SAN DIEGO -- A fly ball that doesn’t hit a roof cable, a ninth-inning liner a few inches to the right, a deep drive from Manny Machado that carries just a bit farther -- with any of those things, maybe the Padres are preparing to host Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night.
Instead, general manager A.J. Preller and manager Craig Stammen held their end-of-season press conference on Wednesday. Preller touted “another very good season,” adding, “It’s hard to win 90 games in this league, and we’ve done it now three years in a row.”
“The ultimate goal, though,” Preller said, “is to bring a championship here. The ultimate goal is to hoist that trophy at the end. We’re not going to be satisfied until we do that.”
That pursuit will have to wait at least another year. Here’s a look at some of the news from the Padres’ press conference.
Sheets leaning against surgery
Gavin Sheets spent the final few months of the season playing through a plantar plate tear in his left foot. He missed three weeks in September and was limited to pinch-hitting and DH duties down the stretch.
Stammen noted that Sheets would likely opt against surgery, however, adding that he felt Sheets would be healthy and full-go by the start of the 2027 season.
“I don’t think surgery is going to be something that he’s going to choose to do,” Stammen said. “He could go either way. He could rest it or he could have surgery. I think he’s choosing the other option, [rest]. I feel like he’ll be able to make a full recovery either way and be ready for Spring Training.”
Meanwhile, Stammen noted that righty reliever Jeremiah Estrada was nearly built up to full strength and was a possibility for the NLCS roster if the Padres had advanced. After dealing with a right shoulder impingement, Estrada is expected to have a relatively normal offseason and be ready to go for Spring Training.
Pivetta renegotiation possible
The Padres hold a team option on Nick Pivetta for the 2027 season -- an option they received as the result of Pivetta having missed more than 130 days with a flexor strain in his right elbow.
Pivetta has two years and $32 million remaining on his contract. But per the original stipulations of that contract, he would maintain his $18 million player option for the 2028 season if the Padres were to pick up the team option in ‘27.
There’s obviously some measure of risk there. Pivetta returned to the mound and looked excellent down the stretch. But the questions about his elbow will persist, and the Padres only have until five days after the World Series to make that decision.
One option seems to be renegotiating that deal to limit some risk, while still giving Pivetta some of those guarantees.
“It’s that time of year, where we’re going to consider all different possibilities,” Preller said. “Obviously, the straightforward option is picking up the club option. … The next couple weeks, we’ll get together with our coaches, our staff, our evaluators and start trying to figure out what this puzzle looks like. We’re hoping that Nick wants to be part of that puzzle. We’re hoping that we can figure something out that makes him a part of this thing going forward.”
No Darvish decision yet
Yu Darvish has progressed to throwing bullpens as he continues to rehab from October 2025 elbow surgery. He spent the entirety of the ‘26 season on the restricted list, opting to mostly continue that rehab away from the team while not being paid.
But Darvish is under contract for two more years and a total of $30 million. It remains unclear, Preller said, whether Darvish will attempt a return to the mound at age 40 in 2027.
“We have so much respect for him,” Preller said. “We’ll sit down and kind of see where his head is at, but he’s been putting the work in to at least give himself an option.”
Musgrove’s role uncertain
You may have noticed a theme here: Uncertainty in the rotation.
Joe Musgrove returned to the mound, making one relief appearance in each of the Padres’ two postseason series. After October 2024 Tommy John surgery, he was unable to build up into a starting role, recovering poorly from lengthier outings.
That bullpen role, however, suited him perfectly in October. He worked three scoreless frames.
Entering the offseason, the Padres have not yet decided what role comes next for Musgrove.
“The biggest thing is, Joe’s now in that conversation,” Preller said. “All this year we were hoping. … Now, it is a conversation. Going into Spring Training we’ll know: ‘This is the role, this is what we’re going to ask him to do.”