Padres watching the Tigers land Verlander put their thin margins on display

Pitchers and catchers have officially reported to spring training, a little earlier than in years past, because of the World Baseball Classic, which is set to kick off March 5. 

With that being said, the Padres enter Cactus League action with plenty of question marks surrounding the starting rotation. The team retained Nick Pivetta and Michael King, while also hoping for the return of Joe Musgrove, who missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John Surgery.

The back half of the rotation remains an unknown, as two spots could easily be held by guys currently on the free agent market. But as of now, it seems as if it will be Randy Vasquez and JP Sears will hold down those openings.

Padres’ tense reality check arrived with Tigers’ Justin Verlander deal

However, the Padres had the opportunity to fill one of the remaining two spots with a future Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, the man in question chose to ink a one-year, $13 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.

We are talking about Justin Verlander, the 42-year-old ageless wonder who is coming off a down year by his standards. But he put up a season that many pitchers wish they could have.

In 29 starts with the San Francisco Giants, Verlander threw 152 innings with a 3.85 ERA. A solid season considering his age, but it was nothing compared to the accolades he’s earned over the course of his illustrious career.

A three-time Cy Young Award recipient with a pair of World Series titles, Verlander has achieved nearly everything you could ask for in an MLB pitcher’s career.

Signing Verlander could have really helped the Padres despite his age. He could’ve been a mentor to younger guys while also filling the necessary slot at the back-end of the rotation.

If we’re A.J. Preller, we are kicking ourselves over this, because it was one of the most blatantly obvious ideas that they didn’t go through with.