Padres' Bullpen Is Facing A Left-Handed Crisis This Offseason

Regardless of what curveballs the impending labor negotiations throw at Major League Baseball's organizations this winter, the work for the San Diego Padres will look quite similar to what last offseason did: address the depth on offense and assemble a starting staff from virtually nothing. 

That's tough work on its own. Last winter, A.J. Preller was able to do accomplish most of that agenda without needing to look to his bullpen all that much. The group that worked in relief in 2026 was one that had been in place for a while; Even through various injuries, including those to Jason Adam & Jeremiah Estrada, the team was able to keep things in-house when it came to the relief corps. It stands to reason that, unfortunately, that will change in a rather significant way this winter. 

Adrian Morejon is a free agent. The team could sign him to a new (massive) contract to keep him in the seventh and eighth inning. They could part with another arm to create the necessary roster and budget space. But the most realistic scenario sees Morejon throwing baseballs for a new franchise for the first time in his career next season. That's not only a key arm—which almost understates it, as Morejon was perhaps the most important non-closer in baseball this season—potentially departing, but one of a left-handed variety. 

That's part of a potential theme here. 

Among Padres pitchers that were used consistently out of the bullpen, Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui represent the other left-handed names. Peralta's 72.1 innings trailed only Morejon among all Friars relievers while Matsui's 64 frames ranked fifth within the group. Kyle Hart and his 55.1 innings were right behind Matsui in sixth. That's half of the top-six relief arms in terms of volume from the 2026 Padres, and they all have one thing in common: they throw left-handed. 

Peralta carries a $4.13 million average annual value on a deal that runs through 2027, but he can opt out this winter. Matsui stands to make $6.5 million next season but also possesses the ability to opt out, along with a player option for 2028. Hart, meanwhile, has a club option at $2.5 million for 2027 and can reach free agency ahead of 2028. That's plenty of uncertainty for the team's left-handed relief contingent beyond the one who is actually set to reach free agency without caveats in Morejon. 

The most likely scenario involving the trio is that Hart has his option exercised. He was good enough in full-time relief last season to merit another look, at worst as a pure middle reliever. Peralta & Matsui will be more interesting; both turned in very solid seasons, including a career-best year from Matsui, but they are also the truest form of middle reliever unlikely to touch leverage. If they don't feel they can out-earn their current deals on the open market, then it's entirely possible that either or both would wind up back in San Diego for next season. 

Regardless of how that transpires, though, the Padres are going to need to find some leverage help that throws from the left side. The benefit of an elite arm like Morejon is that you not only have a matchup nightmare in the late innings, but one capable of handling either handedness. The Padres, even with the aforementioned trio that could remain intact, have no such arm to fill such a role as a high-leverage lefty.

Obviously, this is an organization that has been able to develop late-inning talent. But between the imminent departure of Morejon and the lack of high-leverage experience from the remaining southpaws, Preller will have an item on his to-do list that he didn't need to address last offseason. The Padres were a top-10 team in ERA (3.84), FIP (4.08), and groundball rate (43.8 percent) against left-handed batters in 2026. If that's to continue, certain contingencies may need to be in place to account for not only the potential departure of Morejon, but also Peralta & Matsui. 

Perhaps the wisest choice is to simply pay Morejon and be done with it, budgetary constraints be damned. But that could limit the team's flexibility elsewhere, which would hurt their chances to improve the parts of the roster that need upgrades the most.

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