The San Diego Padres are aiming for one of their best winters in recent memory.

The Padres are coming off a strong second half of the 2026 season, and they'll look to build on that momentum and carry it into 2027. 

The top priority for the Padres this offseason is to bolster their starting pitching.

The Padres' rotation must improve if they want to take their game to another level. One way they can bolster it is by adding the best pitcher in the open market in left-hander Tarik Skubal.

Skubal finished the 2026 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is now set to hit the open market. The left-hander is by far the best free agent this winter, and the Padres are predicted to land him, at least according to Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report.

Miller named the Padres as the winners of the Skubal sweepstakes. 

"When Steve Cohen became the Mets' principal owner in 2020, their payroll pretty much immediately skyrocketed. Same goes for when Mark Walter and the Guggenheim group bought the Dodgers back in 2012. And one kind of has to assume the group headed by Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano is going to be aggressively trying to win right away," Miller wrote. 

"And they sure do have work to do on this pitching staff."

Tarik Skubal Could Give Padres a True Game-Changer for October

As has been notes multiple times throughout the offseason, the Padres' starting rotation must be addressed. 

Skubal is projected to command a contract worth more than $400 million this winter, a deal that would make him by far the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. 

It's easy to understand why the price tag is so high. The 29-year-old pitcher is arguably the best in baseball, going 12-7 with a 2.72 ERA, 186 strikeouts and a 0.96 WHIP over 26 starts and 158.2 innings with the Detroit Tigers and the Dodgers this season. He has also captured back-to-back American League Cy Young Awards over the last two years.

A pitcher of Skubal's caliber could completely change the outlook of a postseason series. He would immediately improve the Padres' World Series chances. Still, the bigger question is whether San Diego can afford such a massive contract while also rebuilding a rotation expected to lose several pitchers. 

Adding a pitcher like Skubal would be a great start to their winter, giving them a reliable ace to lean on in 2027 and beyond. 

Whether or not they pay up for him remains to be seen.

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