Padres’ non-tender buzz around key reliever makes this offseason look desperate

If you’re trying to convince fans this isn’t a cost-cutting offseason in disguise, floating the idea of non-tendering one of your best relievers is a weird place to start. The San Diego Padres have already spent the past year walking a tightrope between staying competitive and trimming payroll, and now the latest bit of rumor mill noise is that All-Star reliever Jason Adam could be non-tendered ahead of the Nov. 21 deadline.

On paper, it makes “sense” in that cold, spreadsheet kind of way: he’s coming off a major injury, he’s projected to make real money in arbitration, and the front office clearly feels pressure to create wiggle room on the margins. But in practice, even letting that possibility hang out there sends a message that the Padres are willing to weaken a strength just to shave salary.

Padres flirting with Jason Adam non-tender could blow a hole in elite bullpen

That’s the part that makes this whole conversation feel desperate. This isn’t a bloated, replacement-level arm we’re talking about. This is one of the anchors of what has been sold to fans as the path forward: win on run prevention, lean on an elite bullpen, and trust your arms to carry the load while the lineup turns over. For a club that keeps talking about contending in 2026, not quietly easing into a rebuild, choosing to walk away from Jason Adam because his arb number might hit $6.8 million is a backwards way to run a would-be contender.

Strip it down and the setup isn’t complicated. Adam’s year ended in September with a ruptured left quad tendon, a nasty injury that required surgery and comes with a six- to nine-month rehab window. Add in MLB Trade Rumors pegging his next arbitration number around $6.8 million, and suddenly the front office is staring at a decision that’s part health gamble, part roster crunch, and part budget math.

Since 2022, Jason Adam has quietly lived in that top shelf of big league relievers, and his 2025 run in San Diego only backed that up. He answered the call 65 times, logged just over 65 innings, and wrapped the year with an ERA under 2.00 and a WHIP barely over 1. That’s not some middle man eating soft innings. That’s an All-Star, a “give me the ball and get out of the way” arm who took on the ugliest leverage the Padres had and never flinched.

He’s also exactly the kind of weapon you want in your back pocket when the schedule turns mean. Adam has carved up key opponents, including a borderline absurd track record against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who still loom as the measuring stick in the NL West whether Padres fans like it or not. Dating back years, he’s never allowed a run to them in more than a dozen appearances. You don’t just find that skillset in the bargain bin. If San Diego cuts him loose now, they’re not just losing innings — they’re losing a proven late-inning answer against the team they most need to beat.

Instead of treating him like a luxury they can’t afford, the Padres should be viewing Adam’s situation as an opportunity. Yes, the quad injury is serious. But the recovery timeline also lines up with a realistic path back to the mound in 2026, and his value is never going to be lower than it is right now, fresh off a surgery and staring down an arbitration figure that other teams might flinch at.

If the Padres go the other way and actually pull the trigger on a non-tender, it will say a lot about where this offseason is really headed. For a franchise trying to convince everyone that this is a reset, not a retreat, that’s a hard sell.