MLBTR Podcast: Kevin McGonigle, The Padres’ Franchise Valuation, And Edwin Díaz To Miss Time
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Tigers signing Kevin McGonigle to an eight-year extension (1:30)
- José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones reportedly having an agreement in place to buy the Padres (13:10)
- Dodgers right-hander Edwin Díaz requiring elbow surgery (27:20)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Are the Braves for real? And what do they do once their injured guys get healthy? (32:20)
- If a salary cap is theoretically implemented, how would it work with the teams currently over the cap? (40:50)
- Can Michael Wacha of the Royals keep up his dominance? (45:50)
- What are the Reds going to do with Matt McLain and TJ Friedl? (48:15)
- Can the Nationals keep up this level of offense? And if so, should they have invested more in this year’s pitching staff? (52:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles – listen here
- Previewing The 2026-27 Free-Agent Class – listen here
- Lots Of Extensions And Big-Picture Topics – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Padres Sign Lucas Giolito
Lucas Giolito‘s protracted 2025-2026 free agency stint has finally ended. The Padres announced that they have signed him to a one-year deal with a mutual option. He’ll receive a $3MM guarantee, with half of that total via buyout on a 2027 mutual option worth $8MM. Giolito can increase the buyout by $3MM based on starts in 2026. There is an additional $2MM in unlockable bonuses tied to awards voting. To make room on the 40-man, the Padres announced that righty Bryan Hoeing has been transferred to the 60-day IL as he recovers from flexor surgery. Giolito will start with Single-A Lake Elsinore and must be on the major league roster within the next 25 days. Giolito is represented by CAA Sports.
For Giolito, his second foray into free agency was not nearly as successful as his first. His 2019 to 2021 run with the White Sox had him positioned as a top-of-the-rotation arm. Among 46 starters who threw at least 350 innings in that time frame, Giolito was sixth with a 30.7% strikeout rate on the back of a fantastic fastball-changeup pairing. His propensity for fly balls (41.7 FB%) and homers (13.7 HR/FB%) possibly prevented “ace” designation, yet Giolito was easily one of baseball’s best pitchers in this time frame.
However, more middling results followed in 2022 and 2023, with the homers especially ticking up in 2023. His 41 big flies were second only to Lance Lynn. Despite a poor platform year by his standards, Giolito and his representatives were able to parlay the showing into a $38.5MM guarantee with the Red Sox over the ’24-’25 seasons, with some additional incentives and player option structure.
Unfortunately, a torn UCL brought his 2024 season to an abrupt halt. An internal brace procedure (which carries a shorter rehab timeline than a traditional Tommy John ligament graft) had him back on the mound at the end of the following April, where he threw 145 innings. ERA evaluators/predictors like xFIP (4.59) and SIERA (4.65) were more bearish on his work than his actual results (3.41). Notably, Giolito’s strikeouts were down from his heyday with the White Sox. He profiled more as a back-of-the-rotation starter than the tremendous upside he flashed from 2019-2021 with Chicago.
Despite a solid return to the rotation, Giolito suffered from flexor irritation and a bone issue at the conclusion of the 2025 season. Although he was set to return to the club after resting, the Red Sox’s early postseason exit meant Giolito had no chance to pitch again before free agency. Under the hood, Giolito looked like a muted version of his best days, but he was a perfectly adequate starter in 2025.
His fastball velocity checked in about a one mile per hour (93.3) lower than his best seasons with the White Sox (94.2), but this was a continuation of a trend started in 2022. Among 82 pitchers who tossed at least 140 innings last season, Giolito was 69th in K-BB%, indicating both below-average ability to miss bats and control the zone. However, he was able to limit homers more effectively than ever before: his 9.3 HR/FB% was below league average, and the first time he recorded a single-percentage mark in a season of 25 or more starts.
Giolito declined his end of a $19MM mutual option (essentially a formality) with the Red Sox for 2026, and it perhaps came as no surprise that the Red Sox passed on extending Giolito a qualifying offer after the 2025 season due to some lingering injury trepidation. He is the last of the MLBTR 2025-2026 Top 50 MLB Free Agents to sign, and comes in far below expectations in years and total guarantee. Even without draft pick compensation attached, Giolito sat on the free agent market well into April, despite some notable playoff aspirants like the Braves, Cubs, and Padres losing multiple starters during Spring Training and the early season.
