Roki Sasaki is the perfect Christmas gift for Padres fans this winter…

It has become painfully apparent that the San Diego Padres do not have money to spend as they once did.

With so many prior commitments via free agency and by simply re-signing players, it was bound to happen. The Padres have around one billion dollars in payroll committed to a handful of players. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Yu Darvish, and company are the club’s nucleus and will be here for the long haul.

In order to add talent, the Padres will need to draft well and also continue to make calculated additions of players before their final arbitration years. They will need to be creative. It’s not the end of the world for the Padres, as A.J. Preller has proven that he can adjust on the fly.

In looking at the starting rotation, that is a concern.

Dylan Cease and Michael King anchor the staff in their final season under contract. Both men will likely require a ton of money to secure past the 2025 season. With the inflation in the price of pitching, it is easy to assume each man will make upward of $20-25 million per season at the very least in their next deal. The Padres simply cannot afford both. Maybe. Maybe. They can afford one of them.

Beyond those two pending free agents, the Padres possess Yu Darvish as the number three pitcher. The veteran is capable, but at his age, you really never know what he can produce from here on out. Darvish is under contract through the 2028 season for a total of $67 million.