{"id":95453,"date":"2025-02-11T16:52:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T21:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=95453"},"modified":"2025-02-11T17:08:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T22:08:27","slug":"padres-trade-rumors-roster-payroll-flexibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/11\/padres-trade-rumors-roster-payroll-flexibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres Could Make Bold Moves to Strengthen Pitching \u2013 Trade Talks in Full Swing"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the MLB offseason lingers in a state of stagnation, the San Diego Padres have made some key moves to retool their roster. They extended manager Mike Schildt\u2019s contract and retained most of their coaching staff, while adding part-time free agents Elias Diaz, Jason Heyward, and Connor Joe. Notably, Joe, a San Diego native, is expected to fill the team’s vacancy in left field<\/a> following the departure of Jurickson Profar to the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\n

No major league trades have been made, but off-field drama continues with a lawsuit filed<\/a> by the widow of the former chairman against his brothers.<\/p>\n

Trade Rumors: Cease, King, and Suarez<\/h2>\n

Recent reports, including insights from Jeff Passan of ESPN<\/a>, suggest that landing Nick Pivetta could give the Padres the flexibility to trade one of their right-handers\u2014either Dylan Cease<\/a> or Michael King\u2014though sources indicate that King is increasingly unlikely to be moved. The Padres have been actively fielding offers<\/a> for closer Robert Su\u00e1rez, which makes sense given their bullpen depth and Su\u00e1rez\u2019s opt-out provision next winter. With Jason Adam potentially stepping in as the new closer, dealing Su\u00e1rez could also clear $10 million from the Padres’ payroll.<\/p>\n

Inside Sources on Potential Trades<\/h3>\n

However, sources from within the organization provide mixed signals. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune<\/a> reported that King is essentially off the trade block, with word circulating that Cease is more likely to stay in San Diego.<\/p>\n

“Multiple sources have said King is essentially off the trade block,” Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. “Word is [Dylan] Cease is increasingly likely to stay. But [Robert] Su\u00e1rez appears to be another story.”<\/p>\n

As for Su\u00e1rez, while moving him could bring back a valuable return, it\u2019s far from a certainty. Despite the interest in Su\u00e1rez, insiders believe the Padres may not be actively pursuing a deal for their closer, especially given his contract and pivotal role. San Diego appears to be comfortable with their bullpen depth at the back end with Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Stephen Kolek, Sean Reynolds and left-hander Adrian Morejon.<\/p>\n

With King’s recent contract agreement, the financial structure positions to Cease, with a higher salary projection, as a probable candidate for any future payroll-related transactions.<\/p>\n

Payroll and Roster Flexibility<\/h3>\n

The Padres’ payroll for 2025 is expected to surpass last year’s final mark of $169 million. However, the Opening Day figure is likely to fall below the projected $210 million in commitments, which includes arbitration-eligible players. As a result, general manager A.J. Preller must navigate the offseason with care, balancing the roster while managing the team’s financial commitments.<\/p>\n

One strategy to achieve payroll flexibility is to negotiate long-term deals with key players. For example, Luis Arr\u00e1ez, who is projected to earn $13-15 million in 2025, could be offered a multi-year contract with a lower annual average. This would ease the immediate payroll burden. Additionally, trading Cease could free up salary space, while moving Su\u00e1rez would not only relieve financial pressure but also create opportunities for other bullpen arms to step up. These potential moves underscore the Padres\u2019 efforts to balance their roster and financial obligations heading into the season.<\/p>\n

With King’s recent contract agreement, the financial structure now positions Cease as a more likely candidate for any future payroll-related transactions, given his higher salary projection.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: \u00a9 David Frerker-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the MLB offseason lingers in a state of stagnation, the San Diego Padres have made some key moves to retool their roster. They extended manager Mike Schildt\u2019s contract and retained most of their coaching staff, while adding part-time free agents Elias Diaz, Jason Heyward, and Connor Joe. Notably, Joe, a San Diego native, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":95458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1071],"tags":[4535,1524,1138,3384,3111,6448],"class_list":["post-95453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","category-mlb","tag-connor-joe","tag-dylan-cease","tag-jurickson-profar","tag-luis-arraez","tag-michael-king","tag-robert-suarez"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95453"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95460,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95453\/revisions\/95460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}