3 emergency options the Padres can still sign in free agency

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Spring training is less than a month away and the San Diego Padres still have some work to do to get ready for the 2024 season. The offense is largely in a decent spot even after the team was "forced" to trade away Juan Soto, but multiple key free agent departures from the pitching staff have yet to be replaced especially when it comes to their starting rotation.

The good news is that this free agent market has moved at the speed of smell this year, so there are a lot of free agent options still available from top end guys like Jordan Montgomery to bargain bin types that can just serve as roster filler. If the Padres were going to pick any year to wait to strike late in the offseason, this was the year to do it.

Complicating matters, though, is that the Padres seem to be very intent (subscription required) on keeping their payroll below the luxury tax threshold for 2024 after exceeding it the past three seasons. Successfully doing so would reset the penalties they have been incurring and help keep costs down in the long-term. That probably means San Diego only has around $30 million worth of wiggle room on this year's books as their current projected luxury tax payroll number sits at at touch over $206 million.

With those numbers and needs in mind, here are some emergency, last-minute free agent signings the Padres can still make this offseason to fill the holes on their roster while still keeping their payroll under control.

James Paxton

In terms of short-term, relatively cheap starters that have real upside, the Padres could do a lot worse than James Paxton. As he showed in the first half with the Red Sox last season, Paxton is still a very capable pitcher (when he's right) who can miss bats and present some real upside for a San Diego pitching staff in desperate need of it with the losses of Blake Snell, Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo this offseason.

Of course, the issue with Paxton has long been that he hasn't been able to stay on the field. He missed the entire 2022 season after having Tommy John surgery and missed time last season with a hamstring injury as well as knee inflammation. The 96 innings he threw last year was the most he recorded since 2019, and he wasn't exactly known as being the pillar of durability before that.

As a result, signing Paxton would represent a bit of a risk. However, he shouldn't be prohibitively expensive because of his age and injury history, and if he can actually stay healthy for a little while, he should be able to provide some quality innings. Right now, the Padres just need to buy time until pitching prospects like Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur and Drew Thorpe are ready to contribute in the big leagues. Paxton would be a fine stop-gap option until they are, but the team should steer clear if he's looking for anything beyond one or two years.

Phil Maton

The one area the Padres have actually addressed a good bit this offseason has been their bullpen. While losing Josh Hader is considerable, the Padres have added a pair of relievers in Yuki Matsui and Woo-Suk Go that should be able to fill the void in a solid manner at the back of the bullpen.

With their starting rotation still in a VERY speculative state, however, it would be very wise for the Padres to continue to build on that bullpen depth. Doing so would protect against any issues that Yu Darvish or Joe Musgrove might have, as well as cover innings if the new additions to the rotation don't work out. Given that the Padres are operating on a tight budget and they already added Go and Matsui, going after the top available relievers probably isn't in the cards. One name that could be a great fit is former Astros reliever Phil Maton.

While there are available relievers with more upside like Robert Stephenson and Hector Neris, those guys are going to be pricey and Maton could be perfect for what the Padres actually need as a reliable 6th/7th inning guy that just gets the job done. Maton doesn't throw hard and gives up more walks than one would like, but he gets strikeouts at a nice clip and has consistently gave the Astros tons of relief appearances while maintaining ERAs in the 3s over the couple of years.

For a team that just needs to be able to find ways to navigate tough games, Maton is an ideal target. The depth and workhorse innings he would provide to the Padres' bullpen would allow them to safely pull starters relatively quickly if things start going south or if innings need to be managed without punting on games entirely. He isn't the sexiest pick, but he should be affordable and is what the Padres need right now.

Michael Lorenzen

The starting pitching market this offseason was easily the deepest group in free agency this year. In an ideal world, San Diego would be able to replace a guy like Snell with one of the high-end options that were on the market. However, the Padres' payroll situation made that option a nonstarter, so they are going to have to get creative to cover innings in the rotation, and one intriguing option is free agent Michael Lorenzen.

Lorenzen was named to his first All-Star team last year primarily because someone on the Tigers had to go and the best option for them in Eduardo Rodriguez was hurt at the time. However, there's enough to like about Lorenzen to think that he could be a nice target ahead of 2024 assuming the Pads can get him to sign a short-term deal at a decent rate.

Before he was traded at the deadline to the Phillies, Lorenzen was pretty good with the Tigers with a 3.58 ERA in 18 starts. His numbers after the trade weren't good, but he did throw throw a no-hitter with the Phillies and he has still been a guy that fills up the strike zone, has a previous history of keeping the ball on the ground, and can get hitters to chase.

Pitching in San Diego could suit Lorenzen really well even if the jump in his fly ball rate from 2023 sticks. He doesn't miss as many bats, but the Padres are set up well defensively with guys Ha-Seong Kim and Manny Machado around. Playing home games at Petco Park should help the cause as well. It will take something like two years and $25 million to sign Lorenzen, but that seems like it should work within San Diego's financial constraints and could be a worthy gamble.

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