As we enter the new year, the Padres are still looking to fill two more holes in their starting rotation. The team did manage to bring back Michael King on a three-year, $75 million deal, but that doesn’t dismiss the fact that both Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish won’t be present in 2026.
We already know that Cease signed a multi-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, and Darvish is sidelined for the entirety of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery. This means A.J. Preller will need to dig deep to replace the two. Whether through free agency or trade, something needs to get done.