Preller, Stammen Discuss Padres’ Offseason, Rotation, Injuries

Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and manager Craig Stammen held an end-of-season wrap-up session yesterday, with the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, and The Athletic’s Dennis Lin among the reporters on the video call.  As has been the case during most of Preller’s tenure, he reiterated that the organization is committed to delivering “a championship product to the city of San Diego,” and taking the “few more steps we need to take” in winning the Padres’ first World Series.

Beyond adding the final touches to the 91-win roster, however, the Padres first need to figure out how to keep some of that core intact, given how many key contributors are slated for free agency.  In particular, most of the starting rotation — Michael King (if he opts out as expected), Robbie Ray, Casey Mize, Walker Buehler — is hitting the open market, plus Nick Pivetta could join this group if the Padres decline their $14MM club option on Pivetta’s services.

Exercising that option would be a logical move for a team in such need of starting pitching, though Pivetta logged only 42 1/3 total innings in the 2026 regular season and playoffs due to a flexor strain that sidelined him for the majority of the year.  The extended nature of the injury altered Pivetta’s contract, turning his $14MM player option for 2027 into a club option for the Padres.

The four-year, $55MM deal Pivetta signed in February 2025 runs through the 2028 season, though Pivetta can opt out of the final year of that contract.  Cassavell notes that Pivetta’s opt-out after next season will remain intact if the Padres pick up their option this fall, adding another layer to the team’s decision-making process.

Preller implied that the Padres could discuss some type of reworked deal with Pivetta or a contract extension that would streamline things for both sides.  “Obviously, the straightforward option is picking up the club option…The next couple weeks, we’ll get together with our coaches, our staff, our evaluators and start trying to figure out what this puzzle looks like,” the PBO said.  “We’re hoping that Nick wants to be part of that puzzle.  We’re hoping that we can figure something out that makes him a part of this thing going forward.”

Yu Darvish remains the x-factor in the rotation picture, as the veteran right-hander underwent an internal brace procedure in November 2025 and spent all of last season rehabbing.  There were also reports that Darvish was considering retirement and walking away from at least some of money remaining on his contract.  The unusual situation took another step last March when Darvish was placed on San Diego’s restricted list, which removed his $15MM salary from the Padres’ books.

Darvish has kept throwing as part of his recovery process, but Preller didn’t give any indication about whether or not Darvish might be returning in 2027.  “We have so much respect for [Darvish].  We’ll sit down and kind of see where his head is at, but he’s been putting the work in to at least give himself an option,” Preller said.

Given how the rotation is in flux, Joe Musgrove’s availability carries even greater importance heading into 2027, but Preller didn’t even commit to Musgrove working in a starting role.  “We’re not starting the offseason like he’s definitely our Opening Day starter next year, our No. 3 starter, our eighth-inning guy,” Preller said.  “That will be one of the questions for the offseason, what’s the best spot for Joe Musgrove?”

The uncertainty stems from the injury problems that have cost Musgrove essentially two full seasons.  He underwent a Tommy John surgery and flexor tendon repair in October 2024, and some setbacks during the recovery process kept Musgrove off the mound in both the 2025 and 2026 regular seasons.  Musgrove did make it back to be part of San Diego’s postseason roster this fall, and he tossed three innings of shutout ball in two appearances out of the Padres bullpen.

Moving Musgrove to the pen would create an even larger need for rotation help, yet a relief role wouldn’t necessarily be permanent.  Musgrove would likely be on some kind of innings cap anyway as he continues to rebuild his arm strength, so having him gradually build up as a reliever with an eye towards using him as a starter later in 2027 could be one of the many options under consideration for Preller and the organization.  If Musgrove is able to become a high-leverage reliever, that would also address another need for San Diego since Adrian Morejon and Jason Adam could both depart in free agency.

How much money the Padres are willing to spend on roster upgrades is an open question, given how many big contracts continue to take up space on the team’s books.  Neither Preller or the team’s new ownership has been specific (as one might expect) about payroll size, though Acee writes that the expectation is that the Padres should be able to keep spending at least at their present levels, if not the level of their peak spending under former owner Peter Seidler.

Also from Acee, he hears from organizational sources that “the Padres will be more proactive” in their shopping this winter, rather than their more recent trend of waiting until later in the offseason to strike.  The impending lockout is likely a factor in this decision, given how the transactions freeze will begin when the collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1.

Acting earlier would represent a change in tactics from the 2021-22 lockout, as Lin notes that San Diego saved its larger pursuits until after the lockout ended in early March.  Preller himself discussed that offseason during the video call, and revealed that he “was getting on a plane to go talk to Kyle Schwarber and got told to get off the plane because he was going to finish up a deal with the Phillies.”  Schwarber indeed inked a four-year, $79MM deal with Philadelphia in March 2022, beginning a relationship that continued last winter when Schwarber re-signed with the Phillies on a five-year, $150MM pact.

In terms of returning personnel, Stammen expects “a majority, if not all of” his coaching staff to return in 2027.  The skipper also had injury updates on Jeremiah Estrada and Gavin Sheets, saying that both players should be ready for the start of Spring Training.

Estrada may be carrying more responsibility next year given the potential bullpen departures, but the right-hander was limited to 33 games and 31 innings in 2026 due to three separate IL stints for elbow tendinitis, knee inflammation, and a shoulder impingement.  The last of these issues kept Estrada from pitching after August 24, but Stammen said Estrada was working on his pitching progression throughout the playoffs and might have been available if the Padres had reached the NLCS.

Sheets missed about a month of action late in the season due to what was described as a left foot sprain, before returning for the playoffs.  Stammen revealed that Sheets had actually been playing through a left plantar plate tear over the last few months of the season, and it doesn’t appear as though Sheets will get surgery to fix the problem.  Whether Sheets opts for surgery or just rest, Stammen doesn’t expect the first baseman/outfielder to be limited in the spring.