CBS Sports predicts Padres will sign former hated Dodgers pitcher this offseason

The baseball offseason is always a wild ride. It's easy to get caught up in the rumors and the predictions, especially when the calendar year flips. Now that we are into 2025, some players have already inked deals with surprise teams, leaving Padres fans on the edge of their seat for the remainder of the winter.

The pool of available players is growing smaller, meaning some predictions have a greater chance of actually becoming true. For Padres fans, they may not fall in love with the latest prediction, but it could become true if all else fails. Max Scherzer, the aging right-handed legend, could be headed to San Diego, according to CBS Sports.

CBS Sports predicts Padres will sign former hated Dodgers pitcher this offseason

Though the Friars want to sign Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki, that dream may not happen. If that fear becomes a reality and Sasaki does sign elsewhere, San Diego needs to consider who is left to bolster their starting rotation. The added possibility of the Padres trading away Dylan Cease makes the need for a new arm even greater. All of a sudden, San Diego would need another starter.

In comes Max Scherzer, who will be 41 years old this coming July. He may not be anyone's first choice this winter, but Scherzer could still capable of being a top-end starter. When he wasn't battling a hamstring injury or recovering from back surgery, he twirled a 1.154 WHIP in 43 1/3 innings with the Rangers across nine starts last season, which included three shutouts.

Something else to consider is that Scherzer is dynamite at Petco Park. In 46 1/3 career innings in San Diego, Scherzer has fired 70 strikeouts and has allowed opponents to hit just .198 across eight appearances. The comfort is obviously there in Southern California, so maybe this prediction isn't as off the rails as people might think.

Adding a cemented Hall of Fame pitcher to the staff is never a bad thing either, and despite Scherzer's age, his competitiveness is unmatched. A number of teams still believe in him, as Scherzer looks to further cement his place among the all-time greats in career strikeouts, an accomplishment that could be supplementary to the excitement swirling around the Padres' hope of another playoff push in 2025. He and Justin Verlander are separated by nine strikeouts, and they are not far behind Walter Johnson's 3,509, which is ninth-most in history.

Scherzer coming to San Diego is not plan A this winter, but keeping him on the radar is the smart thing to do. His veteran presence alone would benefit the starting rotation, and if he can still pitch at a formidable level, then adding him may not be the worst acquisition. But the search for a new arm still begins with Roki Sasaki, and if he does not land in San Diego, then predicting a Scherzer contract with the Padres is not so crazy after all.