Padres Considering 'No-Brainer' Move to Sign Former Red Sox Star in Free Agency: Report

The San Diego Padres have major question marks in their starting rotation heading into the 2026 season.

Nick Pivetta appears to be the "ace" of the staff, but he's coming off a career year in which he was the beneficiary of some good luck and will need to replicate it, this time with a lot more pressure. Additionally, he was dealing with some arm fatigue in spring training, an ominous sign ahead of Opening Day.

After Pivetta is Michael King, who missed nearly four months last season due to shoulder nerve issues and a knee injury. He's struggled this spring, allowing 14 runs over 12.2 innings for a 9.95 ERA.

Then there's Joe Musgrove, who's set to open the season on the injured list in an unfortunate development for San Diego. Musgrove missed all of the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2024, and hasn't responded this spring as well as the team would have hoped.

The rest of the rotation is made up of Randy Vásquez and either Walker Buehler, Germán Márquez, Marco Gonzales, JP Sears or Triston McKenzie.

With all that being said, the Padres could look to upgrade their rotation early in the season. While the team could look to make a trade ahead of Opening Day, MLB insider Robert Murray thinks the Padres are considering the easier move: signing the best remaining free agent left on the market in Lucas Giolito.

"I’ve said for weeks that the San Diego Padres are a great fit considering 1) the questions in their rotation and 2) how A.J. Preller loves stockpiling pitching depth," Murray wrote. "Adding Giolito this close to Opening Day, especially with the questions surrounding Joe Musgrove’s status coming off Tommy John surgery, would be a no-brainer move.

"Preller should consider it, and I believe he is."

Giolito, 31, is coming off a strong season with the Boston Red Sox in which he made 26 starts, sporting a 3.41 ERA across 145 innings. While he was the beneficiary of some good luck — as proven by his expected ERA of 5.06 — he ate innings and limited the damage on a playoff contender in the Red Sox.

Giolito is a former first-round pick by the Washington Nationals who was an All-Star with the Chicago White Sox in 2019. He proved last year he could still get major league hitters out, and would be a perfect addition to the San Diego rotation with all the uncertainty surrounding Musgrove.

Padres On SI linked the Padres to Giolito last week, predicting a one-year contract with incentives that would take it up to around $18 million.

This would allow Giolito to pitch close to a full season with a contender, potentially resetting his value to then enter free agency next offseason heading into his age-33 season.

The Padres could do a whole lot worse than having Giolito pitch every fifth day.

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