Padres Notes: Trade Prediction With Twins, Ominous Joe Musgrove News, Nick Castellanos ‘Award’

After a much-deserved off-day, the San Diego Padres took down the Chicago White Sox, 13-6, on Thursday evening and improved their record to 14-11-1 this spring.

Gavin Sheets started things off with a first inning home run while Southern California native Ty France launched his second home run of the spring in the eighth inning to seal the deal. Both France and Jake Cronenworth had three RBIs apiece, while Fernando Tatis Jr. knocked in a pair of runs in his first game back after the World Baseball Classic.

With Opening Day less than a week away, all eyes are on president of baseball operations A.J. Preller to see if he will expand upon his masterful 2025 trade deadline with a few more moves before the 2026 campaign begins. With the backstop position still needing potential reinforcements ahead of the title chase, a trade prediction is seen with the Minnesota Twins to bring a new catcher to San Diego.

In some unfortunate news, Padres manager Craig Stammen provided an ominous update regarding right-hander Joe Musgrove.

“Everything’s good with Joe. We’re just taking that little breather, like we talked about," Stammen said. "Probably not making the beginning of the season, but we’ll have him at some point. Excited for him to get over this little hump, take a little breather and then get back at it."

Musgrove has a 3.20 ERA across four seasons with the Friars and last took the mound for his team to start Game 2 of the 2024 Wild Card series against the Atlanta Braves. He then underwent Tommy John surgery.

Finally, as veteran outfielder Nick Castellanos prepares for his first season in San Diego, he received a spring training "award" from his manager. Castellanos recently started taking reps at first base and even played all nine innings as the cornerman earlier this week.

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

Predicting Padres-Twins Trade for $1.35 Million Catcher Ahead of Opening Day

Padres Manager Offers Ominous Return Timeline for Joe Musgrove

Nick Castellanos Gets Spring Training ‘Award’ From Padres Manager

Former Padres Top Prospect Signs With Rival Dodgers After WBC Run

Padres All-Star Reliever Suddenly Hitting 100 MPH in Massive Development

Padres Announce Exciting Broadcast News Ahead of Opening Day

Padres Seem to Have Hit Jackpot With Offseason Addition

Padres Social Media of the Day