Padres Expected to Meet with Free-Agent Ace Tarik Skubal, per Report

The San Diego Padres are expected to meet with free-agent left-hander Tarik Skubal in person next week after discussing him with agent Scott Boras at the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas.

Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported Wednesday, as relayed by RealGM, that Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and his staff spoke at length with Boras about Skubal on Tuesday night.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi had previously reported San Diego’s interest in Skubal. The expected meeting would give Preller and his staff a chance to make their pitch directly to the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner.

Skubal, 29, finished the 2026 regular season with a 2.72 ERA and 186 strikeouts in 158 2/3 innings across 26 starts. He opened the year with the Detroit Tigers before the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired him in August.

The Padres are one of several clubs pursuing him. MLB.com reported that the Dodgers, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays are also expected to meet with Skubal.

San Diego has several openings to address in its rotation. Michael King, Nick Pivetta, Robbie Ray, Casey Mize and Walker Buehler are free agents, and it’s unclear how many innings Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish can give the club next season.

The Padres have already signed former Houston Astros right-hander Ryan Weiss, giving them another option as they rebuild their staff. Preller said at the GM Meetings that the team needs several pitchers it can count on for innings.

The pursuit also comes in the first offseason under new owners José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones. The Padres already have sizable long-term commitments to Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts, and adding Skubal would likely require another major commitment.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers is one benchmark for Skubal’s free agency. Even if San Diego is willing to spend at that level, Preller would still have other rotation spots to fill.

An in-person meeting would put the Padres in position to discuss what Skubal wants from his next club. For Preller, the offseason question is how much he can commit to an ace while still finding enough innings to rebuild the rest of the rotation.