A pitching trade could solidify San Diego's rotation. One mock deal targets Brayan Bello, offering much-needed depth and experience for 2026.
The San Diego Padres are heading into 2026 with less talent on their roster than they ended last season with. Starting pitcher Dylan Cease, infielders Ryan O’Hearn and Luis Arraez, and reliever Robert Suarez have all left San Diego in free agency, leaving big holes on the Friars roster.
The biggest question mark on the roster heading into spring training is the starting rotation. Michael King resigned on a three-year deal, and Nick Pivetta is returning despite finding his name in trade rumors this winter. They form a great one-two punch at the top of the rotation, but the Padres have work to do in filling out the rest of the rotational spots.
Yu Darvish is out for the season and contemplating retirement, and Joe Musgrove is returning to the mound for the first time since 2024. Musgrove has been great since joining the Padres in 2021, but it’s tough for a postseason-hopeful like the Padres to rely on a player returning from major surgery to be the No. 3 guy in the rotation.
Randy Vasquez and JP Sears are the Padres' other starting options, but they aren't exactly needle-movers for the club. If the Friars want to guarantee good odds at another postseason berth, they need to make a move for another starting arm before spring training gets underway.
Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly has a solution for San Diego, predicting them to land right-hander Brayan Bello before Opening Day.
At 26 years old, Bello has found himself as a regular in the Boston Red Sox’s rotation for over three seasons. He put up a career-low 3.35 ERA last season over 166 ⅔ innings. It was his third consecutive season with double-digit wins.
Bello doesn’t wow with anything in particular, recording just 6.7 strikeouts per nine, 3.2 walks per nine, and middle-of-the-pack velocity, but he has a proven track record of being good enough year in and year out. His 4.48 expected ERA indicates that 2025 was very much in Bello’s favor, but it’s good enough numbers for a desperate Padres team.
As a back-end starter, Bello could provide some much-needed relief for San Diego as they begin 2026. At the very least, Bello would serve as a rotational depth piece. At the most, Bello could prove himself as a regular starter who eats over 150 innings like he has been over the past three seasons, even if he isn't anything particularly special.
With the Padres' current financial circumstances and their inability to make moves for free agent pitchers, they need to take a chance on somebody like Bello, who would immediately raise the floor of the club. With the offseason concluding soon, general manager A.J. Preller needs to act fast to sort out the starting rotation in San Diego.