The San Diego Padres are doing their greatest to maintain up with the arms race within the NL West.
Jeff Passan of ESPN reported on Wednesday that the Padres have agreed to a four-year, $55 million contract with veteran right-hander Nick Pivetta. Passan notes that the deal additionally has a pair of opt-outs after 12 months 2 and 12 months 3.
Moreover, Passan reports that Pivetta’s contract is backloaded and pays him simply $4 million in 2025 (however $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027, and $18 million in 2028). Pivetta’s cope with the Padres includes a signing bonus of $3 million as properly.
Pivetta, 31, was considered the highest obtainable beginning pitcher who was nonetheless unsigned. He had spent the final four-and-a-half seasons with the Boston Crimson Sox and posted a 4.14 ERA over 26 begins final yr.
Whereas Pivetta’s floor stats aren’t significantly spectacular, he has stellar strikeout numbers (11.1 Ks per 9 innings over the past two seasons mixed) and solely walked 36 batters over 145.2 innings pitched in 2024.
The Padres, who completed final season at 93-69 however misplaced within the NLDS to the hated rival Los Angeles Dodgers, have largely been dormant this offseason as they seemed to probably downsize on payroll (with several San Diego stars looking like possible candidates to be traded). However they only made some offensive upgrades around the fringes earlier this month and at the moment are taking their (considerably) huge swing within the type of a four-year contract for the eight-year MLB veteran Pivetta.
