Breaking: Padres Target $8 Million All-Star in Bid to…
The San Diego Padres won 93 games in 2024 and have the means to improve the roster even more this winter.
San Diego doesn’t need to make many massive changes, but it could always make sense to bring in more pitching. That is where the rival Los Angeles Dodgers could come into play. San Diego fought against the Dodgers hard, but were not able to get over the hump in the postseason.
The Padres will be looking for upgrades this winter and ESPN’s Jeff Passan suggested a deal with Dodgers free agent All-Star Walker Buehler would be the “perfect transaction” of the offseason for San Diego.
“With a payroll around $200 million already, the Padres won’t have much room to add to a roster that is deep in talent, with Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Luis Arraez and Xander Bogaerts anchoring the lineup and Robert Suarez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada forming perhaps the game’s nastiest bullpen quartet,” Passan said. “They’re also deep in tough-to-move contracts, which boxes them in when exceeding the CBT threshold is probably not in the cards…
“Getting (Rōki Sasaki) would alleviate a potential salary crunch, but if that doesn’t happen, and if they can’t line up on a big-name trade, there are enough options in free agency to fill out the rotation properly. One of them, in fact, would need to trek only 120 miles down the 5. The perfect transaction: Sign free agent right-hander Walker Buehler.”
Buehler made $8 million in 2024 and likely won’t get much more than that in free agency due to injuries. If the Padres want to hand out a short-term deal, he makes perfect sense.
