3 storylines to watch as Padres open camp

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Baseball season.

The bulk of the Padres' pitchers and catchers have already reported to the team's Spring Training complex in Peoria, Ariz. Their first formal workout is slated for Wednesday, with the full squad set to join them on Feb. 17.

As usual, there are plenty of spring storylines revolving around the Padres. Here's a look at three of the biggest:

1) A roster in flux
For a second consecutive season, the Padres will begin Spring Training understanding that their roster could be due for a shakeup in the coming weeks. Last year, it went about as well as they could've imagined.

They signed Jurickson Profar during camp. He became an All-Star. They traded for Dylan Cease as they broke camp. He finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting.

It's a great credit to the 2024 Padres that they saw so much roster turnover after their season effectively began -- and still won 93 games and turned in one of the better seasons in franchise history.

"What makes it work is you already have an established clubhouse and [coaching] staff that are cohesive and are working in lockstep," manager Mike Shildt said. "Then, when you add something to the puzzle, it’s able to assimilate fairly quickly. … We talk about baseball being a game of adjustments, and we’re going to be elite adjusters."

The Padres got a head-start over the weekend, signing Connor Joe to fill the righty half of a platoon in left field, then agreeing with Jason Heyward to serve as the lefty half. (The Heyward deal had not been finalized or announced by the club, but the expectation is that it will come this week.)

Still, there are serious question marks on the Padres’ pitching staff -- not to mention numerous areas where they could upgrade on offense. A number of Padres have been rumored as trade candidates, including Cease (although those rumblings seem to have died down lately).

And yet, the baseball calendar marches forward. It's spring. Workouts begin this week. The Padres have a star-studded roster they feel pretty good about -- but it surely won’t look the same when they break camp six weeks from now.

2) The rotation mix
The front of the San Diego rotation is formidable enough -- Cease, Michael King and Yu Darvish. Beyond that trio? Well, the options are thinner than the Padres would like.

As such, if there's one area that's likeliest to get a shakeup this spring, it's the rotation. Not to say that Matt Waldron and Randy Vásquez -- projected as the fourth and fifth starters -- won't be valuable contributors in 2025. It's just better to have lots of options, lots of depth and, in the spring, lots of competition.

"Starting pitching, you've got to keep hitting it all the time," general manager A.J. Preller said at the Winter Meetings. "You've got to keep finding it, all different ways."

Since then, the Padres have not added a starter to their big league club, and they missed out on Japanese ace Roki Sasaki. Meanwhile, a handful of trades last season depleted the upper levels of their farm system.

It’s imperative that the Padres find starting pitching, and the next month should be telling. They will likely add a starter or two, and they might even attempt to convert a reliever or two. (Bryan Hoeing and Stephen Kolek have been mentioned.)

3) Prospect watch
The Padres unveiled their list of non-roster invitees on Friday, with top prospects Leodalis De Vries and Ethan Salas as headliners. De Vries was recently ranked as the No. 18 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, with Salas at 33rd.

If the recent past is any indication, both should be given a major opportunity this spring. (The Padres have not been shy about giving opportunity to their top prospects.) Of course, Salas and De Vries are both still 18 and destined to start the season in the Minors. But they're going to be tested against big league caliber competition at two of the trickiest positions on the field -- Salas behind the plate and De Vries at shortstop.

Meanwhile, there are a handful of prospects who will be vying for big league time. Outfielder Tirso Ornelas might finally be on the verge of a breakthrough. His path to a roster spot got trickier with the recent outfield additions. But the Padres, as currently constructed, need one more corner bat to fill out their roster. Ornelas is an intriguing option.

In the bullpen, Sean Reynolds (No. 19 Padres prospect) seems likely to shed his prospect status quickly after an excellent debut last season. Could right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez (No. 12) do the same? What about Juan Nu?ez, acquired in the Rule 5 Draft? There's no shortage of young players to watch. Stay tuned.