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 experiences 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 incorporates a signing bonus of $3 million as nicely.
Pivetta, 31, was considered the highest accessible beginning pitcher who was nonetheless unsigned. He had spent the final four-and-a-half seasons with the Boston Pink Sox and posted a 4.14 ERA over 26 begins final yr.
Whereas Pivetta’s floor stats usually are not 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 regarded to probably downsize on payroll (with a number of San Diego stars wanting like potential candidates to be traded). However they simply made some offensive upgrades across the fringes earlier this month and are actually taking their (considerably) huge swing within the type of a four-year contract for the eight-year MLB veteran Pivetta.
