San Diego Padres Start Spring Training

By Steve Atkinson 

It’s been a very quiet baseball off-season everywhere. The “Hot Stove” is no more as December and January are all about the NFL. The baseball signings used to happen during the Winter Meetings now it seems they happen during Spring Training. The Padres didn’t do much in December or January with additions. They did lose Ha-Seong Kim to the Tampa Bay Rays and Jurkison Profar to the Braves but other than that they didn’t add much until Wednesday night.

Padres Sign Nick Pivetta

The Padres added Nick Pivetta who was with the Red Sox the last four years to their rotation. With Joe Musgrove out for the season because of Tommy John Surgery, this added another arm to the rotation. Per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, Pivetta will earn a $3 million signing bonus plus a $1 million salary in 2025, followed by salaries of $19 million, $14 million, and $18 million in each of the following three seasons, respectively. It’s a four-year $55 million contract altogether.

Pivetta would probably be the fourth starter in the rotation behind Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish, and Michael King. I wouldn’t trade anyone in the rotation it’s pretty solid.

Padres Sign Jason Hayward

The Padres signed outfielder Jayson Heyward to a 1 year $1 million contract also this week. He’s bounced around and won a World Series with the Cubs.

I have some history with Jason Heyward,” said Shildt. “This guy’s a winner. He won a World Series with the Cubs and has been on a lot of post-season teams in his career. It seems like every year he’s in the postseason. I was with him in St. Louis. He’s a proven guy. He’s going to get the opportunity in left field. He’s excited to be here and we’re excited to have him. He’s a really good addition, especially this late in the off-season.”

I think he is this year’s Profar signing from last year maybe he’ll have a year like Profar did then go out and get paid somewhere. The Padres still have Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. In the outfield, their lineup is somewhat the same as last year minus Profar and Kim.

This is one of the best days of the year, right?” said Padres’ manager Mike Shildt. “It’s hard to quantify the best, but it’s in the top five. Pitchers and catchers … here we are. People during the off-season talk about when the pitchers and catchers report. Well, here we are. It’s an exciting day.”

“Everybody on the roster who has been signed is in the building. We had physicals this morning. We have a couple of guys who are not going to be able to participate. Joe Musgrove, clearly. Otherwise, everybody is ready.”

This spring training should be good and I expect more additions to come maybe add another bat or something.

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— San Diego Padres (@Padres) February 10, 2025