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Fernando Tatis Jr. trade idea exposes the rotation question the Padres’ new owners can’t duck

Keep the right fielder. Find the starters.
ByTremayne Person
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Sep 29, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) celebrates after scoring against the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Sep 29, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) celebrates after scoring against the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Good ol’ Bob Nightengale is at it again. This time, he stirred up a question worth asking, even if his hypothetical is a bad idea for the Padres. In his GM meetings column for USA TODAY, Nightengale wondered whether A.J. Preller would consider dangling Fernando Tatis Jr. or Mason Miller. The Padres section gives us a question, with no indication that San Diego has shopped Tatis or asked him to waive his no-trade clause. 

Still, there’s a reason the idea gets under our skin. We’ve watched Preller piece together a rotation time and time again. Now we’re supposed to entertain the idea that the price of fixing it might be their star in right field?

Hard pass. Trade Tatis and you can spend the rest of the winter looking for a right fielder who changes games with his bat and his glove. Trade Miller and you can add “find a closer” to the same list that already says “find starters.” Either way, Preller would be creating another problem for a roster that has plenty of them.

The question worth keeping belongs to Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano. How much room are they willing to give Preller to fix the rotation with Tatis still in right field and Miller still taking the ninth?

The Padres need starters they can count on

Michael King and Nick Pivetta are free agents, and the Padres already spent last season patching their rotation together. This might be a harder place to start this time around. 

Start with King. If the Padres can bring him back, we know who we’d want taking the ball in Game 1 of a playoff series. If he signs elsewhere, Preller needs to find a starter he’d trust in that same spot. Then go get a second reliable veteran

The big contracts were already on the books when Jones and Feliciano bought the Padres. So was the guy who went 55 games without a homer last season and still finished with 25 home runs, 38 steals and a .289 average. Fernando Tatis Jr. earned a 2026 Silver Slugger finalist nod in the NL utility category, and he already has two Gold Gloves in right field. Go ahead and pencil in the payroll savings from a hypothetical trade. Then tell us what it costs to replace that player. The Padres need starters. Tatis is one of the reasons it’s worth paying for them.

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