San Diego Padres Should Explore Available Free-Agent Pitchers

As per the Angels’ TV broadcast team today, there is a pretty impressive six-man rotation of available free-agent pitchers. The San Diego Padres wouldn’t be doing their due-diligence without kicking these hurlers’ tires.

While I was watching the San Diego Padres’ Cactus League game versus the Angels, my ears perked up in the 8th inning when the Halos’ color-commentator made a curious, but completely true remark.

He said, to paraphrase, that there is a pretty good six-man rotation of pitchers that are still without jobs on February 25th. He wasn’t joking. Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, Jeremy Hellickson, Alex Cobb, John Lackey, Kyle Kendrick, Scott Feldman, Clay Bucholz, Ubaldo Jimenez, and even R.A. Dickey are still lurking on the free-agent market.

That’s ten decent, available pitchers. There is no reason that Friars’ GM A.J. Preller shouldn’t be, at the very least, kicking the tires on one or more of these veteran hurlers. All have been effective at the major league level at one point or another over the last two years.

Friars would be foolish not to explore their options

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Considering every one of the guys, save for Dickey and (possibly?) Jimenez, they’re all still in their “prime years”.

Also, take into account the fact that Opening Day is a matter of weeks away and most of them would jump at any fair-market offer, it would be foolish of Preller to not explore his options.

In all likelihood, he’s been tossing these names around his brain trust in San Diego for months.

Whether A.J. Preller, manager Andy Green, and the rest of the San Diego Padres team-brass are comfortable with the options they currently have in-house will remain just that; in-house.

Next: Padres' Options If They Trade Headley

If they think that adding any available free-agent pitchers, from the names listed above or not, would improve this ballclub’s chances of success, they’d do it. If the Friars were to make a leap for a guy like Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, or Alex Cobb, in this writer’s opinion, it would increase those chances considerably.