Padres Notes: Opening Day Roster Prediction, Blockbuster Trade Idea, Major Spring Cuts

The San Diego Padres fell to the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon and brought their total record this spring to 14-14-1. The sole run was produced by shortstop Francisco Acuña in the ninth inning to avoid the shutout.

Just two more spring training games remain until the 2026 regular season begins on March 26 against Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers.

With a great deal of variability in the current roster, an Opening Day prediction has been made. The team at Padres On SI made their third and final roster projection to give a better idea as to what the pitching unit and batting order may look like next week.

In other news, a trade prediction has been made which would land the Friars another star on the aforementioned pitching roster that is still continuing to take shape. The would-be interleague trade would help fill the void of both Dylan Cease's departure and Yu Darvish's unfortunate injury news keeping him out for the year.

Finally, the Padres have continued to trim down their roster with Opening Day right around the corner, and in the latest round of cuts, two key players have been sent to Triple-A.

A 30-year-old infielder and a 27-year-old right-hander who each had underwhelming springs will start the year in the minors, after there was hope they would break major league camp at the start of the offseason. Seven other players were reassigned to minor league camp.

While on the topic of making the roster, veteran infielder Ty France was informed that he will begin 2026 as a member of the Padres. France made his major league debut with the Padres in 2019 after being drafted by San Diego in 2015. He will surely look to make an impact as he begins his second stint as a member of the Friars.

Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article):

Padres Opening Day Roster Projection 3.0: Starting Rotation Finalized, Final Battles

Predicting Padres-Twins Blockbuster Trade for $6.2 Million Star Ahead of Opening Day

San Diego Padres Announce Massive Roster Cuts, Send 2 Key Players to Triple-A

Padres Righty Flamethrower Predicted to Have Breakout Year

Padres To Be Without $28 Million Reliever for Start of Season

Padres Have Made Decision on Walker Buehler, Ty France Ahead of Opening Day

Padres May Have Major Problem Amid Luis Campusano's Struggles

Padres Tweets of the Day

Adrian MoreGAS pic.twitter.com/KRGI9ExnY1
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 21, 2026

Ty France has made the #Padres Opening Day roster, per @sdutKevinAcee.

The veteran infielder has had a great spring, hitting .318 with a .912 OPS, 2 HR and 12 RBI.

France was signed to a minor-league contract on February 16th and could’ve have opted out today if he didn’t make… pic.twitter.com/4VUG91C3dF
— SleeperPadres (@SleeperPadres) March 21, 2026

We have optioned INF Mason McCoy and RHP Alek Jacob to Triple-A El Paso and reassigned LHP Marco Gonzales, RHP Triston McKenzie, C Rodolfo Durán, INF Francisco Acuña, OF Nick Schnell, INF/OFers Nick Solak and Pablo Reyes to minor league camp.

With today’s moves, we now have 44…
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 22, 2026

The Padres have selected the contract of Walker Buehler, per @sdutKevinAcee.

Buehler and Germán Márquez are expected to round out the season-opening rotation.

The veteran righty will make $1.5 million. pic.twitter.com/4cMsi1KuWV
— SleeperPadres (@SleeperPadres) March 21, 2026