Padres sign another reclamation arm as a glaring roster hole stays unresolved

The San Diego Padres signing a veteran lefty like Marco Gonzales to a minor-league deal isn’t the kind of move that sparks excitement. It quietly admits the front office has spent most of the winter trying not to say out loud that this rotation is still one bad week away from panic mode.

On paper, you can talk yourself into a “fine” top three. Michael King, Nick Pivetta, and Joe Musgrove as the emotional anchor of the staff — even if the reality is he’s still coming back from a lost year. That’s a lot of “ifs,” and the Padres have been living off “ifs” for a while now.

Padres sign Marco Gonzales in a move that feels like quiet damage control

That’s why Gonzales shows up here as a camp invite with a modest base salary and incentives: he’s not the plan. He’s the hedge. The version of him the Padres are hoping to meet in Peoria is the old “give you innings, don’t walk anybody, keep the game calm” lefty who used to soak up innings for the Seattle Mariners. The version they’re more likely to see is harder to predict, because the last few years have basically been an injury case file.

For context, Gonzales’ most recent real sample came in 2024 with Pittsburgh: seven starts, a 4.54 ERA, 33 2/3 innings, 23 strikeouts, and a 1.60 WHIP with opponents hitting .312. He was shut down in August with a left forearm strain, needed flexor tendon surgery, and didn’t pitch in any official capacity in 2025 while rehabbing. So this Padres deal isn’t just a bet on performance — it’s a bet on availability, recovery, and whether there’s anything left to tap into after yet another restart.

The Padres are shopping in the exact aisle teams visit when they don’t have enough cash — or enough certainty — to solve the problem cleanly. If payroll and CBT pressure are real (and they sure look real), that helps explain why rumors keep swirling around moving Pivetta’s contract.

Behind the top options, the depth chart is packed with arms that can cover innings but don’t exactly calm anyone down. Randy Vásquez getting by without missing bats is a tightrope. J.P. Sears and Matt Waldron, that’s a lot of names that feel better as contingency plans than as weekly realities. And if you’re already stacking contingencies in January, spring training gets stressful fast.

Gonzales makes sense as a flier. It’s low-risk money for a chance at useful innings. But the bigger takeaway isn’t what he adds. It’s what his signing signals.