Padres All-Star Linked to Dodgers, Yankees in Upcoming Free Agency

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Robert Suarez (75) leaves the game during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Petco Park on May 12. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The Padres are only 2.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West with 11 games left in the regular season. For that, they can thank the Dodgers' bullpen.

After blowing a tie game in the ninth inning Tuesday at home against the Philadelphia Phillies, Dodgers relief pitchers are 3-12 with a 4.50 ERA since the Aug. 1 trade deadline. While their starting rotation has been among the best units in baseball during that same timeframe, the Dodgers are heading toward another offseason in the market for relief pitching.

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Having failed to turn former Padres pitchers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates into the dominant relievers they envisioned last winter, could Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman look to sign another Padres free agent closer?

Jon Heyman of the New York Post listed Los Angeles as one of two likely suitors for Robert Suarez, who becomes a free agent at the conclusion of the World Series. The New York Yankees are the other.

Heyman also reported what many already consider a foregone conclusion: that Suarez will decline his $8 million contract option for 2026 in order to test the open market.

Suarez has given the Padres a National League-leading 38 saves this season, posting a 3.06 ERA and 0.928 WHIP in 65 games. In July, he made the NL All-Star team for the second time in as many years.

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Not only will that make Suarez one of the most in-demand closers on the free agent market, the Padres almost guaranteed they would not attempt to re-sign him when they acquired Mason Miller from the A's in a blockbuster deadline trade.

While the Padres can look forward to having Miller on the mound in ninth-inning save situations for the next few years, they can look forward to seeing Suarez wear another team's uniform.

Scott's four-year, $72 million deal with the Dodgers offers a useful point of comparison for what Suarez might get on the open market.

At 34, Suarez is four years older than Scott was last winter, so the term of his next deal will likely be shorter. But the $18 million average annual value for an All-Star closer at the top of his game — which Scott was during his two-plus months in San Diego — could be in line with Suarez's demands.

The Padres' bullpen is arguably the best in baseball. Allocating $18 million or more to add to it would likely be seen as wasteful spending with other needs ranking higher on their offseason wish list.

The Dodgers and Yankees, who play in baseball's largest media markets, might be able to find that kind of money between their couch cushions.

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