It started with a series of minor league free agent signings with Gavin Sheets, Yuli Gurriel and Jason Heyward committing to one-year deals. On the first day of Spring Training the San Diego Padres signed former Boston Red Sox pitcher, Nick Pivetta. With a tight budget and prices for players skyrocketing, Head of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller back-filled a depleted roster and hoped a few things hit.
Two things did hit. At least, two players did. Both Pivetta and Sheets tore through the spring and started
the season as surprise standouts for the organization. Although the other free agent signings, as well as 1B/OF Connor Joe, eventually left the team, the two who started hot, thrived through the whole season.
Lots of other things didn’t go well, though. Starters Yu Darvish and Michael King never really got going because of injury and ended the season with inflated ERA numbers. Dylan Cease was inconsistent and inefficient with most of his performances.
Struggling offense
Then there was that offense. Despite being the same core players as last year, this group never could sustain any real success. Jackson Merrill was injured three different times, while Jake Cronenworth and Xander Bogaerts missed time with injuries. The team struggled in the bottom of the order without a catcher who could hit. Luis Arraez had his worst season as a professional.
Their stops and starts showcased one constant, they had trouble slugging and hitting with runners in scoring position. That was a thorn in their side the whole season.
Despite all of that, they were a talented group of players and ended up winning 90 games, three games back of the division-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. Taking the second Wild Card spot, the Padres showed in the three-game series with the Chicago Cubs exactly the issues that hamstrung them through the season. They scored five runs over the three games, while their pitching staff allowed six runs to the Cubs.
But, oh, that bullpen
The pitching was good all year, despite lots of issues with the starting rotation. The bullpen carried this team, saving game after game and holding their opponents to low scores for many games when the offense was inefficient.
Wasted opportunity could be the theme for this team in 2025. With a skilled roster and excellent bullpen pitching, they could have gone far. Instead, it was the earliest playoff elimination in organizational history. The roster remains very much the same for next year. Trade deadline acquisition Ramón Laureano fills the hole in left field and is a potent right-handed bat. He has another year of control for the team.
While the starters will need some supplementation if King and Cease walk, Joe Musgrove should be back and Randy Vasquez has shown improvement over the 2024 season. Darvish remains a question mark with his aging elbow and Preller will need to be creative if the payroll remains in the same range as this year. Although large contracts are off the books, raises to big contract holders offset some of that.
Taking the disappointment out of the end result, the bones remain for a winning team. Preller has already shown he knows how to build on a budget. Assuming the disappointment expressed by controlling owner John Seidler in his season-ending letter doesn’t result in mass changes, Preller should have the ability to build an even better team next season.
The biggest question that remains is how to fix the offense. The Padres had the same hitting coach the past two years. Runs weren’t a problem until the last series of the ‘24 season, when the Dodgers shut the Padres down. The same problem was present for the whole season in 2025 and an inability to slug joined it. Figure out that problem and then look forward to next year.
