3 Padres who could be playing for the Dodgers next season

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The San Diego Padres are in crisis mode heading into the 2023 offseason. The team won just 82 games this past season, missing the playoffs after so much promise leading up to the 2023 campaign. The Padres have made several monstrous financial commitments which have seemed to catch up to the team as they look to cut payroll this offseason.

Cutting payroll and staying competitive is a challenge A.J. Preller is going to have to accept and hopefully figure out. I have no idea how he'll do it, but that's the task in front of him.

Cutting cost almost certainly means letting go of several high-priced free agents the Padres have on their plate this offseason. One team San Diego would hate to see their players go to is the division rival Dodgers, but with Los Angeles failing in the postseason once again, there's a good chance this is their offseason to go crazy.

We hope these three players don't find their way to Los Angeles this offseason, but with the Dodgers having a lot of money to spend and obvious needs that would be filled from these three players, it's impossible to not make the connection.

1) Blake Snell

The Padres might've missed the playoffs, but the Dodgers won the division and 100 games only to get swept in embarrassing fashion by the 84-win Diamondbacks. Obviously Padres fans have no room to talk with their team missing the playoffs, but these two bitter rivals won the exact same amount of postseason games in 2023.

The Dodgers were obviously outclassed by Arizona, but the biggest issue they had was their starting rotation. Arizona just destroyed Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller, and Lance Lynn, scoring 13 runs in just 4.2 innings pitched against those arms. That's 13 runs for Arizona and 14 outs recorded for Dodgers starters.

Obviously the Dodgers were hampered with injuries this season, but the rotation is a major question heading into 2024 as well. They do have Bobby Miller under control and he was good in the regular season, but surrounding him are a bunch of question marks. Can Walker Buehler stay healthy? Can any from the group of Emmet Sheehan, Ryan Pepiot, and Michael Grove step up? Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are out, and Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, and Lance Lynn are all free agents.

Blake Snell won't be their top target, but if the Dodgers miss out on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, there's a good chance they go after the soon-to-be NL Cy Young Award winner. San Diego would prefer that didn't happen.

2) Josh Hader

The Dodgers bullpen wound up being a strength in 2023 with the team ranking third with a 3.42 bullpen ERA. With that in mind, Los Angeles can turn that from a strength to potentially the best bullpen in all of baseball by bringing one of, if not the, best closers in the game.

The Dodgers have a much bigger need in the rotation, but they can also look to shorten games thanks to their stout bullpen. Adding a guy like Hader to ensure the ninth inning is on lock certainly wouldn't be a bad thing.

The Dodgers can have Evan Phillips pitch the eighth, and guys like Brusdar Graterol and Caleb Ferguson help in the middle innings. It's not a need, but it lengthens out the bullpen so much.

Hader was one star that actually lived up to the billing in 2023. He had a 1.28 ERA and recorded 33 saves for San Diego this season. He was an All-Star and could very easily be the NL Reliever of the Year. If the Dodgers fail to bring in a high-end starter, building a monster bullpen could be their path to winning in 2024. Adding Hader would go a long way there.

3) Seth Lugo

The need for multiple rotation arms for this Dodgers team is very real. The only pitcher they can realistically fully rely on to pitch for them is Bobby Miller. Walker Bueher should, but he's already had a setback trying to come back from Tommy John Surgery. Who's to say there won't be another one? The Dodgers have other young arms looking to prove themselves, but Miller is the only one that's really stood out.

With that in mind, the Dodgers will pursue frontline starters, but also need some mid-rotation guys to help round out the staff. With that in mind, Seth Lugo makes a lot of sense.

Lugo joined the Padres on a two-year deal last offseason looking to prove himself as a starting pitcher. He did just that, posting a 3.57 ERA in 26 starts for the Padres. Virtually every time he was handed the ball, he gave San Diego a chance to win. He won't throw seven scoreless often, but six innings with two or three runs allowed happens very consistently.

The Dodgers have pitchers with potential who are unproven. Lugo might not be an ace, but he's a proven mid-rotation arm. Los Angeles would be more than happy to stick him in as their third or fourth starter for two or three years on reasonable money.

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1) Blake Snell

2) Josh Hader

3) Seth Lugo

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