3 Braves players who could be on the San Diego Padres radar during free agency

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For much of the 2023 season, it looked like the Atlanta Braves were the team to beat. They had one of, if not the best offenses in MLB history led by likely NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., and their pitching staff was very elite as well with former San Diego Padres farmhand Max Fried playing a huge role as always.

The postseason remained as unpredictable as ever, however, with Atlanta being sent home early for a second consecutive year by their division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies. While often times when teams are eliminated from the postseason they have some key players on expiring contracts, the Braves are fortunate to have most of their core locked in for a very long time.

While the Padres will not be acquiring players like Acuna, Austin Riley, or Matt Olson this offseason, there are some intriguing free agents the team could consider bringing in as they look to compete themselves in 2024.

1) Charlie Morton

The Padres rotation is a serious concern right now with Blake Snell hitting free agency, Seth Lugo likely following suit, and Michael Wacha having an expensive club option. We know Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove will be in there, but the rest of the rotation is completely up in the air.

With the Padres looking to save money this offseason, Snell feels like an obvious goner. That alone means the Padres need to be looking to add another starter, even if Lugo and Wacha do wind up returning. Charlie Morton makes a whole lot of sense in that regard.

Sure, the fact that he's 40 years old might turn some people off, but he remained as steady as they come in the 2023 season. The right-hander had a 3.64 ERA in 30 starts and 163.1 innings pitched. He might be older, but he would've ranked second on this Padres team with that innings total only behind Snell.

Bringing Morton in for a year to try and win a ring makes a ton of sense. He does have a club option worth $20 million that Atlanta could exercise, but if they refuse to do so, San Diego should come calling.

2) Pierce Johnson

Morton is a familiar opponent for Padres fans, but Pierce Johnson is a player the Friar Faithful has rooted for in the past. The right-hander signed a two-year deal with a club option entering the 2020 season and, for the first two years of that deal, he had a 3.09 ERA in 87 appearances and 78.2 innings pitched. He was consistently reliable in the middle innings for those two seasons, but injury caught up to him in 2022 where he was limited to just 15 appearances.

Johnson signed a one-year deal to go to Colorado this past offseason and opened the year as their closer, but some major struggles, particularly at Coors Field, derailed the first half of the season. Johnson had a 6.93 ERA in 26 Coors Field appearances this season, and that's including the scoreless inning he threw there as a member of the Braves.

After he was able to get away from Coors, Johnson completely turned his season around. He allowed just two runs in 23.2 innings pitched, striking out 32 batters compared to just five walks. His team obviously failed in the postseason, but Johnson delivered 2.2 scoreless innings accross three outings.

Bringing Johnson back to San Diego for a year or two makes all the sense in the world. He proved he's still a quality pitcher when healthy, as long as he avoids Coors Field.

3) Kirby Yates

What do you know, another former Padre. Kirby Yates was arguably the best reliever in all of baseball in 2019, posting a 1.19 ERA and converting 41 saves in 44 opportunities. That splitter he threw was simply unhittable.

Injuries completely derailed him following that 2019 season as he made just 15 appearances from 2020-2022. He missed the entire 2021 campaign recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. He was finally healthy in 2023 and, while he wasn't quite 2019 good, he was still an important piece of Atlanta's bullpen.

Yates had a 3.28 ERA in 61 appearances and 60.1 innings pitched. He had 80 strikeouts on the year, and proved that his splitter was still a dominant pitch. The opposition hit just .160 against that pitch with a 34.3% whiff rate.

The Padres have a void to fill at the closer spot as it feels very likely that Josh Hader has thrown his last pitch in brown and gold. Yates might not be that same dominant closer, and he probably wouldn't be this team's closer if they did bring him in, but signing him to fill a late-inning role for his age-37 season shouldn't be out of the question.

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