San Diego Padres rumors: Is this the best free agent fit on the mound?

As the San Diego Padres look to piece together their rotation this winter with some likely defections coming, one MLB.com columnist believes a pitcher from the New York Yankees could be an ideal fit for the Friars.

San Diego Padres rumors: Is this New York Yankees pitcher a fit?

In a recently published article, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand took a look at a free agent fit for each MLB team this offseason. In that article, Feinsand landed on Yankees hurler Luis Severino as a potential fit for the Padres.

There were two rules for Feinsand when writing the article. First, every player has to be from another team (no players who were there in 2023. Second, each player could only be listed once, and with the Padres in the National League West (the last division listed), it's hard to know whether Severino was picked out of necessity or him truly being a good fit.

Regardless, Severino suffered through an injury-filled 2023 campaign, making just 18 starts and throwing 89.1 innings in the final season of a five-year, $52.25 million deal. As Feinsand pointed out in his article, "San Diego isn’t expected to spend big on any of the top starters, but Severino – who is coming off the worst season of his career – could be a prime bounceback candidate in 2024."

In those 89.1 innings last season, Severino posted a 6.65 ERA/6.14 FIP/1.646 WHIP.

And there's where the Padres will be linked to so many free agent pitchers this offseason, with writers expecting A.J. Preller to have to spend low and take chances with the rumored payroll lowering coming. If that's the case, it will be hard for the Padres to find another Blake Snell, Michael Wacha or Seth Lugo (three pitchers the Padres could certainly lose this winter) in the bargain bin of pitchers available.

That's not to say that Severino couldn't bounce back in 2024. It's simply saying that while other National League teams are expected to be in the hunt for top-name pitchers, the Padres have only been linked to a potential reunion with Snell, which seems unlikely at best.