Padres Top Offseason Priority Revealed by Front Office Executive
The San Diego Padres are entering their offseason with a few of their key pieces scheduled to be free agents. They have some tough choices to make, but it seems that they already have made their minds up about one of their key players.
Free agent closer Josh Hader is expected to leave the team this offseason, and if he does, the Padres are going to need to fill the massive hole left over. Hader was almost unhittable at times this season, so replacing him won’t be easy for San Diego.
MLB insider Jim Bowden of The Athletic broke down what each team is prioritizing prior to the start of the GM meetings, and the Padres seem to be looking at building out their bullpen. They know that without Hader, they may need a committee at the end of games.
“Padres: Bullpen help with Josh Hader expected to leave in free agency.”
There has been a ton of talk about reliever Robert Suarez taking over for Hader next season, and that may be the likely situation. But Suarez did struggle in 2023 and was also suspended for a sticky stuff situation.
If he is able to return to his 2022 form, then the Padres may be cooking with fire. He was dominant in 2022, posting an ERA of 2.27 over 45 games. Suarez was a key member of the Padres run to the NLCS as well.
But in 2023, he regressed heavily, posting an ERA of 4.23 over 26 games played. This may have been due to him starting the season out on the injured list, but he never recovered from the early struggles.
San Diego has a ton of choices to make this winter, and how they build out the bullpen is one of them. They need to figure out how to get themselves back into contention, otherwise, things could get very ugly going forward for this franchise.
