Padres Plan Is To Approach Multiple Players From Japan

The San Diego Padres have a lot of needs this offseason, and they’re up against it to some extent as the GM meetings begin this week because of the impending lockout. The market for starting pitching is thin, and the Padres could easily be replacing their entire rotation except for Randy Vasquez, who’s under contract and has a spot in the back end. 

But GM A.J. Preller is endlessly creative in his approach to this sort of thing, and part of his solution will be focusing on several Japanese-born players. The names in question that Dennis Lin of The Athletic considered in his breakdown of all this included left-hander Shota Imanaga, outfielder Seiya Suzuki and infielder Teruaki Sato. 

This isn’t a new approach for Preller, per Lin, and part of it is about geography. Preller “regularly crosses the Pacific Ocean to scout players,” the writer noted, and he engineered the ill-fated deal for starter Yu Darvish, who’s been mentioned as a comeback possibility as he continues to rehab from elbow surgery. 

The good news is that Preller will have more financial flexibility this time around. The Padres have a new ownership group, and Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones have stated that they’re “all in” on winning, and we’re about to find out what that translates to in dollars as the Padres start exploring moves. 

The Padres have been mentioned as being interested in marquee starter Tarik Skubal, but it’s a crowded market with at least three big-spending teams involved. 

According to Lin, the Padres like Imanaga’s durability, and his reputation as a flyball pitcher is less relevant at Petco Park. The initial projectons for Imanaga have him at $34 million for a two-year deal, which could be a bargain compared to the number Michael King is likely to fetch. 

The strategy with Suzuki is different, to say the least. He doesn’t fill a position of need, but signing the outfielder would allow the Padres to move Fernando Tatis Jr. from right field to second base full time. Suzuki is 32, and his projected deal is for four years and $108 million. He would cost the Padrees a couple of draft picks if he refuses the qualifying offer from the Chicago Cubs, but those are rarely relevant for Preller. 

As for Sato, he’s a 27-year old hitter with power from the left side, which is a major Padres need. His projected value is $105 million over five years, and Sato likely faces a Dec. 1 deadline to do a deal, per the writer.