Welp, that took long enough. Finally not only did the San Diego Padres make a move, but Nick Pivetta found a new home. The Padres are bringing in Pivetta on a four year deal and for $55 million. The deal does have opt outs.

With this signing, the Red Sox do get the compensation pick. Last time the Padres signed a former Red Sox player, the Red Sox got the pick and selected Kristian Campbell. But adding Pivetta helps shore up a rotation that needs some extra depth and juice to it.

Padres Finally Do Something

With the stuff going on with the ownership group, the Padres had yet to make a major move. Sure this team has tremendous talent and can compete for a playoff spot in the NL. But they finally opened up the wallets and brought in a player.

This isn’t Roki Sasaki that they unfortunately missed out on, but this is a pitcher that is able to provide them depth. Joe Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery, so the club needed another starter. Joining a staff that features Yu Darvish, Dylan Cease, and Michael King, Pivetta will slot in nicely.

He is likely going to be the fourth starter in this rotation and that is perfectly okay. This is a player that can give you innings and has also excelled coming out of the bullpen. Since the 2021 season, Pivetta has pitched 140+ innings, so he is capable of shouldering some type of workload.

In the last four years, he has had an ERA north of 4.00. The first three years, he did struggle with his walks, as he had a walk rate above 9% in two of the three seasons. Under the guidance of Andrew Bailey, Pivetta saw his walks rate drop down to 6%, which is huge.

Pivetta can get the strikeouts. He has punched out 170+ in the last four seasons and his strikeouts to walk rate has improved tremendously the last two seasons. Only thing that could be a concern, is the home runs. In 2024, Pivetta failed to keep the ball on the ground and gave up a good bit of hard contact.

Given the opponents they’ll be facing in the division, that will be something worth taking note of.

Every Move Counts

The Dodgers are the team to beat and the Padres are in their division. Not to mention the Diamondbacks should not be overlooked and quite frankly, the NL is a gauntlet. Adding Pivetta is not the sexiest move, but it is depth and for an area on the roster that could use it.

The Padres were a playoff team last season and gave the Dodgers a run for their money. They are still led by their top players and adding depth never hurts. Let’s see how it plays out.