As the San Diego Padres once again look to lower their payroll, one potential option for the organization could involve trading star pitcher Nick Pivetta.
Per The Athletic’s Dennis Lin, the Padres have “shown a willingness” to entertain offers for Pivetta even though a deal is considered unlikely.
No specific teams were mentioned as potential landing spots for Pivetta, but the combination of his stellar 2025 performance and a team-friendly contract would make him attractive to any contender seeking rotation help.
Pivetta is owed $20.5 million next season, with an opt-out after 2026. He would earn $14 million in 2027 and $18 million on a player option in 2028.
Trading Pivetta would be a huge blow to a San Diego pitching staff that has already lost its second-best pitcher from last season. Dylan Cease left in free agency to sign a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Michael King is another pitcher who could end up leaving in free agency.
The Padres are also going to be without Yu Darvish in 2026 after he had elbow surgery in November. They will get Joe Musgrove back after he missed all of 2025 following Tommy John surgery.
As things currently stand, the Padres are projected to spend just under $190 million on payroll next season. They have had a top-10 payroll four times in the past five years and spent more than $200 million three times since 2022.
There is an argument for San Diego to sell high on Pivetta right now. He’s coming off easily the best season of his career with a 2.87 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 181.2 innings.
Pivetta was worth 3.7 FanGraphs wins above replacement in 2025. He never had a season with 2.8 fWAR in his first eight seasons.
If the Padres are looking to reduce payroll, trading Pivetta would make sense because he could bring back a nice haul of prospects they could build around for the future.
His contract is one that would fit in on teams that aren’t necessarily big spenders, so the Padres could set up a bidding war with many clubs.
Trading Pivetta would make it very difficult to envision the Padres as a playoff contender given what their rotation would look like without him, but it could be to their long-term benefit if they find an offer too good to pass up.