Padres Listed As Likely Landing Spot For Intriguing $25 Million Pitcher

Texas Rangers pitcher Andrew Heaney has hit free agency and he may be one of the more underrated arms on the market.

The lefty was handed 14 losses in 2024, but his ERA wasn’t bad, sitting at 4.28. The veteran’s FIP was even better than his ERA, which indicates he was a bit unlucky.

Now, he’s a free agent and likely to sign a very team-friendly deal.

Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently listed the San Diego Padres as a likely landing spot to sign the aforementioned Heaney. Spotrac projects the lefty to sign for $21 million on a two-year deal this winter.

“You don’t need to have a left-handed pitcher in your rotation to succeed,” Miller wrote. “In fact, from Sept. 2 onward this past season, the Dodgers had a grand total of one of their 41 games started by a lefty—that lone exception coming when they let Anthony Banda serve as the opener of the final game of the regular season, just to get him a little pre-postseason work in after a stint on the IL.

“That said, a little handedness diversity in the rotation is nice to have, and both the Blue Jays and the Padres need at least one more starting pitcher and no current left-handed options with any big league experience. There has been virtually no news this offseason about Andrew Heaney’s free agency, but he would seem to be a good fit with either of those teams.”

The Padres are reportedly open to trading starting pitcher Dylan Cease, which would open up a massive hole that Heaney could fill.

Even if San Diego doesn’t opt to trade Cease, signing a veteran lefty would be a great complement to a righty-dominant pitching rotation.

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