SAN DIEGO -- With free agency underway, Jurickson Profar, Jason Castro and suddenly Mitch Moreland are officially on the open market.

Individually, those aren't major losses for the Padres. Barring something unforeseen, their lineup from this year’s playoff push is expected to be their lineup next year, too. San Diego pieced together one of the sport's best offenses in 2020. At all eight defensive positions, a starter is returning.

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But on the heels of Sunday's news that the Padres declined Moreland's 2021 team option, a new challenge suddenly awaits general manager A.J. Preller: He needs to reconstruct a playoff-caliber bench.

In Profar, Castro and Moreland, the Padres are now without three of their bench's most important contributors down the stretch. This comes on the heels of a World Series between the Rays and Dodgers that showcased the importance of a roster that extends beyond merely a starting nine.

"Obviously, in the starting eight or nine, we have most guys returning," Preller said Sunday. "We feel like we've got a good foundation and a good group going there. Making sure we have guys that can either complement the starting group in terms of their skills and flexibility or guys that could fill in because of injuries -- that'll be a point of focus for sure."

Never rule out a big-time splash from Preller. But right now, his primary objective on offense is bolstering a bench that has some major question marks. Here's the current list of bench options on San Diego’s 40-man roster:

IF Greg Garcia
C Luis Campusano
C Francisco Mejía
IF/OF Jorge Mateo
OF Greg Allen
OF Jorge Oña

Garcia, the most proven option, is a non-tender candidate after he made $1.5 million in 2020 while posting just a .529 OPS. At catcher, Campusano is dealing with legal issues stemming from a marijuana charge and he might be better suited to open the year in the Minors anyway. Mejía has been far from reliable and has an option year remaining. Allen, Mateo and Oña are largely unproven niche pieces.

That group leaves the Padres without a single bona fide bench weapon for 2021. They’ll explore adding another catcher, a utility bat and a lefty power threat. As such, Castro, Profar and Moreland, respectively, are all candidates to return, according to sources. But there are other options on the market, too.

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The Padres like the looks of their starting lineup, but they’re aiming to build a championship-caliber roster from top to bottom. That means better depth in the event of injuries. That means better platoon and pinch-hit options for meaningful games down the stretch.

"It's always important, having guys that you can fill in in case of injury or that give you that really quality depth," Preller said. "[The bench] is always an area that you're going to focus on."

As the Padres enter an offseason with loftier goals than at any other point in Preller’s tenure, that’s truer now than ever before.