The Padres have made no secret of their desire to add another starter and one more complementary bat before Opening Day. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller reiterated those goals from Spring Training (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com).
There are still a handful of free agent starters who could make an impact (e.g. Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell, Griffin Canning). San Diego seems to be working with tight payroll restrictions, however. That could point to a reclamation candidate like Walker Buehler or Germán Márquez if they address that via free agency.
Dennis Lin of The Athletic suggests the Padres could be more inclined to add a starter via trade. That’s easier said than done at this stage of the calendar. All but a handful of teams are entering the season with some hope of contending. Pitching injuries will pile up as exhibition games get underway and there’ll be fewer opportunities for those clubs to backfill the rotation if they trade a starter.
Speculatively, there could be a match with the rebuilding Nationals for a cheap sixth starter like Mitchell Parker or Jake Irvin — each of whom has been durable but pitched better in 2024 than they did a year ago. Andre Pallante falls into a similar category with the Cardinals. They’re not especially exciting but have minor league options and a track record of taking a lot of innings.
The Royals have gotten hits on some of their depth starters as they looked for outfield help. The Padres would be hard pressed to replace Ramón Laureano and obviously aren’t trading Fernando Tatis Jr. or Jackson Merrill. Unless the Royals want to take a flier on Tirso Ornelas, that’s a difficult match. The Mets entertained moving David Peterson and Kodai Senga at times this winter, but their salaries could be an issue for the Padres.
Teams are loath to trade affordable pitchers who have the upside to be more than fifth or sixth starters. The Padres have a lot of star talent but don’t have an especially deep major league roster, which makes it difficult to trade for an average starter without dealing too big a hit to a different area. The exception could be in the bullpen, where any of Jeremiah Estrada, David Morgan or Bradgley Rodriguez would be compelling trade chips if the Padres felt they could weather a subtraction.
As it stands, San Diego will open the season with a top three of Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Joe Musgrove. Right-hander Randy Vásquez had a decent 3.84 ERA last year despite posting one of the league’s lowest strikeout rates (13.7%). Vásquez had a more impressive September, striking out 21% of opponents against a 3.4% walk rate in his last five appearances. First-year skipper Craig Stammen pointed to the strong finish in noting that the 27-year-old righty had “the inside track” to a season-opening rotation spot this week (separate MLB.com link via Cassavell).
If the Padres add another starter, that’d position Vásquez as the favorite to round out the group ahead of JP Sears, Kyle Hart and non-roster invitees Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie. Vásquez is out of options, so he’ll be on the MLB roster in some capacity. Sears and Hart can freely be sent back to Triple-A for another year. Knuckleballer Matt Waldron is out of options but coming off a 6.48 ERA over 21 starts in Triple-A. He’ll have an uphill battle to holding a roster spot even with a strong performance this spring.
Though the Padres are also looking to round out their bench with another bat, it appears they’re unlikely to make a move at catcher. Preller said that while the front office explored the catching market over the offseason, they didn’t find any opportunities they considered to be an upgrade over the in-house pairing of Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano. “Ultimately, I think we looked at the value of the players we have as behind the plate and catching, making that as good a group as we can have,” Preller told reporters. “Go find some other value throughout other position player additions.”
Fermin doesn’t have much offensive upside but is a highly-regarded defender. He’ll be the primary catcher. Campusano has defensive questions but raked last year in Triple-A. The Padres didn’t seem to trust him defensively, keeping him in the minors while running out Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado until they acquired Fermin at the deadline. They opted not to trade Campusano this offseason, though, and they’re evidently content to carry him as a bat-first backup now that he can no longer be optioned. They don’t have any other catchers on the 40-man roster, nor has any minor league catcher in the organization played a single MLB game.
Preller also addressed his own contract status on Thursday. He’s entering the final year of his deal and hasn’t come to terms on an extension. That’ll continue to be a question until an agreement is reached, though the longtime executive downplayed any concern.
“Either way, I’m under contract,” he told Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune and other members of the beat. “So it’s all about putting a team on the field that’s going to win. We still (have) a lot of work to do in terms of continuing to round out the roster. That continues to be the focus.” Acee writes that it’s still generally expected that a deal will get done — perhaps as early as Monday’s report date for the team’s position players.
They just need the testicular fortitude to send a knuckleballer out there every 5th day.