With Jurickson Profar's departure official, the Padres are in tough spot heading into 2025

Things might be starting to spiral for the Padres. On the heels of winning 93 games this past season, it felt like there was some momentum leaning in San Diego's favor regarding their future. Now, two-plus months into the offseason, it doesn't quite appear that way anymore.

While the Dodgers continue to get better this winter, San Diego's movement has essentially remained stagnant. It isn't officially time to hit the panic button yet, but having an initial worry for the 2025 season does not come unfounded.

With Jurickson Profar's departure official, the Padres are in tough spot heading into 2025

San Diego's biggest hurdle to overcome in 2025 is to surpass the Dodgers in the NL West race. Judging by the way the reigning World Series champions have raked in several top-ranked players available this winter - including cream of the crop international signings with star Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki and highly-touted infielder Hyeseong Kim - the Padres are going to have some trouble attaining that goal of a division title.

Los Angeles was also able to retain Teoscar Hernández, who smacked 67 extra-base hits in 2024 en route to a ring. Oh, let's not forget that Shohei Ohtani will be ready to pitch this season, too, so they essentially are adding another ace to the staff who was not there in 2024. The richest get even richer, which makes Padres fans want to take another step towards sounding the alarm.

Looking at San Diego's roster, not only did they fail to keep pace with the Dodgers in the free agent hunt, but they barely have done anything. The Padres lost Jurickson Profar to an NL contender in the Braves, which might be the worst of it all, but they also lost a reliable catcher in Kyle Higashioka and they won't re-sign Ha-Seong Kim.

The need to fill the vacancy in left field is very worrisome, considering Alex Verdugo and Austin Hays are probably their best free agent options. Now, if they want a solid bat in left field, they will likely need to trade for them, which is where Dylan Cease's status comes into play. San Diego is already missing Joe Musgrove all season to Tommy John surgery, so losing Cease at the expense of a position player will damage the starting rotation.

There have been recent talks of the Padres looking to acquire another catcher to accompany Luis Campusano, but anyone remaining on the board has not been as productive as Higashioka, who is now with the Rangers.

San Diego's latest transaction won't necessarily stop the bleeding, but they signed reliever Ron Marinaccio to bolster the bullpen. It's a step in the right direction to garner more talent, but the Padres need to do more before Opening Day if they want to find themselves anywhere near within the Dodgers in the standings in 2025. The Padres are in a difficult spot, but fans are hopeful that is not too late to right the ship.