3 moves to make the San Diego Padres dream offseason a reality

3) The Padres need to sign an impactful DH

The Matt Carpenter/Nelson Cruz platoon wound up being a horrific idea. Banking on Cruz to bounce back at his age was never wise, but the Padres weren't completely in the wrong at the time to bank on Matt Carpenter at least being semi-productive. He was coming off such a productive stint with the Yankees, even if it was short-lived. I don't think anyone expected he'd be as bad as he was.

The Padres had some of the worst production in baseball out of the DH spot, and that must change for this offense to see serious improvement in 2024.

Shohei Ohtani is obviously the dream DH signing, but I'd say there's no way San Diego meets his insane demands. While Ohtani would've been nice, the Padres are fortunate that the DH spot is incredibly deep this free agency.

J.D. Martinez has a very good argument as the second-best DH in all of baseball behind Ohtani. What if San Diego stole him from the rival Dodgers? Jorge Soler just hit 36 home runs while playing half the time in one of the toughest hitter's parks in all of baseball down in Miami, it's safe to say he'd make an impact. Even a guy like Justin Turner who plays more of the field but was a primary DH last season with Boston would be a great add.

There are many ways the Padres could go with the DH spot. They must make a real upgrade. Don't force a Carpenter platoon with a righty again with hopes that things will suddenly be better. That's a sunk cost. Add a truly impactful bat.