Key departures and limited flexibility leave San Diego scrambling. Can they retool before spring training or face a challenging season?
The 2025 offseason has been one of damage control for the San Diego Padres. Instead of going out and acquiring fresh talent to rejuvenate their squad after a Wild Card exit, the Padres front office has been forced to weather the storm of key players leaving with limited financial flexibility.
Star right-hander Dylan Cease left town for the Toronto Blue Jays on a deal worth $210 million. Reliever Robert Suarez also departed this winter in favor of the Atlanta Braves. First base is still a position surrounded by question marks in San Diego, with Ryan O’Hearn walking in free agency and Luis Arraez’s return still up in the air.
San Diego tried their best to soften the blow, re-signing starting pitcher Michael King on a three-year deal to ensure the club didn’t lose two prominent starters in one offseason. It also brought in Korean talent Sung-Mun Song on a four-year deal worth $15 million to bring some depth to the infield. Outside of King’s return and Song’s arrival, however, there hasn't been much done to instill much optimism in San Diego.
As of now, with less than a month before spring training kicks off, the Padres are entering 2026 with a worse roster than they had in 2025. For that reason, their ranking heading into spring training doesn’t come as a huge surprise, but rather a reality check as to how the offseason has gone for the Padres.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter ranked the Friars as just the 14th-best team in baseball after a 2025 season in which they won 90 games. It goes to show just how many key players they’ve lost this winter without finding sufficient replacements.
“They have star power on offense, a stacked relief corps and a healthy Joe Musgrove, but also have more weaknesses than any of the top-tier NL contenders,” Reuter said in his rankings.
The starting rotation in San Diego is unfinished after the departure of Cease and right-hander Yu Darvish set to miss the entirety of the 2026 campaign. Musgrove is returning from a torn UCL, but it may take time to get back to his dominant form after not pitching since 2024. First base continues to be an area that needs addressing, along with some outfield depth and potentially another designated hitting option.
There are plenty of players left on the free agent market that could fill these gaps in the Padres’ roster, but the tricky finances in San Diego seem to have been holding the club back from bringing any of them in. Whether they rely on trades to retool their roster, the Padres need to do something to bring back confidence in their squad before spring training gets underway.