A.J. Preller did not sit on his hands all the way until opening day. The San Diego Padres president of baseball operations and his staff sat inside the stadium to watch Dylan Cease strike out eight in 3 1/3 minutes of work. They came away convinced that they should take drastic action. This was something we targeted all offseason long, if you are going to be serious about winning. We think we have a chance to win and compete, that's why we got Dylan Cease.
Cease sliding into San Diego.
Preller has made similar moves before, including in April 2015 and April 2022. The San Diego Padres mourned the death of their owner, Peter Seidler, and traded Juan Soto and Trent Grisham without ever offering him an extension. The team's projected payroll was almost $100 million lower than it was last summer because of ownership's commitment to return to compliance with Major League Baseball's debt-service rule Cease will signal a balance between familiar aggressiveness and less-familiar restraint when he arrives. He finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting two years ago, but he is still young and could give the Padres one of the best starting fours. Cease is due an affordable $8 million in his second-to-last season before free agency. Preller said they wanted to make sure they didn't just settle for players on their roster to maybe just fill a need and maybe get somebody that has a little experience. We wanted to make sure that we were targeted with our approach so that we can do something like this today.
The Padres did not surrender one of their five best prospects, according to the most recent rankings. Preller paid a steep price for Iriarte, who has an electric arm. Wilson, a Padres primary setup man, seems to be closer to the majors. The Padres were staring at the possibility of failing to fill enough of their openings after the departures of Snell, Wacha and Lugo. Cease has worked more than 165 in each of the past three seasons and he still has front-of-the-rotation upside. The Padres are facing a roster crunch, and they think they could combine to replace Wilson with others. League sources say he continues to be active in the trade and free-agent markets for corner-outfield help, which might have grown Wednesday after projected opening day left fielder Jurickson Profar exited the team with a "mild" ankle injury. Merrill has impressed people inside and outside the organization. He has exceeded the expectations of the Padres front office, which is likely to embolden them to do what they did Wednesday with the White Sox. Preller said that he continued to earn his opportunity to get more time. Merrill has yet to play a game in center field, has not played 50 games above A-ball, and is not yet 21. If Preller doesn't deliver an immediate winner, this entire offseason will be irrelevant. Eric Kutsenda, the Padres interim control person, praised Preller's eye for talent while also mentioning he would be held to a high standard. Jamie Sabau is the top photo of Dylan Cease.