Speaking of the Padres, the news couldn’t come at a better time. Injuries and slowed recoveries have decimated the top of the rotation over the past few months. Yu Darvish had his second UCL surgery after the playoffs concluded in early November. Darvish is currently rehabbing on the restricted list away from the team and has reportedly considered retirement. Joe Musgrove, recovering from his own Tommy John surgery back in October 2024 and expected to open the season in the rotation, has had his rehab interrupted and was placed on the IL to open the season. 2025 workhorse Nick Pivetta hit the IL after four starts with a flexor strain. Surgery is not currently on the table, but given the recurrence of the strain (Pivetta also hit the IL for a short period in 2024 with the same issue), the Padres will give Pivetta ample time to rest his ailing arm in the hopes of having him available for a postseason run.
These injuries have thinned the depth of the rotation considerably in San Diego. Juan Soto trade returns Michael King and Randy Vasquez are providing quality innings, but the back of the rotation has shown mixed results to this point. Walker Buehler, though a far cry from his Dodgers’ peak, is looking like he still might have something left in the tank. Former Rockies All-Star German Marquez has a 3.86 ERA but less exciting numbers under the hood. Knuckleballer Matt Waldron was hit hard in his 2026 debut.
All three back-end starters have struggled to give the Padres consistent innings at the back of the rotation. Seven of the Padres’ first 23 games have had a starter fail to record an out in the fifth inning. Though Griffin Canning is on the horizon while working through a Triple-A El Paso rehab, the Padres decided that it was worth fortifying the rotation depth for the summer ahead.
Giolito’s contract stipulation for a Major League recall within the next 25 days would put him in line for a mid-May debut. This should give him four turns through the rotation to build up his arm after missing all of Spring Training. Should the rotation remain healthy after Canning joins, the Padres will have some decisions to make. As MLB veterans with ample service time, Buehler and Marquez can’t be optioned without their consent. Someone may end up in the bullpen or pushed off the roster entirely, depending on future health.
For now, San Diego will be happy to kick the roster-crunch can down the road. It’s an affordable, low-risk signing of an MLB-quality arm that could help the team weather the injury storm. The deal is much in the vein of recent similar signings by PBO/GM A.J. Preller. Operating under some payroll constraints after the death of former owner Peter Seidler and the imminent sale of the club, Preller has prioritized creative, low-dollar guarantees to Pivetta, Marquez, Buehler, and now Giolito to minimize the CBT hit (the Padres are currently in the first luxury payor tier). For his part, Giolito gets the opportunity to pitch for a potential contender with a recent record of rehabilitating starting pitchers’ value as he looks to surpass his 2025 platform year for a better offer next offseason.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report the $3MM guarantee and the $2MM in awards bonuses. Ari Alexander of 7News Boston WHDH had the $1.5MM salary and buyout on the $8MM mutual option plus the $3MM in escalators. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune had the details on the initial minor league assignment and recall stipulation.
Latest On Padres’ Franchise Sale
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Seidler family was nearing a sale of the Padres to private equity mogul José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones. That’s expected to come with an eye-popping $3.9 billion valuation that’d shatter the prior high for a franchise sale ($2.4 billion in Steve Cohen’s 2020 purchase of the Mets).
Feliciano and Jones aren’t actually putting up nearly $4 billion, however. Dennis Lin and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic report that Feliciano and Jones will purchase a 30-40% ownership share. That’d put their investment between $1.17 billion and $1.56 billion. Their exact stake has yet to be determined as they bring aboard additional minority investors. Lin and Vorkunov write that some members of the Seidler family will retain minority shares. Some current minority investors will retain their own stakes.
Padres fans are encouraged to give The Athletic column a full read, as Lin and Vorkunov identify a handful of individuals who might join Feliciano’s ownership group. The most important detail remains unchanged. Feliciano will become the organization’s control person. That’s true even though he’ll own less than 50% of the team, as he’ll hold the plurality share.
