We haven’t heard much from San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller lately with new manager Craig Stammen hired and the coaching staff filled out, but apparently Preller’s getting antsy.
He still hasn’t been extended, but there’s a rumor being floated that the Padres would be willing to entertain trade offers for starter Nick Pivetta, who would almost certainly be the Opening Day starter if the season were to open now.
The rumor was covered in a piece by Dennis Lin of The Athletic, and the logic here is based on the Padres need to unload payroll while adding multiple other starters, along with a bat. The return would have to be serious for the deal to be made, according to Lin, but the Padres’ options are limited when it comes to cutting payroll.
Part of what’s driving this rumor is the fact that Pivetta’s contract is heavily backloaded, which is also true of the contracts for third baseman Manny Machado and shortstop Xander Bogaerts. In Pivetta’s case, he goes from making just $1 million last year to go with a $3 million signing bonus to $19 million in 2026.
Pivetta definitely earned the bump. He emerged as something close to the staff ace late in the season, and Pivetta finished sixth in the NL Cy Young Award voting based on his 2.87 ERA.
But moving Pivetta would weaken the Padres already thin starting pitching, and Lin suggested moving other players like second baseman Jake Cronenworth as a better way to move money, even though interest in Cronenworth is likely to be tepid given that he's 31 and is scheduled to make $15 million next year.
The Pivetta rumor inspired considerable eye rolling from executives around the league that Lin contacted about it. Many of them believe the Padres will be forced to trade Fernando Tatis Jr. eventually, but it would be tough for the Padres to do that now and claim they’re still contenders with a straight face.
The Padres’ payroll is pegged to be just north of $201 million for 2026, and none of the options Lin mentioned other than Pivetta or Cronenworth would provide much relief. One executive cited the fact that Preller is likely to consider anything, despite the fact that right now he’s basically a lame-duck-GM who hasn’t been extended beyond next year.
“It’s AJ being AJ. He talks about everyone but who knows who/what he will actually do?” a rival executive said in a text. “I’m not sure he knows at this point.”