Padres’ strange free-agent lull hints a major roster move is looming

The San Diego Padres doing nothing can be just as loud as the Padres making a splash.

Because right now, the silence isn’t reading like “we’re fine.” It’s reading like “we’re waiting to move one piece before we touch anything else.”

Per Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon’s reporting (as relayed in The Athletic coverage), the Padres still want to add a starter, but the holdup “might be the Padres wanting to clear money, perhaps with a trade of right-hander Nick Pivetta, an idea they have entertained this offseason.” 

That’s the entire offseason in one sentence.

Padres’ unsettling free-agent silence feels like the prelude to a blockbuster

San Diego isn’t frozen because A.J. Preller forgot how to use a phone. They’re paused because the next phone call probably depends on which salary gets moved first — and that’s where things get spicy. Pivetta is the cleanest name to attach to that idea, but he’s not the only lever. If the Padres are really trying to clear money, Jake Cronenworth’s contract is the kind of thing rival execs will sniff around, and a reliever could easily be the sweetener that turns a “maybe” into an actual deal.

On paper, the logic is easy to follow: the Padres still want to add a starter, especially after losing Dylan Cease in free agency. But Padres logic is always a little more chaotic than paper. This front office doesn’t just add a piece. It tries to flip the board.

If you’re entertaining a Pivetta trade — or even just floating Cronenworth in conversations — you’re basically admitting one of two things: you think you can replace the value more efficiently, or you’re clearing room for something bigger than a “solid” mid-rotation addition.

And that second option is why this lull feels like the calm before an earthquake. The Padres don’t usually tell the market that they aren’t ready. They tell the market sit and watch. 

Also: the timing matters. This isn’t March. This is the part of the winter where teams either commit to Plan A or start hunting for leverage. 

So yeah, the free-agent quiet is weird. But it’s the specific kind of weird that usually ends with Preller turning a boring Saturday into an all-caps notification.

If Pivetta is truly being floated, don’t treat it like a random rumor. Treat it like the first domino.