Padres Interested In Seiya Suzuki, Teruaki Sato, Shota Imanaga

The Padres are looking to upgrade their roster this offseason and are interested in a wide variety of free agents. That includes multiple Japanese-born players, as Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports that the Friars have interest in outfielder Seiya Suzuki, left-hander Shota Imanaga and infielder/outfielder Teruaki Sato. Imanaga would make plenty of sense, as starting pitching is the most glaring need for the Padres. The rotation had been an issue for a while and the club just saw Michael King, Nick Pivetta, Walker Buehler, Casey Mize, Robbie Ray, Griffin Canning and Lucas Giolito become free agents. Randy Vásquez is still on the roster but he’s a low-strikeout pitcher who would ideally be in a swing role. It’s unclear what to expect from Joe Musgrove after two mostly lost seasons. Yu Darvish missed all of 2026 and is a big unknown going into his age-40 season. JP Sears, Jhony Brito and Kyle Hart are on the roster but don’t profile as much more than depth options. With that outlook, San Diego should be pursuing any and all avenues for adding starters. They have already been connected to Tarik Skubal, the top free agent available. That is perhaps a pipe dream, as the club should probably be spreading money around to multiple arms as opposed to going for one big strike. Even if they do manage to pull of a Skubal deal, they will need other arms in the mix as well. Signing Imanaga wouldn’t be as impactful as signing Skubal but would be far cheaper. MLBTR predicted Skubal for a nine-year, $425MM deal and Imanaga for $40MM over two years. Imanaga’s big league career has generally featured good strikeout and walk rates but his biggest issue has been the home run ball. In 492 1/3 innings, Imanaga has allowed 3.45 earned runs per nine. His 23.6% strikeout rate is better than average and his 4.6% walk rate much better than par but he has allowed 93 home runs. 14% of his fly balls have cleared the fence, whereas league average is usually around 11-12%. Petco Park in San Diego has a pitcher-friendly profile but not necessarily in the home run department. Statcast’s three-year rolling average has Petco tied for 9th/10th/11th, meaning only about a third of ballparks are more homer-prone. Flip to the two-year and one-year data sets and Petco is closer to 20th. Turning to the lineup, that’s less of a need for the Friars but they could still look to do something there. Ty France is now a free agent, subtracting a big bat. A few other role players have hit the open market as well. Adding Suzuki would certainly help make up for France’s departure. Suzuki has hit at least 20 home runs and drawn walks at an above-average clip for four straight years now. In 2026, he had 26 long balls, a 12.8% walk rate, a .270/.368/.473 line and 134 wRC+. He also has solid defensive grades in the outfield this year. MLBTR predicted a four-year, $105MM deal for Suzuki as he goes into his age-32 season. The Cubs just gave him a qualifying offer, so any other club signing him would be subject to the associated penalties. Lin suggests that Suzuki could play right field with Fernando Tatis Jr. moving in to second base, though that seems overly complicated when the Padres don’t have a clear left fielder. Dustin Harris and Samad Taylor played well down the stretch in 2026 but neither is a proven option. Harris hit .322/.364/.422 for the Padres but in just 100 plate appearances and with a .367 batting average on balls in play he won’t sustain. It would be simpler to just keep Tatis in right and put Suzuki in left. If Harris proves to be a useful player next year, the designated hitter spot is fairly open for them all to get playing time. Taylor is capable of playing the infield if he earns his way into a prominent role next year. Lin has previously suggested Tatis would prefer a full-time move to second but his experience there is fairly limited and his defensive reviews mixed, whereas he is clearly an above-average defender in right. The Padres also have Jake Cronenworth signed for the long term and second base is the best place to put him. Sato’s future defensive home is more of an unknown. He has mostly played third base in his career in Japan but some scouts question whether he is viable there in the major leagues. It’s possible he ends up getting moved to first base. He also has some right field experience, so an outfield corner is a possibility. The Padres have Manny Machado at third base but first is fairly open while France is still a free agent. As mentioned, left field is also a possibility. He is expected to be an impact bat regardless, as he hit 39 home runs in NPB play this year and 40 last year. There are some strikeout concerns with Sato but that was also true of Munetaka Murakami a year ago. Those whiffs seemed to tamp down Murakami’s market, as he settled for a two-year deal with the White Sox, but he ended up being fine. He did strike out a lot in his first MLB season but also drew lots of walks and hit 35 home runs. MLBTR expects a bit of market correction after that, as we predicted Sato to land a five-year deal worth $80MM. The signing club would also owe a posting fee to the Hanshin Tigers, the size of which would depend upon the guarantee on Sato’s contract. It’s highly likely Sato will sign before the lockout as his 45-day posting window will not be paused and will therefore be set to expire in the early days of the lockout. A major unknown of the Padres’ offseason is the financial picture. Late owner Peter Seidler kept cranking up the payroll through the 2023 season. After his passing, the San Diego front office was seemingly working under tighter financial constraints, which led to the Juan Soto trade and various other swaps. The Padres still signed free agents but often with creative back-loaded structures. The Seidler family recently sold the club to a group led by José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones. That deal became official in August, so this will be the first offseason under the new regime. Lin suggests the new owners could greenlight some greater spending but it’s unclear the full extent they would be comfortable with. MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker projects the club for $193MM in payroll next year, both in the LRD (cash) and competitive balance tax departments. Those numbers were $224MM and $269MM in 2026, with the aforementioned back-loaded contracts accounting for the higher CBT number. Time will tell how much wiggle room the Padres have. Being connected to some big-name free agents is encouraging but the Padres have multiple needs are need to consider various paths to upgrading the roster. Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images