The team has yet to officially announce the agreement, though current control person John Seidler had made no secret of the family’s desire to sell. Once the details on the minority investors are sorted out, they’ll need formal approval from at least three-quarters of other ownership groups. That’s essentially a formality. The next quarterly owners meeting is scheduled for June, though they could opt for a virtual vote to expedite the process.
Seidler Family Nearing Deal To Sell Padres To José E. Feliciano
The Seidler family is nearing a deal to sell the Padres to a group led by private equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones, per Jared Diamond and Miriam Gottfried of the Wall Street Journal. The deal values the Padres franchise at close to $3.9 billion, which would shatter the previous record for a big league franchise in a sale. Steve Cohen’s $2.4 billion purchase of the Mets in 2020 currently stands as the record.
Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported yesterday that the sale process was nearing its conclusion, suggesting that the Seidlers could find a price upwards of $3.5 billion. Per the Wall Street Journal duo, San Diego received multiple bids valuing the franchise at more than $3.5 billion. In addition to Feliciano’s group, the three finalist bidders were groups led by Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, and Dan Friedkin, who owns the English Premier League’s Everton club.
Feliciano himself is the majority owner of the EPL’s Chelsea F.C. He’s also the co-founder of Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm with more than $90 billion of assets under management and a focus on the technology, industry and consumer sectors. Jones is the founder and CEO of Supercharged, a media company based in Santa Monica.
Padres ownership has been in a state of relative tumult since late owner Peter Seidler passed away in November of 2023. Seidler’s willingness to spend at aggressive levels well beyond prior iterations of Padres ownership ushered in a new era of baseball in San Diego — one that saw the Friars emerge as perennial contenders and major players in free agency. From 2009-14, the Padres ranked in the bottom six MLB teams in terms of payroll each season. Under Seidler’s watch, payroll soared to north of $200MM, including a record $249MM Opening Day payroll in 2023. The Friars have run a $200MM+ Opening Day payroll in four of the past five seasons.
Since Peter’s passing, there’s been infighting among his widow and siblings. Sheel Seidler, Peter’s wife, filed suit against his brothers Bob and Matt Seidler, alleging that they breached fiduciary duty and committed fraud as successors to his trust. She accused them of selling assets to themselves at below-market prices in an effort to consolidate control of the franchise. Matt countered by accusing Sheel of “manufacturing claims” to secure control of the franchise herself. The allegations were never litigated in full; Sheel’s claims were settled outside of court earlier this year.
In the meantime, Peter’s other brother, John, was approved as the franchise’s new control person in February of 2025. John announced last November that his family had begun “a process of evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise.” In the months to follow, as many as five serious bidders emerged. The Feliciano, Lacob, Gores and Friedkin groups were the final four, it seems.
It bears emphasizing that nothing has been finalized just yet. Diamond and Gottfried report that an official announcement could come early next week, however. Even after the deal is agreed upon, Feliciano and Jones won’t immediately take over control of the club. They’ll still need to be approved by 75% of the league’s other owners at the next MLB owners meetings in June. Lin, Ken Rosenthal and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic add that the final net amount of the deal will need to factor in the approximately $300MM of debt the franchise has accrued. Regardless, it’ll be a record-shattering agreement if the proposed agreement is pushed across the finish line next week.
Time will tell precisely what the ownership transition means for future iterations of the Padres. Eye-popping sticker price notwithstanding, there’s no guarantee that Feliciano and Jones will have the same appetite for spending as their late predecessor, Peter Seidler.
Even in the two years since Peter’s untimely passing, payroll has been scaled back to an extent. The Padres have trotted out $200MM+ Opening Day payrolls in each of the past two seasons, placing them in the top-10 of the league in both instances, but that’s a ways removed from the team’s franchise-record $249MM mark set in 2023. In each of the past two offseasons, reports have surfaced about some degree of financial limitations for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller.
San Diego has made one notable free-agent acquisition in each of those offseasons — Nick Pivetta last year, Michael King this year — but the rest of their additions have all been much smaller in scale. Even Pivetta’s four-year, $55MM contract required a creative structure that paid him only $4MM in 2025 before his salary jumped to $19MM in 2026. The final two seasons of the deal are player options, giving him the right to opt out at season’s end (though his recent injury could very well sway him to forgo that opportunity).
