Padres looking to address 3 areas after Winter Meetings

DALLAS -- These Winter Meetings were markedly less eventful for the Padres than the past two. No blockbuster Juan Soto trade. No Xander Bogaerts mega-contract.

A productive week nonetheless, said general manager A.J. Preller, as he readied to leave Dallas on Wednesday.

“It’s been a lot of conversation," Preller said. “A lot of getting a sense of where the market is, free agency-wise and trade. We definitely have a lot of things that we’re able to do and could line up on. We’ll see where it all takes us in the next couple weeks.”

The most notable outcome from this week's Winter Meetings was the posting of right-hander Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old Japanese ace who can begin negotiating with teams. The Padres are among the early favorites, and they feel strongly Sasaki will like their pitch.

Beyond Sasaki, there's plenty to get done. The San Diego roster is incomplete and features a number of trade and extension candidates.

If nothing else, a quiet Winter Meetings should portend a busy month or two.

Biggest remaining needs
Preller laid them out on Monday: "Catcher, the corner outfield and starting pitching,” he said. “Those are three pretty obvious needs."

1. Catcher
The Padres gave Kyle Higashioka "what we thought was a very fair offer," before the veteran backstop signed with Texas this month, Preller said. That leaves San Diego in need of at least one catcher and potentially two. Luis Campusano finished a disappointing 2024 season at Triple-A, and the Padres need a starting-caliber player behind the plate.

"We've been involved in, so far, almost all of the catchers that have gone off the board to some degree -- checking in, making some offers," Preller said. "We just haven't lined up quite yet. My guess is that'll be an area that we keep focusing on in the next couple weeks, via trade or free agency."

2. Corner outfield
Don't read into Preller's use of "corner" here. The Padres need a corner bat to play left field. Fernando Tatis Jr. is staying put in right, Preller said, shutting down speculation that he'd be a candidate for the shortstop job. Jurickson Profar, whose best seasons have come in San Diego, remains an option. But he might be able to find significantly bigger dollars elsewhere.

3. Starting pitching
This is the big one. Even if the Padres were to sign Sasaki, they'd need to find another rotation-caliber arm or two. They've mulled the possibility of moving a couple of their relievers into starting roles. But they'll first be very active on the trade and free-agent fronts.

Rule 5 Draft
The lone Padres transaction at the Winter Meetings? For the second year in a row, they added a right-handed pitcher in the Rule 5 Draft. After taking (and keeping) Stephen Kolek last season, they selected Orioles prospect Juan Nu?ez, who slots into the Padres’ system as their No. 11 prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

Acquired by Baltimore in the 2022 Jorge Lopez/Yennier Cano trade with Minnesota, Nu?ez posted a 2.45 ERA at High-A last season, though he was limited with a shoulder strain. He brings a four-pitch mix -- mid-90s fastball, curveball, slider, changeup -- and has spent a chunk of his career as a starter. He’d presumably fit better as a long-man in the ‘pen, but Preller noted that Nu?ez would be stretched toward a starting role in camp.

“We’ll see how it all plays out as we get into competition and where it goes,” Preller said. “But we didn’t take him and say, ‘All right we’re going to flip him to the ‘pen, and he’s going to be a one-inning guy.’”

Per Rule 5 Draft stipulations, Nu?ez must remain on the Padres’ Major League roster for the entire season or be offered back to Baltimore.

GM's bottom line
The Padres have a pivotal couple months awaiting them. They’ll be making their pitch to Sasaki. They’ll be mulling several trade possibilities. When extension season comes around, Luis Arraez and Michael King -- both free agents after 2025 -- should be obvious candidates, even if the Padres have yet to engage with either.

In the meantime, expect the usual A.J. Preller wheeling and dealing. Nary an offseason has gone by where Preller hasn’t shaken things up to an extent.

“We’ll keep making phone calls,” Preller said. “We’ll be prepared over the next couple weeks. Got a better sense here this week on some guys we like, how that process will work. We’ll be prepared at the right time.”