San Diego Padres news: A favorite returns, postseason odds paint reality, Yu Darvish return

Right after the Colorado Rockies released Jurickson Profar on August 27, we wrote a quick article about how a reunion between Profar and the San Diego Padres might be in the cards. It's good to see someone in the Padres organization out there reads our articles.

Profar is indeed now back in the Padres organizaton, signed to a minor league deal. With his playing time in Colorado diminished greatly toward the end of his tenure there because of an injury and the emergence of rookie Nolan Jones, the 30-year-old Profar will reportedly get some minor league at-bats in before the Padres decide the next course of action with him.

"It's nice to have him back," Padres manager Bob Melvin told reporters at Petco Park. "It gives us some added depth. He hasn't played in a little while, so he'll go down there and get some at-bats, and we'll see where we are going forward. He was a guy that was a favorite here in the clubhouse."

It will be interesting to see if Profar makes an impact for the Padres in 2023, then figures into the team's plans for 2024.

Will Yu Darvish pitch again for San Diego Padres in 2023?

After tests revealed a bone spur in Yu Darvish's elbow, it feels unlikely the Padres will have him back on the mound this season. After all, the Padres are 7.5 games out of the Wild Card chase with 26 games left to play. Sure, it's not impossible to come back from that deficit, but Baseball-Reference gives the Padres a 0.6 percent chance to make the postseason.

With that in mind, is it really worth trying to rush Darvish back into the fold if the Padres don't put together some sort of miracle run over the next week to 10 days? San Diego has shown few signs of something like that run bubbling under the surface, so making sure Darvish doesn't sustain further injury and will be ready for 2024 spring training seems like the prudent move.