While there are instances of new ownership prompting a radical uptick in spending — e.g. Cohen’s purchase of the Mets and Peter Seidler’s rise from minority stakeholder to majority owner of the Padres in 2020 — that’s certainly not true in every instance. The Orioles have spent more under David Rubenstein than under John and Lou Angelos, for instance, but haven’t pushed payroll beyond the levels previously established by the late Peter Angelos (John and Lou’s father). Jeffrey Loria’s sale of the Marlins to Bruce Sherman hasn’t pushed Miami out of the perennial payroll cellar. The Royals’ payroll under current owner John Sherman, who purchased the team for $1 billion in 2020, hasn’t been all that different than it was under former owner David Glass.
Regardless of what happens with club payroll, the new ownership group should bring about some stability and continuity, ending the tumultuous uncertainty that has surrounded the club over the past few seasons. And the colossal sale price for the franchise — further evidence of the game’s broader financial health — figures to be a number that is routinely cited in upcoming labor talks between the league and the Players Association as the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement nears its conclusion on Dec. 1.
Padres’ Sale Nearing Conclusion
The Seidler family’s sale of the Padres franchise is nearing a conclusion, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Four finalist groups of bidders remain in the mix, and the sale price could approach a record $3.5 billion, per the report.
A sale of the franchise has been in the works since November. At the time, chairman John Seidler announced that his family had “decided to begin a process of evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise.” As of February, five bidding groups were in the mix. That’s down to four, with Lin listing a quartet of groups led by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, and a pair of English Premier League owners: José E. Feliciano (Chelsea) and Dan Friedkin (Everton). The identities of all four lead investors in those bidding groups were already known, but it’s notable that there are still four strong bidders with existing interests in professional sports teams.
Padres ownership has been in a tumultuous state for more than two years now. Late owner Peter Seidler, who had an aggressive willingness to spend, passed away in November of 2023. His brother, John, was eventually approved by the league’s other owners as the team’s new control person, but not before some legal in-fighting among the family.
Peter’s widow, Sheel Seidler, sued two of her brothers-in-law, Matt and Bob Seidler, alleging that they had breached fiduciary duty and committed fraud as successors of their late brother’s trust. Sheel Seidler accused Matt and Bob of selling assets to themselves at “far” below-market prices as they attempted to consolidate control of the franchise. Matt vehemently denied the allegations in a formal statement, wherein he accused Sheel of “manufacturing claims” against other trustees in an effort to secure control of the franchise herself. Sheel Seidler’s suit was largely settled outside of court back in February, paving the way for the family to accelerate efforts to sell the team.
Anything north of $2.4 billion would set a new record for the largest sale of a franchise in MLB history. Steve Cohen’s $2.4 billion purchase of the Mets from the Wilpon family back in 2020 currently stands as the all-time record. Forbes ($1.9 billion) and Sportico ($2.3 billion) have pegged the Padres’ estimated franchise value considerably south of the $3.5 billion sum referenced by Lin, though the San Diego Union-Tribune reported back in February that the Seidler family was likely to seek a price far greater than those valuations in order to sell the club.
Padres Option Sung-Mun Song
The Padres announced that infielder Sung-Mun Song has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A El Paso. He began the season on the IL due to a right oblique strain and had remained there until this transaction.
Song, 29, spent most of the past decade as a regular in the KBO League in South Korea. He was posted for MLB clubs in the offseason and landed with the Padres, securing a $15MM guarantee on a four-year deal.
It’s unusual for players signed to eight-figure, multi-year free agent deals to be optioned to the minors, but there are some unique circumstances at play here. Most players who sign such deals are MLB veterans who reached free agency by getting to six years of service time. Such players can’t be optioned to the minors without their consent. Players coming over from leagues in other countries will sometimes have language in their contracts giving them the same ability to veto minor league assignments. In this case, it appears that Song doesn’t have such protection.
