Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres sure made it interesting in the MLB playoffs, mounting a wild-card comeback against the St. Louis Cardinals before the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers proved too much in an action-packed NLDS.
Bradford Doolittle takes a look at where the Padres stand and answers three key questions for the club moving forward to 2021 and beyond.
San Diego Padres
Notable free agents: Jurickson Profar, Kirby Yates, Garrett Richards, Jason Castro, Trevor Rosenthal, Mitch Moreland (club option with $500,000 buyout)
Trade candidates: Tommy Pham, Francisco Mejia, Zach Davies
Extension candidates: Mike Clevinger, Fernando Tatis Jr., Chris Paddack, Trent Grisham, Mejia, Dinelson Lamet, Austin Nola
1. Can the Padres lock up Fernando Tatis Jr.?
The sooner, the better. One of the think-piece themes that emerged during the 2020 season was whether Tatis would become the face of his sport. Or, perhaps, if he already has. The Padres haven't had a player with this kind of reach into the general sports populace since Tony Gwynn was at his best. San Diego doesn't have a long list of career Padres who ended up becoming a Hall of Fame-type talent, and the late Gwynn still towers above the franchise he epitomized.
Tatis has the ability, the flair and the production to someday join Gwynn on San Diego's baseball Rushmore. But he has to stay around, first. The Padres have talked about becoming a free-agent destination now that they've arrived and it's probably true. But before they start doling out contracts to other teams' stars, they need to lock down their own for as long as he is willing to sign for.
2. Who fills out the 2021 rotation?
The most disappointing part of the Padres' exit is the late-breaking injuries to their top two starters, Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet. At their best, it's a rotation duo that stands up to anyone's.
The good news is that those two will be back to head up the 2021 rotation. Chris Paddack -- the presumed No. 1 entering the 2020 season -- has an offseason to reset his mind, analyze what went awry, make fixes and implement them during a hopefully somewhat normal spring training.
After that, for the Padres rotation, it's more a matter of sorting through a lot of promising options than trying to patch holes. Zach Davies was terrific, but San Diego has to assess how much regression he's subject to and decide whether he might be flipped for bullpen help. Luis Patino still looks like a future stud, but will the future be next season?
And perhaps most importantly: Are the Padres ready to fully unleash MacKenzie Gore on the National League next season? If you're a Padres fan, it's hard not to muse about a Clevinger-Lamet-Paddack-Patino-Gore rotation and not start drooling in a most unbecoming fashion. And that's not even touching on the potential of other prospects, like Adam Morejon.
Still, the Padres have to weigh the timeline of these exciting options and figure out what kind of veteran depth they make sure is in place.
3. Who closes?
The loss of Kirby Yates could have devastated the Padres, but they muddled through until A.J. Preller dealt for Royals closer Trevor Rosenthal. Rosenthal was terrific after moving to San Diego. Now Yates, even as he recovers from surgery, and Rosenthal are headed for free agency.
Is the closer position an area in which the Padres want to make a significant expenditure? It would make sense to re-up with Yates on a short-term deal and help him rehab his arm, but that's not an answer to this short-term question. Rosenthal will surely have plenty of bidders, but so too will other free-agent relievers with closing experience like Alex Colome and Liam Hendriks.