Padres Tabbed as Best Landing Spot for Top Free Agent Pitcher Who Won't Cost Much

The San Diego Padres entered 2026 lacking depth in their starting rotation, but that could be fixed by signing a familiar face.

Nestor Cortes remains an available free agent and he would fit into what appears to be president of baseball operations A.J. Preller's plan to shore up the rotation.

San Diego's offseason and spring consisted of the team signing veteran pitchers to bolster a unit that will be without Yu Darvish because of injury and Dylan Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210 million with the Toronto Blue Jays.

A pair of veterans made their way on the Opening Day roster in Walker Buehler and Germán Marquez. The duo has made up the back-end of the Padres rotation in 2026, pitching behind Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Randy Vásquez.

While Buehler and Marquez each earned a spot, it doesn't mean they are guaranteed to remain there. The former Los Angeles Dodgers star in Buehler has given up seven earned runs in 6.2 innings of work.

Buehler's performance hasn't given the Padres much confidence in him, but he explained a new arm and angle delivery has made it challenging to pitch deeper into games.

“By nature of doing new stuff for three or four days, I can hold it for a [while], and then it goes away,” Buehler said. “It’s just getting the new stuff into the throw. … I feel good about the first two innings. So net positive, I guess.”

If Buehler does have a third consecutive poor outing, the Padres may be forced to make some tough decisions regarding his spot.

Márquez was also off to a shaky start to 2026, but seemingly turned a corner in his latest start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He tossed five shutout innings with four strikeouts in the Padres' 5-0 win over the Pirates.

How Did Nestor Cortes Perform in 2025?

Regardless of how the back-end of the rotation continues to perform, the Padres need depth as the long 162-game season brings injuries and unknowns throughout. That's where Cortes comes in.

Last season, Cortes struggled mightily as he split the season between the Milwaukee Brewers and Padres after going to San Diego at the trade deadline. In his 27.1 innings with San Diego, he sported a 5.47 ERA — but injuries played a role in his struggles.

Nevertheless, according to Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer, the Padres are the best landing spot for the left-hander who remains in free agency.

He explained why.

"Nestor Cortes had surgery to repair a tendon in his left arm in October, at which time he wasn't expected to resume baseball activities for nine or 10 months," Cortes writes.

"This obviously helps explain the apparent lack of interest in the 2022 All-Star, but his recovery timeline doesn't necessarily preclude him pitching later in 2026. He'd be a good guy to sign and stash for a potential playoff run.

"Cortes was an above-average starter for the New York Yankees as recently as 2024. And despite that one home run he gave up in the World Series, he mostly dominated lefties to the tune of a .530 OPS that year."

Cortes wouldn't cost much, as he's a major unknown and coming off a 2025 season in which he made $7.6 million from arbitration. At this point in the year and given he's coming off surgery, he could likely be had for significantly under that number.

Cortes would give San Diego an experienced left-handed option in the rotation. If healthy, he could potentially pitch closer to the 2024 version of himself, when he had a 3.77 ERA across 174.1 innings.

He was an All-Star in 2022, finishing with a 2.44 ERA across 158.1 innings that season with the New York Yankees.

The Padres could use that kind of depth and production in their organization.