It’s also possible the Padres want Song to get regular reps in the minors, as opposed to being in a part-time role in the big leagues. He suffered his oblique injury way back in January, before spring training games even began. He did eventually get into eight Cactus League contests but then the oblique issue flared up again, leading to his IL stint. He began a rehab assignment shortly after Opening Day, on March 27th. Rehab assignments for position players come with a 20-day maximum, so the Friars had to make a decision on him.
Adding Song would have likely meant designating someone for assignment. Of their 13 position players, the only three with options are Jackson Merrill, Freddy Fermin and Gavin Sheets. Those three are all regular parts of the lineup and wouldn’t be candidates for a stint in the minors. A bench player like Bryce Johnson, Ty France or Nick Castellanos would need the DFA treatment to squeeze in Song.
The Friars could have gone that route, especially with Castellanos and Johnson struggling, but Song hasn’t exactly been forcing the issue. He has been drawing walks on his rehab assignment but hasn’t been hitting the ball with authority. Of his 16 hits, only two of them have been for extra bases, both doubles. His .276/.364/.310 slash line translates to a 78 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League. He hit 26 homers in the KBO last year and 19 the year prior, so he should be capable of more than that.
There’s also the fact that the Padres are expanding Song’s versatility. In the KBO, he played the three non-shortstop positions. The Friars are getting him some action at second, third and shortstop. They had also considered him for some outfield work, though they put that plan on ice while Song was dealing with the oblique injury and he hasn’t yet played any outfield for El Paso.
Even if the Padres made space for Song in the big leagues, he wouldn’t find a ton of playing time behind the regular infield of third baseman Manny Machado, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and second baseman Jake Cronenworth, especially since they seem willing to play Fernando Tatis Jr. at second base from time to time.
Add it all up and there’s logic to the decision. Song can get regular playing time for El Paso, which will hopefully wake up his bat while also getting him more exposure to shortstop. Perhaps they will revisit the idea of the outfield experiment. The big league club, meanwhile, can hang onto everyone currently on the roster.
One thing that isn’t at play is service time manipulation. Most contracts for players coming from Japan or South Korea contain language making it clear that the player will be a free agent when the contract expires, regardless of major league service time. That is indeed the case for Song’s deal with the Padres, per Ronald Blum of The Associated Press.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Nick Pivetta Facing Extended Absence With Flexor Strain
The Padres will be without Nick Pivetta for quite some time. Manager Craig Stammen told reporters on Wednesday that San Diego’s Opening Day starter has been diagnosed with a flexor strain (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). The righty is being shut down for an indeterminate period.
Stammen said the absence will be measured in “weeks and maybe months.” The manager and pitcher each expressed confidence that Pivetta will be able to return this season. That suggests they’re hopeful he’ll avoid any surgical procedures.
Pivetta was also diagnosed with a flexor strain while a member of the Red Sox in April 2024. That was a mild strain and he recovered quickly, returning to action a month later. This one will seemingly result in a longer absence. Those are the only two non-viral injured list stints of Pivetta’s big league career. Durability has traditionally been a strength.
Matt Waldron will be activated from the injured list on Friday or Saturday to replace Pivetta in the rotation. It’s an alarmingly thin group behind Michael King. Righty Randy Vásquez is now up to #2 on the depth chart, followed by Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez. They’re already without Yu Darvish for the season and have uncertain timelines for Pivetta and Joe Musgrove.
Griffin Canning should be back a couple weeks from now to take one rotation spot. Any of Buehler, Waldron or Márquez could be pushed from the group once Canning is healthy. Waldron made one MLB start last season and had a 6.48 ERA over 21 appearances in Triple-A. Buehler and Márquez were reclamation free agent additions. They’ve each had one good start and two clunkers in the first three turns through the rotation.
Depending on the injury’s severity, this could also have an impact on the upcoming free agent class. Pivetta can opt out of the remaining two years and $32MM on his contract. That’d be an easy call if he’s healthy and pitching anywhere close to last season’s level.
Cubs, Padres Interested In Lucas Giolito
Right-hander Lucas Giolito remains a free agent a few weeks into the 2026 season. A report from Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic today says the Cubs and Padres are showing interest in the the righty.
