The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes got down to the final two suitors yesterday (let's be honest, though, he was always going to pick the Dodgers), and the San Diego Padres were not one of them.
The Padres have reportedly been eliminated in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.#MLBNHotStove | @jonmorosi pic.twitter.com/vTP2mnjRtt
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 17, 2025
That is, to put it mildly, a bit of a surprise, considering most prognosticators and experts assumed the Friars would be the only team standing alongside the Dodgers at that point in the race. Credit the Blue Jays for their apparent wooing of the 23-year-old Japanese stud, but this has to be chalked up to a major failure on the part of A.J. Preller and the Padres' front office.
Was San Diego ever going to beat out Los Angeles for Sasaki? No, probably not, but that doesn't make them any less of a loser when navigating the fallout of the starter's likely deal with the Dodgers.
Padres' offseason plan seemingly revolved around Sasaki
Let's recap exactly what the Padres have gained and lost since the offseason began in early November.
On the losses side of the ledger, catcher Kyle Higashioka (Rangers) and Donovan Solano (Mariners) have already found new teams this winter. Likewise, key contributors Jurickson Profar, Tanner Scott, Martín Pérez, and Ha-Seong Kim are all still currently free agents.
On the additive side of things, the Padres selected Juan Nuñez in the Rule 5 Draft from the Baltimore Orioles and... that's it. No free agent signings, no trades, no nothing. Seriously, the only addition to the Padres' 40-man roster this offseason is a guy with a 4.06 career ERA in the minor leagues who has never advanced past High-A.
That is, by all accounts, an objective failure of an offseason. Lest anyone forget, the Padres were the only team that truly threatened the Dodgers in the postseason last year, taking them to a decisive Game 5 in the NLDS before succumbing to L.A's star power.
San Diego's roster now looks like the quintessential stars-and-scrubs lineup, with a top-heavy batting order and pitching rotation. Depth is a serious issue, especially with most of the team's top prospects still years away while working through the lower levels of the minor leagues.
Considering the team is listening to trade offers on Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez, among others, it's clear that payroll has become an issue in San Diego. While that may be an excuse as to why they sat out the proceedings for Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, and others, it makes it even more frustrating that they missed out on Sasaki, since the international free agent will need to sign a minor league deal before becoming subject to the pre-arbitration and arbitration systems that artificially limit young player's salaries.
With Joe Musgrove already ruled out for the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery, adding Sasaki would have been the perfect move to wake the team up out of its offseason slumber.
Instead, they'll now watch Sasaki dominate the next half-decade for the Dodgers, all while wondering what could have been.