Padres Reportedly Interested in Former NL West All-Star Starting Pitcher

Could the Padres bring in a familiar starter for next season?

The San Diego Padres offseason has been an uncharacteristic one compared to other offseasons. It has seen the team shed salary all over the roster, after spending sprees over the previous few winters. 

The team has watched members of the 2023 team leave for higher-valued contracts than they have been willing to offer. One area that the Friars have been looking at upgrading is the starting rotation.

They have a fairly young rotation behind Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, so it's an area San Diego wants to improve on. This is the time in the offseason when the second-tier market develops, and the Padres are looking to advantage. 

The New York Post's Jon Heyman is reporting that the Padres have been one of the teams who have been active in the starting pitching market. He is reporting that one of the pitchers San Diego is looking at is one that they are familiar with. That would be left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu.

"Word is the Red Sox, Padres, Nationals, Orioles, Mariners and Pirates are most active in the second-tier starting market, which includes Hyun-Jin Ryu, James Paxton and Michael Lorenzen"

Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post

The veteran left-hander pitched in 11 games for the Toronto Blue Jays last season after returning from Tommy John surgery. He went 3-3, posting an ERA of 3.58 over 52 innings of work. 

Ryu showed that he was still a capable starting pitcher and that he could help bolster the Padres rotation. He would bring more veteran experience to the table as well, something that the Padres could covet. 

While he isn't the same pitcher he once was, Ryu likely could slot in at the back end of the San Diego rotation. It likely wouldn't cost too much to sign him, and he should be a name to watch out for the rest of the winter.