SAN DIEGO -- As the rumors continue to swirl in San Diego, the Padres' first Major League trade of the offseason was a relatively minor one.

San Diego landed righty reliever Ron Marinaccio from the White Sox in exchange for cash considerations on Friday, the two teams announced. Marinaccio had been designated for assignment earlier this week.

The Padres are viewing it as a relatively low-cost move to upgrade their bullpen depth. In parts of three big league seasons Marinaccio has posted a 3.22 ERA with 137 strikeouts in 114 1/3 innings.

Marinaccio spent the bulk of his time last season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he notched a 2.04 ERA. In 16 big league appearances he notched a 3.86 mark -- albeit with a 4.92 FIP that indicates his performance was probably a bit lower his ERA indicates.

In any case, Marinaccio will have a chance to win a place in the Padres' bullpen. It's an area on the roster which is already viewed as a strength. But the Padres could still have plenty of incentive to fortify it.

Earlier this winter general manager A.J. Preller indicated that -- with the Padres in need of starting pitching -- a handful of relievers might get a chance to transition to the rotation. Among that group, Adrian Morejon, Bryan Hoeing and Stephen Kolek were mentioned.

The Padres currently have two vacancies in their rotation behind a formidable trio of Dylan Cease, Michael King and Yu Darvish. Cease, who will become a free agent after the 2025 season, has been mentioned as a trade candidate, with the idea being the Padres could bring back multiple players with more years of control.

Still, with less than a month until Cactus League play, San Diego has yet to add to its rotation this winter, missing out on highly touted free-agent Roki Sasaki last week. It's possible the Padres would look internally for solutions -- which would free up space in the bullpen. But they're still very likely to add a starter or two at some point before the season.

As for Marinaccio, he has one further season of Minor League options remaining. His arrival brings the Padres' 40-man roster to 35 players.