The San Diego Padres had a rough showing from their starting rotation in 2026.

In terms of total innings logged, Padres starters provided the fourth-fewest in baseball. This resulted in the 10th-highest ERA in MLB at a 4.42 mark.

Conversely, this meant the bullpen put up the fourth-most innings in baseball to go along with the fifth-lowest ERA.

When it came time for the postseason, the bullpen was far from their dominant selves, perhaps as a result of the overexertion they put in through the regular season. Something that can address this moving forward is more of an investment in the starting rotation.

Ahead of the 2026 campaign, it would have been hard to predict that Joe Musgrove wouldn't return until the postseason and Nick Pivetta would be out for nearly five months, but it appears the shape of the rotation is worse heading into 2027. The ace of the rotation, Michael King, opted out of the remaining two years on his contract; Pivetta's team option was turned down and even bullpen staple Adrian Morejon is rumored to collect a massive deal elsewhere this winter.

This led to The Athletic's Jim Bowden to link Baltimore Orioles southpaw Trevor Rogers as a best fit to the Padres this offseason on a three-year, $64 million deal.

Why Trevor Rogers Makes Sense for Padres

Rogers will be 29 years old this month, and is coming off of a career-high 169.2 innings of work. His 4.03 ERA was a giant leap from the career-best 1.81 mark he totaled a season prior, but he finished the year out strong, striking out 88 batters to just eight walks in his final 13 starts of 2026.

Five years removed from his sole All-Star nod, Rogers ended the season with the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career but an ERA+ just 1% higher than league average.

Something else that would make Rogers a great fit in San Diego is the improvements he has shown from 2025 to 2026 in getting batters to chase outside of the strike zone and limiting walks.

His chase and walk percentage were both ranked in the 92nd percentile this season, up from doing so in the 72nd and 69th percentile last year, respectively.

ERA rarely tells the full story, but if Rogers can continue his upward improvement and log more innings than what the Padres have seen recently, he can prove to be the exact investment AJ Preller and the front office need to make.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter for the latest news.