Giolito, 31, has been the most notable unsigned free agent for a while now. Max Scherzer and Zack Littell signed in mid-March, leaving Giolito as the last standing member of the MLBTR’s list of the Top 50 Free Agents from the beginning of the offseason.
He recently spoke about his experience with Rob Bradford of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. He said he had some talks with a few teams but ultimately didn’t make much progress, seemingly due to disagreements about his salary. “I just want to play for close to what my value is,” Giolito told Bradford. “Everything is based on these models now. Everyone uses projection and models. My agency (CAA) does the same thing. When you look at models and projections (for value), it’s like ‘alright cool, give me something that’s relatively close to that.’ Let’s go and get it. I’m ready to go.”
Giolito is coming off a good season in terms of surface-level numbers. He tossed 145 innings for the Red Sox with a 3.41 earned run average. If teams have skepticism about that, it could be because his .273 batting average on balls in play and 76.7% strand rate were both to the lucky side. His 19.7% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate were actually subpar. ERA estimators like his 4.17 FIP and 4.65 SIERA felt his ERA was lucky by about a full run.
That continued a bit of a downward trend for him. He was a borderline ace from 2019 to 2021 but saw diminished results after that. His ERA was just under 5.00 in 2022 and 2023. He then missed 2024 while recovering from surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. It’s not known what type of salary Giolito would consider fair but it seems he hasn’t received an offer he would consider to be appropriate. He signed a two-year, $38.5MM deal with the Red Sox ahead of 2024, prior to that surgery.
In his recent comments, the righty added that he has been throwing about 75 pitches on his own in order to stay close to game ready. That’s a similar situation to Patrick Corbin. The Jays signed Corbin in response to some injuries. Corbin had been getting himself stretched out and only needed one minor league start before joining the big league club, even though he missed spring training.
For the Cubs and Padres, it’s understandable that they would look to what’s available, given their recent injuries. The Chicago rotation suffered one big blow recently, as Cade Horton‘s season has been ended by UCL surgery. They also placed Matthew Boyd on the injured list with a much more minor issue, a strained biceps. They are still waiting for Justin Steele, who is recovering from last year’s UCL surgery.
They currently have a rotation group consisting of Edward Cabrera, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Colin Rea. Assad has options and started the season in the minors while Rea started in the bullpen. Both got moved up the depth chart when Horton and Boyd got hurt. If Giolito were added into the mix, Assad could again be optioned and/or Rea could get nudged back to a relief role. Boyd getting healthy fairly quickly could also impact the decision making.
On the financial side of things, both RosterResource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts have the Cubs narrowly above the competitive balance tax. The report from The Athletic says the Cubs are planning to pay the tax this year, so they shouldn’t have to worry about nudging their number up a bit.
For the Padres, their rotation depth has been an ongoing issue for years and 2026 is no exception. Over the weekend, Nick Pivetta exited a start due to elbow tightness. Joe Musgrove is still not back from his 2024 Tommy John surgery. Griffin Canning is still working his way back from last year’s Achilles injury. Matt Waldron required a minor procedure during spring training and began the season on the injured list.
Unless Pivetta’s issue proves to be minor, the Friars have a rotation mix of Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez. Both Waldron and Canning have begun rehab assignments and could be activated soon but that won’t necessarily solve everything since Buehler and Márquez have each posted lackluster results so far. JP Sears is on the 40-man roster but it would be nice to keep him in Triple-A as depth. Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie are in the system on minor league deals but Gonzales has a 7.90 ERA through three Triple-A starts while McKenzie has a 13.50 ERA at that level so far this year.
Adding Giolito could make sense from a baseball perspective but the report from The Athletic notes that the ongoing sale process might be a snag. The Seidler family is actively trying to sell the franchise. Even if they get an agreement fairly soon, it would still have to be approved by the league. The current owners may be hesitant to add more money to the books while that process is ongoing.
It’s also possible that other clubs could jump into the mix. The Astros have lost three rotation members to the IL in recent days and could feel compelled to add another arm. The Orioles just lost Zach Eflin to UCL surgery. The Reds have Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo on the IL at the moment. Other injuries are sure to pop up as well.
