The San Diego Padres have been in the headlines during the GM Meetings in Las Vegas. There have been reports about how aggressive general manager A.J. Preller has been in the free agent market, especially considering the enormous need for pitching in San Diego. There have been reports about how much interest Preller has in adding players from Japan who are either making the move from overseas or who have already spent some time in MLB. And of course, there is the biggest rumor that the Padres are a player for top
free agent pitcher Tarik Skubal.
The Friar Faithful have come to know and in many cases expect these storylines to permeate through GM Meetings and Winter Meetings year after year. That is one of the things that come with having Preller, the Rockstar GM, as the architect of your baseball team.
In recent years, Preller has operated on a minimal or seemingly no-existent budget — he has even cut payroll and still been able to put together a competitive team. San Diego has made the playoffs each of the past three seasons, but has not had enough to reach the pinnacle of the sport. This season, if there is a season, should be no different especially with financial backing from new ownership. It is unknown what kind of financial commitment Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones will make in terms of payroll spending, but when you purchase a team for billions of dollars there is no reason to expect they will go cheap.
With that said, San Diego did make an addition to the roster with the signing of Ryan Weiss who is a right-handed pitcher who most recently was with the Houston Astros. It is unclear whether Weiss will be used as a reliever or a depth possibility in the rotation, but with pitching coach Ruben Niebla and his track record with pitchers surely all options are on the table. It was not the signing many fans hoped for, but it should be the first of many as the GM Meetings and offseason continues leading up to the expected lockout on Dec. 1.
Padres News:
- It is no secret the Padres need starting pitching. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball looked at the state of the San Diego rotation at this point in the offseason.
- Adrian Morejon has been with the Padres his entire career and that may come to an end as he enters free agency, but he was dominant in 2026 for San Diego. See what grade he received from Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball.
- Reports from the GM Meetings regarding Morejon and his free agency have stated the pitcher wants to remain a reliever despite some teams wanting to convert him to a starter.
Baseball News:
- Will Venable of the Chicago White Sox and Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers win Manager of the Year in their respective leagues.
- Multiple teams are expected to meet with Tarik Skubal in the coming weeks.
- Free agent reliever Emilio Pagan agreed to a one year deal with the Detroit Tigers.
- New York Yankees starter Max Fried had offseason surgery to remove a bone spur.
- The Texas Rangers are open to trading stars off their roster.
- The Seattle Mariners do not intend to bring back J.P. Crawford.
