The San Diego Padres are one of the more fascinating teams in baseball this offseason, with the organization needing to address multiple holes on the roster.
After falling short in the playoffs again, the Padres will be looking to bring in talent to go after a World Series title. But the Padres do have a new ownership group in place, and the big question around them is how aggressive they will want to be.
The big area of need for San Diego comes from the starting rotation, where the Padres have to essentially build the staff out fully. The Padres have a few players entering free agency, and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has some work to do this offseason.
Padres Linked to All-Star
As the Padres look for help in the rotation, one name that could make sense is left-hander Foster Griffin, who had an interesting season. Griffin split time between the Washington Nationals and Cleveland Guardians, and now he will be hitting free agency.
His time in Washington was much more successful, with Griffin making the All-Star team with the Nationals. Griffin posted a 3.06 ERA over 22 starts for the Nationals, striking out 116 batters over 129.1 innings.
But once he got to Cleveland, something shifted, and the left-hander struggled to replicate his success. With the Guardians, Griffin posted a 5.19 ERA over nine starts, striking out 42 batters over 43.1 innings of work.
MLB analyst Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report linked Griffin with San Diego, and he could fill a big need for this team. Kelly projected the contract to fall in the three-year range, worth $56 million, with an opt-out after the 2028 season.
“Truthfully, he’s probably somewhere in between the two pitchers he was this season. Griffin’s full body of work in 2026 is still pretty impressive, even with the second-half regression factored in. He pitched 172.2 innings, going 15-6 with a 3.60 ERA and a 3.96 FIP. He might have been in line for an even bigger deal at one point in the summer, but he should still make out pretty well this offseason.
“The San Diego Padres basically need to redo their entire rotation, considering that the aforementioned Mize, Michael King, Robbie Ray and Walker Buehler are all free agents. Griffin can’t be their only addition this offseason, but he would be a good place to start,” Kelly wrote.
Should the Padres Make This Move?
Given the number of pitchers that the Padres need this offseason, Griffin could be a solid investment for the team. Having him as a middle-of-the-pack arm could help the Padres lengthen the rotation, and Griffin could be a strong bounce-back candidate for 2027.
The left-hander still has a lot of skill to show, and the Padres could use someone like him to eat innings. As the Padres build out the staff, Griffin could make a lot of sense for this team to give them a legitimate arm.
Griffin may not have succeeded in Cleveland, but mid-season trades can be weird for pitchers in particular. San Diego needs to make sure that they bring in multiple pitchers this offseason, and Griffin could be one of the smarter moves for this team to make
Padres Predicted to Land Intriguing All-Star in Major Offseason Move