Photo courtesy of David Butler II, Imagn Images
Padres Place Nick Pivetta On Injured List
The Padres placed starter Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 13, with elbow inflammation. Reliever Alek Jacob is up from Triple-A El Paso to take the open spot on the pitching staff.
Pivetta left Sunday’s win over Colorado after three perfect innings due to elbow stiffness. Manager Craig Stammen told reporters (including Annie Heilbrunn of The San Diego Union-Tribune) that the team is awaiting imaging results. That’ll eventually shed some light on his injury and a recovery timeline.
For now, Pivetta joins Joe Musgrove and Griffin Canning on the injured list. Musgrove has yet to throw from a mound. Canning is on a rehab assignment but will probably need close to the full 30 days in his return from last season’s Achilles tear.
Matt Waldron also began the season on the injured list, but he’s likely to return this week. The out-of-options knuckleballer will replace Pivetta in the starting five, Stammen said (relayed by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). Michael King will go tonight, with Randy Vásquez and Walker Buehler theoretically on schedule for the next two days. Germán Márquez would be on track for Friday’s series opener against the Angels. Pivetta’s spot would come back around on Saturday. The Padres could keep Waldron on the injured list until then if they want an extra reliever in the interim.
Pivetta’s health is the big picture concern. He’s coming off a sixth place finish in NL Cy Young balloting. That earned him the Opening Day nod this season. Pivetta has recorded 24 strikeouts over his first 16 innings, allowing a 4.50 earned run average. In addition to his evident importance to the San Diego staff, he’s one of the better potential free agent pitchers in next winter’s class. Pivetta can opt out of the remaining two years and $32MM on his contract, which would be an easy call if he’s healthy.
Nick Pivetta Exits Start Due To Elbow Stiffness
Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta exited today’s game against the Rockies in the fourth inning, and the Padres later announced that his departure was due to “right elbow stiffness.” Additional details about the situation are not yet known, but AJ Cassavell of MLB.com notes that Pivetta’s velocity was down on his final pitch and he appeared frustrated as he exited the game with manager Craig Stammen and a team trainer. After the game, Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune relayed comments from Stammen that indicated Pivetta may undergo imaging tomorrow depending on how he feels in the morning, but offered some optimism as he suggested that “there’s a world” where Pivetta makes his next start.
Cassavell notes that Pivetta previously missed a start during Spring Training last month due to what the Padres described at the time as “arm fatigue.” He wound up missing just that one start, and it’s unclear if that ailment has any connection to this current issue. Stammen’s update after the game appears to be fairly optimistic, but any amount of time missed by Pivetta would be a real blow to San Diego. Pivetta was the team’s top starter last year, as he pitched to a 2.87 ERA in 181 2/3 innings of work across 31 starts. That sort of production is never easy to replace, but it’s even more difficult for San Diego given that Dylan Cease left for Toronto in free agency while Joe Musgrove is not yet ready to return from his October 2024 Tommy John surgery.
If Pivetta does wind up missing time due to his ailing elbow, it seems likely that the Padres will turn to either Matt Waldron or Griffin Canning to fill the void. Both are presently on the injured list but have already begun rehab assignments and are looking fairly good as they do so. Waldron seems to be the further along of the two in terms of building up his pitch count and could be the first choice to join the rotation if Pivetta is placed on the shelf. Canning is on a guaranteed MLB deal and cannot be optioned to the minors, but Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune suggests that he may not be ready to return to action until next month. If a fifth starter is needed before either Waldron or Canning is ready, JP Sears is also available at Triple-A alongside non-roster veterans like Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie.
That’s a decent amount of depth and it will be much-needed if Pivetta misses significant time. The rest of the rotation has had promising moments but comes with question marks. Michael King has gotten solid results but hasn’t looked quite as sharp as he did before his shoulder injury last season. Randy Vasquez has looked nothing short of excellent despite being more of a back-of-the-rotation arm in the past, and Walker Buehler is offering some encouraging peripherals, but German Marquez has looked over-matched so far this year with a 5.54 ERA and 7.50 FIP. The right-hander could be pushed out of the Padres’ rotation by Waldron’s return, though that of course won’t happen if Pivetta misses time and Waldron is instead filling in for the staff’s ace.