What's next for Padres after two new deals?

This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell's Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Not only is baseball back, but the Padres have welcomed its return by adding two free-agent starters to their rotation mix.

Wednesday marked the informal beginning of the 2025 season, with pitchers and catchers going through their first workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex. Only a few hours afterward, San Diego made a major splash by agreeing to a four-year contract with right-hander Nick Pivetta, sources told MLB.com.

That deal, which includes opt-outs after the 2026 and ¡¯27 seasons, has not yet been finalized and is pending a physical. For the full details, you can read my story here.

And you can read about the club¡¯s other intriguing rotation addition here. A day after the Pivetta agreement, the Padres signed left-hander Kyle Hart -- who has limited big league experience but had great success in Korea last season, winning the KBO¡¯s version of the Cy Young Award.

With Hart officially on board -- and Pivetta set to join him soon -- here's a look at what comes next for San Diego.

1. The rotation battle is set

Pivetta gives the Padres a bona fide No. 4 starter behind the trio of Dylan Cease, Michael King and Yu Darvish. His arrival also helps clarify the rotation battle this spring: There's one place available and several starters vying for it.

Hart is clearly one of those options after he posted a 2.69 ERA in 26 KBO starts last season. Joining him in the rotation race are Matt Waldron and Randy V¨¢squez, two key contributors last year. Both spoke with reporters early on Wednesday about their excitement to compete for a rotation place. That competition remains -- even if the path is now narrower.

Jhony Brito and Stephen Kolek, meanwhile, are both healthy after dealing with elbow trouble last year. Both were mentioned as rotation candidates by manager Mike Shildt, who confirmed that Kolek would be making the transition from the bullpen toward a starter's workload this year.

So, it¡¯s a handful of intriguing potential starters with one spot available. At least, that's the calculus for now ...

2. Are the Padres done dealing?

It's possible the Padres could still add to their rotation mix. Certainly not another arm of Pivetta's caliber -- he might have been the best free-agent starter remaining -- but they could look to add another low-cost option like Hart.

The most intriguing question is whether San Diego would look to deal from its current group of starters. Recently, trade rumors surrounding Cease had begun to subside. It's unclear if Pivetta's arrival might spark them back to life, but general manager A.J. Preller downplayed that possibility.

¡°He's a very big part of our club,¡± Preller said of Cease. ¡°The additions the last couple days supplement what's a really good rotation. That's our focus here going forward -- having that strong rotation.¡±

Preller acknowledged that he¡¯ll continue to listen to offers: ¡°You¡¯ve always got to listen; a lot of teams this offseason have had interest in a lot of our players.¡±

Pivetta gives the Padres some measure of stability if they were to trade a frontline arm. But as things stand -- with Cease, King, Darvish and Pivetta -- San Diego has the makings of a formidable rotation.

3. As for the bullpen ¡­

At FanFest, Shildt revealed that left-hander Adrian Morejon would continue in a relief role. On Wednesday, Shildt said the same of righty Bryan Hoeing. After an offseason of speculation about which of the Padres' relievers might transition into a starting role, it¡¯s only Kolek among the returnees.

With the recent rotation additions, that makes a bit more sense. Plus, now that Hoeing and Morejon are returning to relief roles, San Diego¡¯s bullpen looks awfully deep. There's perhaps only one vacancy -- with several talented arms like Sean Reynolds and Alek Jacob set to compete for it.

Then again, bullpens rarely unfold according to script (and often are bit by the injury bug in spring). The Padres¡¯ depth is assuredly a good thing.

Plus, notably, closer Robert Suarez has also been mentioned as a trade candidate. He can opt out of his contract and become a free agent at the end of the season. The current depth of San Diego¡¯s ¡®pen might make moving Suarez more palatable than moving one of its frontline starters like Cease or King.