{"id":432647,"date":"2026-01-25T17:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T17:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/432647\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T17:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T17:10:08","slug":"three-free-agents-the-padres-should-target-in-2027-if-yu-darvish-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/432647\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Free Agents the Padres Should Target in 2027 If Yu Darvish Retires"},"content":{"rendered":"

Padres starter Yu Darvish revealed yesterday that he will retire if he can\u2019t comfortably recover from the torn UCL he suffered last season. <\/a>With Darvish owed more than $45 million over the next three seasons, his retirement would open significant payroll space in San Diego.<\/p>\n

Given that Darvish is waiting to see how his rehab progresses, that money likely won\u2019t be used this offseason. However, general manager A.J. Preller would have a sizable budget opening in 2027 should Darvish ultimately hang it up.<\/p>\n

Here are three free agents the Padres could target with Darvish potentially coming off the books next offseason:<\/p>\n

Shota Imanaga<\/p>\n

The Cubs left-hander would be a natural fit for San Diego\u2019s pitching staff. As currently constructed, the Padres project to feature four right-handed starters, with J.P. Sears as the lone lefty at the back end. Barring a surprise emergence from Sears, adding left-handed production figures to be a top priority next offseason. San Diego is simply too easy to match up against with a righty-heavy rotation.<\/p>\n

Imanaga would also fall into a reasonable price range, with his next contract expected to land between $15 million and $20 million AAV. Using the salary space created by one Japanese starter to sign another,\u00a0 younger and arguably a better long-term fit, would make sense.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s not coming off his best season, Imanaga has established himself as one of the better left-handed starters in baseball. In 2025, he threw 144.2 innings with a 3.73 ERA and a 4.86 FIP. His true upside showed during his rookie campaign in 2024, when he posted a 2.91 ERA and a 3.72 FIP across 173.1 innings, earning an All-Star selection.<\/p>\n

If the Cubs can get production anywhere near that range again, the signing would be a win. The key will be Imanaga proving he can deliver another solid season before reaching free agency.<\/p>\n

Tyler Stephenson<\/p>\n

With a projected contract around $8 million per year, Stephenson would represent the Padres\u2019 largest investment at catcher in the last decade. He\u2019s not a superstar, but for a team that’s forgotten what above average offensive production from catchers looks like, his hitting abilities would be a welcomed addition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stephenson has posted an OPS above .730 in each of the last two seasons, including a strong 2024 campaign in which he hit 19 home runs with a 113 wRC+. A major factor in this decision will be the development of prospect Ethan Salas.<\/p>\n

Salas recently fell off MLB\u2019s top 100 prospect list, and if he takes another step back, Preller may be forced to spend at catcher. If Salas reemerges as the long-term answer, this move becomes less necessary.<\/p>\n

The inexpensive salary would also leave room for an additional signing, allowing the Padres to further capitalize on the potential Darvish opening.<\/p>\n

Jazz Chisholm Jr.<\/p>\n

This is the kind of flashy addition that would bring the electricity back to San Diego. Just imagine Slam Diego with Chisholm’s bat flips and lefty pop.<\/p>\n

Projecting his contract is difficult, but if he repeats his 2025 production, it could land in the $20 million to $30 million AAV range – slightly above budget, but justified for a player of his quality.<\/p>\n

Chisholm dominated in 2025, finishing with more than 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases while posting a 126 wRC+. He\u2019d slot naturally into the top-four of a lineup featuring Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado as alternating lefties and righties.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a long way to go, as Darvish has not made a final decision. But if he does void his contract, next offseason could shape up to be far more exciting for the Padres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Padres starter Yu Darvish revealed yesterday that he will retire if he can\u2019t comfortably recover from the torn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-432647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}