The Padres saw four members of their rotation mix department for free agency back in November, led by reigning NL Cy Young award winner . Along with their ace southpaw, San Diego parted ways with right-handers , , and , each of whom has found a new club. At least in the case of Lugo, however, it appears San Diego hoped to continue the relationship into 2024 and beyond. According to , the Padres made a four-year offer to Lugo before he landed in Kansas City on a last month. Lin adds that while San Diego was willing to beat the Royals offer in terms of years, their offer came Steven Adams Jersey at a lower average annual value than that of Kansas City. That the Padres would want to reunite with Lugo is hardly a surprise given his succe sful 2023 with the club. After spending his entire career with the Mets prior to hitting free agency last winter, Lugo signed on with San Diego on a with an opt-out after the 2023 campaign. After spending most of his time in Queens as a reliever, Lugo stepped into the Padres rotation and made 26 starts for the club last year with a 3.57 ERA (115 ERA+) and 3.83 FIP in 146 1/3 innings of work. San Diego entered the winter with just and locked into the 2024 rotation, and the return of Lugo would have greatly improved the clubs rotation even after the Padres managed to add , , and to their Opening Day rotation mix in the trade. Ultimately, of course, Lugo chose to head to Kansas City. Still, that the Padres felt they had enough room in the budget to make an offer to Lugo could be a positive sign for the clubs ability to fill the remaining holes on their roster before Opening Day. Adding at least one more starter to slot into the middle of the clubs rotation alongside King figures to be a priority for the Padres, particularly after theyve addre sed the bullpen by landing and in recent weeks. Beyond the rotation, the clubs lineup is in dire need of an overhaul after the club parted ways with Soto, , and in trade this offseason. A left-handed bat such as or would make plenty of sense to occupy either left field or DH, and the club was also recently reported as being in center fielder . More from around the National League As the Phillies look to augment their club with pitching and outfield depth this winter, reports that theyve received interest in a package of shortstop prospect and catching prospect from at least three clubs, though Philadelphia has rebuffed the advances of rival clubs on the duo to this point. Rincon, in February, was a 14th-round pick by the Phillies in the 2022 draft and sports strong defense along with a switch-hitting bat and a 14.8% walk rate for his career in the minor leagues against a strikeout rate of just 17.8%. Tait, meanwhile, signed with the Phillies out of Panama last year and slashed an impre sive .333/.400/.517 during his first taste of affiliated ball in the Dominican Summer League. Among the 22 arbitration-eligible players who did not agree to a contract with his club for the 2024 season by yesterdays deadline was Reds second baseman , who filed at $4MM against the clubs $3.2MM counteroffer. Reds GM Nick Krall recently spoke regarding the dispute between player and club, as noted by . As relayed by Wittenmyer, Krall emphasized that he doesnt consider the impending arbitration hearing to be adversarial and explained the $800K gap in negotiations by saying that there was a fundamental i sue between the sides that prevented the deal from getting done. Clubs often take strict stances in arbitration negotiations because both settlements and arbitration decisions can be used as precedent for salaries not for the player in question as he advances through the arbitration proce s but also by future players around the league. That at times leads to tension between players and their clubs, with right-hander s last year standing as a recent example. Solomon Hill Jersey