The San Diego Padres had one of the best bullpens in baseball over the course of the regular season, but one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle is not only a free agent, but expected to get one of the biggest pitching contracts this offseason. Adrian Morejon, a 27-year-old left-hander, is coming off another effective season with an ERA of 2.83, but is expected to be paid like a top reliever because of his resume and age.

In other news, rookie catcher Ethan Salas had another impressive year in the Padres' farm system, leading to his call-up in September. Though the backstop showed tons of potential in his short sample size at the major league level — both offensively and defensively — president of baseball operations AJ Preller appeared to pump the brakes on handing the rookie the title of starting catcher moving forward.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to be guaranteed anything,” Preller said. “For Ethan, for example, it’s going to be a competition-type situation for him. He showed he can compete at the big league level.”

Finally, a few free agent contract predictions have been revealed from the aforementioned dominant bullpen.

It is no question that the starting pitching rotation will essentially have to be rebuilt over the offseason, but the bullpen had the opposite issue over the regular season. They displayed their elite nature day-in and day-out, but their overuse over the grind of a long MLB season showed itself in October.

One of the biggest puzzles that Preller is going to have to assemble this offseason deals with how the payroll will look come 2027. If money is allocated on one area of the team, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be taken away from another. However, when it comes to the starting pitching/bullpen productions, perhaps the final pricetag after the offseason will reveal where the front office's priorities were over the winter.

Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article):

Padres Tweets of the Day

Padres LHP Adrian Morejon has been predicted to earn a contract worth $90 MILLION👀👀

Would you want to see the Padres give him that to say in San Diego? Why or why not?⬇️ pic.twitter.com/cvCzOcmpR7

— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) October 22, 2026

After 2022 happened, I honestly stopped caring about the seasons after

My dream already came true. Eliminating the dodgers in the playoffs

We already showed the dodgers what we are capable of

This was the moment the dodgers started respecting uspic.twitter.com/ljINxe9IzG

— Padres Farm (@Pads1818) October 22, 2026

Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller wasn't ready to name Ethan Salas the starting catcher in 2027👀⬇️ pic.twitter.com/suPyxxi3jp

— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) October 22, 2026

Dustin Harris 100 PA's
322/.364/.422
Samad Taylor 175 PA's
.316/.390/.408

Both on the league minimum & controlled for years to come. Tough to see the Padres spending much money in LF

— switz (@JasonLSwitzer) October 23, 2026

We looked at the biggest thing separating the Padres from the 2 World Series teams, and what San Diego can do this offseason to get there👀⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5a5lAo60q5

— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) October 22, 2026

I miss Padres baseball ngl pic.twitter.com/UBdg6PL64j

— Giannis Auntiegotapoodle (@TooMuchMortons_) October 22, 2026

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