leaning harder into younger pieces.
Several parts of the roster are already in flux, with the bullpen especially looking like an area where turnover is likely. The broader question is whether this winter becomes a one-off shuffle or the start of a more meaningful reshaping, and the answer will depend on decisions that have not yet come into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Finally Have A Prospect Reason For Hope Again
The Padres farm system has spent plenty of time looking light after years of trades aimed at stocking the big league roster, so any sign of life in the draft matters. Baseball Americas Carlos Collazo offered one of those encouraging reviews, giving San Diego a positive draft report card and pointing to a few names that at least give the organization something to build on as A.J. Preller keeps trying to replenish the pipeline.
Elliot Lascelles, the Canadian shortstop, drew notice for his hitting and speed, while pitcher Borthwick earned praise for his fastball, secondary pitch and athleticism. For a club that has leaned on the present more than the future, that kind of feedback does not fix the depth issue overnight, but it does suggest the Padres may finally have a little more prospect reason for hope than they have had in a while. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Infield Questions Just Revived A Familiar Reunion Debate
The Padres lingering infield uncertainty has brought an old name back into the conversation, and Jose Iglesias is still very much in the mix as a hypothetical fit. He has not officially retired, even after spending much of the past year away from the diamond and leaning into his music career, which has included releasing singles and appearing in a Broadway production.
Iglesias has made it clear he would only consider a return for San Diego or the Mets, which keeps the Padres tied to the discussion even as their roster needs have remained a talking point. The catch is that the Padres never put a contract in front of him, and with New Yorks roster having changed since then, the path to a reunion now feels more uncertain than ever. [Read more 🡒]