The San Diego Padres were great in 2024, but now need to start preparing for the 2025 campaign.
San Diego was great in the regular season and surprised people with 93 wins. There was a time when it seemed like the Padres could take over the National League West lead from the Los Angeles Dodgers despite trading Juan Soto away last offseason and losing Blake Snell.
The Padres were great and continued to add around the trade deadline to help down the stretch. One of the Padres' biggest moves was adding All-Star reliever Tanner Scott. He arguably was the most sought-after reliever ahead of the deadline, and he was everything the Padres could've hoped for.
Although he was fantastic, he will be a free agent this winter, and FanSided's Christopher Kline predicted he won't be back in San Diego in 2025.
"There is a delicate line between recognizing the value of an elite bullpen and overspending on bullpen arms," Kline said. "Just ask the Houston Astros, who dropped $95 million on Josh Hader in a deal fated to flop. Tanner Scott arrived at the trade deadline and was excellent, continuing his dominant All-Star campaign that started with the Miami Marlins...Scott is quite possibly the best southpaw reliever in the National League. The Padres' late-relief crew was up there with the best in baseball once October rolled around.
"Coughing up real assets for Scott at the deadline certainly incentivizes San Diego to bring him back, but the bidding war will get dizzying. Factor in the depth in the Padres' bullpen already — including a perfectly capable closer in Robert Suarez — and the signs point to Scott ending up somewhere else. At a point, San Diego will bow out of the spending wars."
It would be nice for the Padres to bring Scott back, but it may not happen as he will be very expensive.
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