The San Diego Padres have a very solid starting rotation in 2024. But could they have an elite one in 2025?
With Dylan Cease, Michael King, Joe Musgrove, and Yu Darvish all signed for the upcoming season, the Padres have a lot of firepower in-house to make a run at a World Series. They could still do so in 2024, though Darvish is currently not pitching due to a personal matter.
However, if the Padres are willing to break the bank and go back over the luxury tax threshold, there is another starter who will likely be available that could vault them over the top in the National League. And he's a pitcher the Padres happen to be very familiar with.
Blake Snell, the 2023 NL Cy Young winner with the Padres, has been baseball's most dominant pitcher in the second half thus far. Though he signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco Giants, Snell can opt out, and that could mean he heads right back downstate to San Diego.
On Tuesday, Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer named the Padres as the number-one fit for Snell in free agency this winter, assuming the lefty opts out of the deal he signed with the Giants.
"If the Padres do bring back Snell, he would slot back in next to Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove and otherwise alongside Dylan Cease and Michael King," Rymer said. "That wouldn't be just any starting rotation. It would be the best in baseball."
Snell, 31, is on fire after a slow start to the 2024 season. He has a 1.34 ERA since the All-Star break, including a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds, and has struck out an MLB-best 59 batters since the Midsummer Classic.
After signing with the Giants in the final hours of the offseason, Snell will likely want a more traditional Spring Training experience in 2025. If he continues to pitch the way he is right now, Snell is more likely to land the nine-figure free-agent deal he sought and was unable to find in 2023.
The Padres shed nearly $90 million from their payroll this past offseason, so there's a chance they could go right back to spending top dollar to reunite with Snell. But will they win the sweepstakes against the other top spenders around the league?
More MLB: Braves 2021 playoff hero surprisingly predicted to be released amid brutal slump
