The San Diego Padres were eliminated in the NLDS by the Milwaukee Brewers after four games, and now look ahead to the 2026-2027 MLB offseason with some big decisions to make.
With a lot of the focus on the starting rotation, and for good reason, it’s important for the Padres to not forget about ensuring their bullpen stays strong, and their lineup doesn’t miss a beat.
That’s why the prediction from ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, where the Padres re-sign 2.38 ERA reliever Adrian Morejon and .865 OPS slugger Ty France, would be such a dream-come-true scenario for the Padres this offseason.
Padres predicted to re-sign Ty France, Adrian Morejon
“The Padres find a way to bring Morejon back, pairing him with Mason Miller in the back end of their bullpen to continue to shut down games,” Gonzalez predicts. “Another guess: They also bring back France, who signed a minor league deal and performed like one of the game’s best first basemen in 2026. The Padres need them both.”
San Diego could move on from both France and Morejon and still field a very good team next season. But their absences from the team would be massive.
Morejon, while not the Padres’ closer, is maybe MLB’s best No. 2 reliever in baseball. He’s a dominant left-hander who’s a great complement to Mason Miller.
Morejon is sure to receive plenty of free agent interest, so keeping him might be difficult. France, on the other hand, is a lot more of an unknown.
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He signed a minor league deal with the Padres last offseason and turned into a legitimate superstar for San Diego this season. But how real was his 2026 season?
That question will likely make his free agency a lot less robust than it might normally be for someone who is coming off such a strong season. For the Padres, who saw him up close, this uncertainty might help them bring him back.
France and Morejon signing extensions for the Padres would be massive moves for this front office to make under their new ownership.
While Michael King and the starting rotation are big questions they would still need to answer, getting France and Morejon back would be a great start to the new owners taking over.
