The San Diego Padres are coming off back-to-back 90 win seasons and playoff berths but the pitching staff will look drastically different and put the Padres in jeopardy if they don’t address their losses.
Normally, the Padres would spend a lot of money or make some blockbuster trades to address their needs. However, with the sale of the team looming, the Padres are trying to cut payroll. They won’t be able to go out and sign the top starting pitchers on the market, so they need to be strategic with how they go about the rest of the offseason.
Right-hander Michael King re-signed to a three-year, $75 million contract with opt-outs after the first two seasons. King will help anchor the rotation as long as he can stay healthy, which is a concern.
San Diego lost right-hander Dylan Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Cease is one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers in baseball and the Padres will feel his loss more than they probably expect.
Veteran righty Yu Darvish will miss all of 2026 after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). Right-hander Joe Musgrove is working his way back from his own Tommy John surgery and is expected to be in the rotation, but who knows how well he will perform.
San Diego essentially has to replace three pitchers with not a lot of money to do so. MLB.com’s Andrew Simon believes right-hander Chris Bassitt would be the perfect fit for the Padres.
“Even after bringing back Michael King, the Padres have to figure out a way to not only piece together the innings to get through the 2026 season, but also to fight for a playoff spot,” Simon wrote Wednesday. “With Cease in Toronto and Yu Darvish sidelined, following last summer’s trade of Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert to Kansas City, roughly half of the team’s 2025 starts are now out of the picture for ‘26.
“That doesn’t count Joe Musgrove, but he’s working his way back from Tommy John surgery. A big-ticket free-agent solution would seem unlikely, and while you can never rule out A.J. Preller pulling off a significant trade, signing Bassitt would make a lot of sense as an alternative. The 36-year-old won’t command a massive deal at this point, but he just reached the 170-inning mark for the fourth straight season, and has been roughly league-average or better by ERA+ every year since 2018. That sounds like a nice insurance policy.”
Bassitt would be able to eat innings and be a reliable option for new manager and former Padre Craig Stammen. The veteran was a huge weapon for the Blue Jays in the playoffs and would bring some pedigree to a San Diego team looking to win its first World Series championship in 2026.