Padres Named Top Landing Spot for $75 Million Pitcher in Blockbuster Trade

As the 2026 MLB season gets ready to begin, the San Diego Padres are looking to wash their hands clean from 2025. San Diego fell short in the playoffs again last season, and this offseason saw them lose some key players.

Ace Dylan Cease departed the team for the Toronto Blue Jays, leaving a massive hole in the starting rotation. Veteran Yu Darvish also suffered an injury that is going to sideline him for the entire 2026 season.

There are real questions around the pitching staff on this team, at least in the starting rotation. San Diego has brought in multiple arms to compete for the rotation spots, but there is a clear weakness on this roster.

However, the Padres have always been an opportunistic group, especially with president of baseball operations A.J. Preller at the helm. And it seems that we could see another big splash move coming from this organization, potentially as soon as the trade deadline.

MLB insider Mike Axisa of CBA Sports listed the Padres as a potential landing spot for New York Mets star pitcher Kodai Senga. Senga has been discussed in different trade rumors of late, but to this point, New York has held off making the move.

"No team took the plunge, perhaps because Senga has struggled to stay healthy the last two years and was so bad late last season that he agreed to go to Triple-A. The Mets never bothered to call him back up even as their pitching sent their season off the rails. You don't have to look back far to see the last time Senga was an excellent pitcher though (1.39 ERA in his first 14 starts in 2025), and $14 million salaries the next two years are downright reasonable given the price of pitching these days," wrote Axisa.

When Senga came to the Mets from Nippon Professional Baseball, there was a strong buzz around him. But in recent years, mainly due to injuries, the hype has simmered down greatly.

Last season with New York, Senga made 22 starts, posting an ERA of 3.02 while putting up a WHIP of 1.31. In addition, he struck out 109 batters, pitching in 113.1 innings during the regular season.

If the Mets decide to move on from Senga, the Padres could be beneficiaries, as San Diego could land a promising player who has dealt with some injuries of late. Adding Senga to the Padres' rotation could help give them more length and depth for the long regular season.

Senga is also on a fairly team-friendly deal, being scheduled to make $15 million in each season over the next three years. In the final year of the contract, there is a club option, which could give San Diego more power over the situation.

All in all, adding Senga could drastically change the outlook of this team for the upcoming season. Senga could be the No. 1 or No. 2 for the Padres come playoff time, which could make a big difference in how the season unfolds.

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