The Padres have already shown they can catch fire at the right time. The bigger question this offseason is whether they can build a roster that doesn’t need a late-season surge to save the year.
San Diego’s offense was a roller coaster in 2026. At the All-Star break, Fernando Tatis Jr. had only five home runs, Manny Machado was batting .203 with 19 homers, and Jackson Merrill sat at .219 with a .628 OPS. Those struggles, combined with a shortage of starting pitching, helped push the Padres three games under .500 in the final week of July.
Then everything flipped. The Padres ripped off a 42-19 run to close the regular season and punched their ticket to the National League Division Series, where they ran into the eventual World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.
That kind of turnaround made the lineup look dangerous again, but it also underscored the need for more reliable help around the stars. If president of baseball operations AJ Preller addresses the rotation the way the roster needs, the offense can afford to add pieces that fit instead of hoping for another perfect stretch at the perfect moment.
One player who has emerged as a strong match for San Diego is Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden projected him for a three-year, $45 million deal and listed the Padres as the best fit.
Lowe’s first year in Pittsburgh was a big one. After arriving in an offseason trade from the Tampa Bay Rays, where he spent the previous eight seasons, the two-time All-Star hit 35 home runs and posted a .260/.331/.493 line with an .824 OPS. He also produced a career-best 5.4 bWAR, along with his highest batting average and most RBIs since 2021, finishing with 96.
The ballpark fit adds another layer. Lowe did his damage at PNC Park, and as a left-handed hitter, he sent most of his home runs to right field.
Petco Park’s right-field fence is only two feet farther out at the foul pole, seven feet deeper at its widest point, and the wall is about 18 feet lower. That setup could play right into Lowe’s power.
The position he plays matters too. Jake Cronenworth struggled again at the plate for San Diego, hitting .225 with a .629 OPS. His 8.9% walk rate ranked in the 46th percentile, a sharp drop from his 13.4% mark in 2025, which sat in the 94th percentile.
The defensive gap is even starker. Cronenworth posted minus-5 Outs Above Average, putting him in the 12th percentile in MLB, while Lowe’s 15 OAA ranked in the 98th percentile.
Cronenworth remains a respected and popular player in the clubhouse and with the fanbase, but he is owed about $12.3 million per season through 2030. If San Diego can move all or most of that contract, that money would be better spent on a player like Lowe, if not Lowe himself.
In Other News...
Padres Lose A Familiar Presence As Another Staff Hole Opens
A.J. Ellis is moving on from the Padres baseball operations department, taking a job with the Mets as their major-league strategy coordinator. For San Diego, it means losing a familiar and well-regarded presence behind the scenes, one who had become part of the organizations day-to-day fabric after his playing career.
Ellis is heading to New York to join Andy Greens coaching staff, reconnecting with a longtime friend in a new setting. The Padres now have another internal role to sort through, with his departure leaving a practical gap in the responsibilities he handled around the organization. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Enter An Offseason That Could Reshape Their Biggest Strengths
The Padres are heading into an offseason that could alter the very areas that have helped define them, with starting pitching and bullpen construction near the top of the list. General manager A.J. Preller has already signaled that the club sees both flexibility and opportunity in how it attacks those needs, and there is enough returning relief depth to give San Diego a base to work from. Randy Vasquez, Yuki Matsui, Kyle Hart, Bradgley Rodriguez, Jeremiah Estrada and David Morgan are all expected back, giving the front office some familiar pieces before the real sorting begins.
Still, the picture is far from settled, especially with the status of Adrian Morejon and Jason Adam unresolved and other spots on the roster also in play. First base and the bench are part of the conversation too, and free agent Ty France has made clear he would like another run in San Diego. For a team that has leaned on pitching depth and versatility, this winter looks less like a routine tune-up and more like a chance to redraw the roster in a few important places. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Opened A New Debate About Their Pitching Depth
The Padres pitching pipeline took another hit this week, with eight arms showing up as free agents in the teams transaction log on MiLB.com. Its a group that includes a mix of minor leaguers and prospects, and while not every name carries the same weight, the sheer volume is enough to make the organizational picture a little murkier as the club keeps sorting out its depth.
Among the pitchers on that list are Haynes, Acosta, Adcock, Boyle, Crouse, Fitterer, Gillaspie and Honeywell, each with his own recent track record and time in the system. For a team that has leaned on pitching development as a major part of its identity, losing that many options at once only adds to the questions about how much reinforcements are still in house and how quickly the next wave can be replenished. [Read more 🡒]