The San Diego Padres will have a vastly different roster going into the 2026 season.
The Padres hired their next manager, former Padres pitcher Craig Stammen, to replace Mike Shildt. Shildt retired following the conclusion of San Diego’s playoff run in the National League Wild Card Series.
This is important to note because Stammen will be getting his first run as a manager in Major League Baseball and Shildt managed San Diego to back-to-back 90-win seasons and playoff berths. Only time will tell how the former pitcher turned executive will fare in his first season as manager.
On the pitching side of things, it appears the starting rotation will have an unfamiliar look as multiple starters including Dylan Cease and Michael King are testing free agency. One or both could return to San Diego, but many signs point to their departures.
Veteran right-hander Yu Darvish will be out for the season after undergoing ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery, another huge blow to the rotation. However, with one Tommy John injury comes the return of another.
Right-hander Joe Musgrove is expected to return from his Tommy John surgery, but that just leaves him and righty Nick Pivetta as the only starters accounted for.
General manager A.J. Preller acknowledged that first base is a priority, but it doesn’t top the team’s need for pitching.
“The Padres could use a first baseman and are open to a reunion with Luis Arraez, but their primary need, general manager A.J. Preller said, is starting pitching,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez wrote Friday. “Joe Musgrove should be back from Tommy John surgery, but Yu Darvish will spend the 2026 season recovering from a repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, and Dylan Cease and Michael King are currently free agents. That leaves Musgrove, Nick Pivetta and a host of uncertainty beyond them.”
Luis Arraez is one of the game’s best contact hitters but doesn’t supply power or speed. He isn’t good defensively and though the team is open to bringing him back, San Diego could and should go in a different direction.
“The Padres will explore free agency and trades for help, but they're limited in both spaces. First, they must determine if Mason Miller, the star closer they acquired at midseason, would be willing to transition from the bullpen to the rotation,” Gonzalez wrote. “Those talks, Preller said, are ongoing. Adrian Morejon and David Morgan are also options to make such a move, but Miller's decision in particular could shape their offseason.”
All-Star closer Mason Miller has interest in becoming a starting pitcher, but the Padres would rather have him in the bullpen, especially since Robert Suarez isn’t under contract at the moment.
Expect Preller and the Padres to be active in both the free agency market and the trade market this winter.