The San Diego Padres haven’t done much to rebuild their roster this offseason besides some smaller moves like signing Korean infielder Sung-Mun Song and bringing back right-hander Michael King.
At its current state, this roster will compete, but the starting rotation is certainly thin without right-handers Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish. King returning is huge for the team but with his concerning injury history, one big injury and the Padres’ season could be over if they don’t add more help in the coming weeks.
With the sale of the franchise a possibility, general manager A.J. Preller is definitely hesitant to make a splash move like he is accustomed to making in a normal offseason. Still, the club features plenty of talent around the diamond and should be able to fight for the National League West division in 2026 as is.
New manager Craig Stammen, a former Padre himself, was asked by former player and Foul Territory TV host A.J. Pierzynski if the Padres can compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers with the roster they currently have.
“Yeah, we’re gonna compete, there’s no doubt about that. We’re gonna give them our best shot, that’s what we will do every year, that’s what we have done every year. They’re a great team, two-time defending World Series champions. They have a lot of great star players, future Hall of Famers, but we feel good about our roster, too. We feel good about our team, we feel good about our attitude.
“We’ve definitely had a lot of battles with them, we know what it’s like to play in Dodger Stadium, we know what it’s like to play at Petco [Park] and how exciting that atmosphere is. So, we are looking forward to those battles this season. They are a tough team and they are a great team, but there’s nothing better in the big leagues than playing against the best. It’s us against them, we will stand on the mound and throw pitches, see if they can hit them, and they’ll do the same thing; we will see if we can do some damage and the best team will win. There’s been some good battles the last few years, they got us last year, but hopefully we can turn the tide this year and put our best foot forward against them.”
Stammen pitched in this rivalry for six years, long before he became the manager of the franchise, and that energy coming from your manager should work wonders for the Padres moving forward.