Padres News: Nick Martinez's free agency reveal, young pitcher out for season

There was a lot of turnover on the San Diego Padres roster this offseason. In addition to the team trading away Juan Soto and Trent Grisham, the clubhouse is missing a lot of its 2023 starting rotation.

Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha both landed free agent contracts with the Kansas City Royals this winter, and Blake Snell (eventually) signed a deal with the San Francisco Giants. But few Padres fans actually mention the team losing Nick Martinez. The right-hander signed with the Cincinnati Reds this past offseason, but it sounds as if that wasn't his first choice.

Padres News: Nick Martinez's free agency reveal

Martinez said during an interview with the San Diego Union Tribune during his team's visit to Petco Park this past week that he "gave the Padres the first crack" at re-signing him this winter. Most fans will remember that Martinez opted out of his previous contract following the 2022 season only to re-sign with the Friars once again for 2023. The story was not the same this past offseason.

The Friar faithful can't fault Martinez for following the money to Cincinnati. The former Padres' swingman, who pitched in game for the Reds this past week, signed a two-year, $26 million deal to join the upstart Cincinnati squad back in December.

Seems like the Pads weren't willing to pay that price.

Padres News: Luis Patiño undergoes Tommy John surgery

Speaking of pitchers, the Padres will be without one of their young hurlers for the rest of the 2024 season. Luis Patiño got off to a rocky start during spring training and was sidelined with elbow inflammation after just 2.1 innings of work during Cactus League play.

But things have only gotten worse for the 24-year-old. Patiño underwent Tommy John surgery and won't be back on the mound until sometime in 2025. This is an unfortunate turn of events for a promising young pitcher like Patiño, who was claimed off waivers by his former team this past winter.

Patiño was part of the Padres' trade with the Tampa Bay Rays that brought Snell to southern California, and pitched for the Chicago White Sox last season. Patiño has a 7-6 career record with a 5.02 ERA in 45 major league games, and he'll be waiting quite some time to improve those numbers.

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