Padres Given Extremely Low Grade For Quiet Offseason
The San Diego Padres offseason has gone quite different from that of previous years. It has seen the front office focus more on shedding salary instead of being aggressive in adding to the roster.
After a few seasons of big additions, it seems that the Padres decided to balance their payroll. With this, it has seen multiple productive members from the 2023 roster leave in free agency.
It has also seen the team be forced to trade away star outfielder Juan Soto to the New York Yankees. Anytime you lose a player like Soto, it's hard to find a way to replace the production.
Tim Britton, Grant Brisbee and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic all handed out letter grades to each MLB team so far into the offseason. Unsurprisingly, the Padres received an extremely low grade for their work so far.
San Diego received a grade of "D" for the offseason, and they still have some work to do. They have added some bullpen pieces, but other than that, it's been relatively quiet for the Friars.
"The Padres’ offseason plan was to build a bullpen that can shorten games, and they might have succeeded there, with Yuki Matsui, Wandy Peralta, Enyel De Los Santos and Woo Suk Go all added to the roster. It’s a varied group of pitchers with different styles, and they should be able to match up with any lineup in the late innings."
Per Tim Britton, Grant Brisbee and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic
In addition, they are expected to lose reigning Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. San Diego did receive some quality arms in the Soto deal, but losing Snell will ultimately hurt the starting staff.
"The Padres lost two wildly important and valuable players in the same offseason, though. Pragmatic or not, there’s no way to sugarcoat that"
Per Tim Britton, Grant Brisbee and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic
The offseason isn't over yet, but the Padres front office has some work to do. Luckily for them, San Diego's president of baseball operations, A.J. Preller, is known for his ability to do the unexpected. For the sake of their season, fans may have to hope it happens here again.
