Front Row Seat: The Padres are falling behind this offseason
It's been an offseason of moving backwards for the Padres, an NBA superstar gets traded, and San Diegans responds to a horrific ICE shooting in Minnesota.
Here’s something I wrote yesterday about trademarks. I found it amusing and hope you do, too:
San Diego Padres
Padres could land a bargain rotation fix with a former Red Sox rebound arm - Friars On Base
After undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the entire 2024 season, Lucas Giolito made his presence felt in 2025. In the limited action, Giolito compiled a 3.41 ERA over 145 innigs, proving what he can be when fully healthy.
Giolito, 31, was also able to earn 10 wins thanks to run support, something he will most definitely have if he were to sign with San Diego.
Mets head the list of 5 MLB teams that have moved backwards so far this offseason - The Athletic
The Padres lost closer Robert Suarez, starting pitcher Dylan Cease and first base/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn in free agency and have done very little to improve the team this offseason. They were able to bring back starter Michael King and acquire infield depth by signing Sung-Mun Song. However, in a division where the Dodgers have added Edwin Díaz and the Giants have reinforced their starting pitching depth with Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser, it suddenly looks like the Padres are slipping down the NL West pecking order.
MadFriars Top 30 for 2026 – Jay Edition
Only one player on last year’s list took a big step forward. Many went backward or left the organization, while a disappointing number just treaded water. The team was again creative in spreading money around in the draft, but there’s no sure-fire top prospect in the group. After the team held back international bonus spending in an unsuccessful attempt to land Roki Sasaki, none of their key signees came stateside, and several struggled badly in the DSL.
That leaves the system among the thinnest in baseball. Players in the back half of my top 10 have profiles similar to those of guys I ranked in the mid-20s a few years back, and most of the starting pitchers on the list are here more on possibility than on demonstrated ability. With the Padres approaching the end of the window they originally identified as their best chance to win a World Series, they aren’t well-positioned either to trade for impact talent or reinforce their big league roster. That leaves A.J. Preller, who has made a habit of pulling rabbits out of his hat, needing to pull off his best trick yet.
Odds & Ends
Trae Young traded to Wizards for CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert: Source - The Athletic
In the wake of the Hawks’ decision not to offer Young a contract extension during the summer or this season, league sources say Young and his representatives identified the Wizards as a promising destination months ago. Not only was Washington in need of a point guard for the future, but Young and his reps saw the franchise’s youth movement and roster flexibility as an opportunity to potentially build a roster that complements his skillset.
If, that is, both sides decide this is a long-term partnership.
Take a bow, college sports. You are broken in almost every way possible. - Yahoo Sports
We have roughly one-third of college football players in the transfer portal.
We have quarterbacks commanding $4 million and $5 million deals — essentially the equivalent of an NFL rookie salary for the No. 11 overall pick — that aren’t even guaranteed stars.
We have schools who begged for rules and guardrails to bring sanity and structure to the ecosystem using marketing companies to create financial packages for players, allowing them to exceed the revenue-share cap they negotiated just last year in the House v. NCAA settlement.
We have a situation at Washington where quarterback Demond Williams signed a revenue-sharing agreement to stay at the school, then turned around and announced he wanted to go into the transfer portal because he likely got a whiff of even bigger money somewhere else (cough, LSU, cough). Stay tuned to see how that one gets sorted out!
What to know about Unrivaled women’s basketball league as its second season tips off - The Athletic
For decades, women’s basketball players resorted to playing overseas during the WNBA offseason to supplement their earnings. Unrivaled was founded as a means to shakeup that paradigm, paying top WNBA players record-breaking salaries and providing them with equity in the league, all while keeping them home during the offseason and giving them a place to develop.
Chiefs ‘aware’ of abuse allegations made by Rashee Rice’s ex-girlfriend - ESPN
Dacoda Nichole Jones, Rice’s ex-girlfriend who has two children with the receiver, posted on her Instagram account Wednesday afternoon photos that show bruises and wounds on multiple parts of her body, alleging abuse for numerous years. Jones does not name Rice or anyone else in the post, but she says that the person who abused her is the father of her children. The Chiefs also did not specify that the allegations involve Rice.
Michael Bradley on Red Bulls coaching opportunity: ‘How in the world could you say no?’ - The Athletic
Though Monday was Bradley’s introductory press conference, he has long been at work preparing for this role. The former U.S. men’s national team captain has been ever-present at the Red Bulls’ training facility and, from afar, it’s easy to forget he’s planning training sessions and not preparing to take part in them.
In fact, when head of sport Julian de Guzman peered through the glass windows at RBNY’s training facility to see someone running wind sprints on the practice field, he wondered which player it was — only to take a closer look and see it was his 38-year-old head coach.
ICE Agent Kills Woman, DHS Tells Obvious, Insane Lies About It - Defector
On Wednesday in Minneapolis, masked government agents apparently representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surrounded a stationary vehicle stopped in the middle of a residential street. One of them demanded that the driver “get out of the fucking car,” and yanked violently on the driver’s-side door handle; another, stationed near the left headlight of the vehicle, drew his pistol. The driver, after briefly reversing, swerved away from the agents, apparently attempting to drive away. As the vehicle moved forward, the agent with the drawn pistol stepped aside while firing three shots directly at the windshield and open driver’s-side window, killing the driver.
Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis - The New York Times
An analysis of footage from three camera angles show that the vehicle appears to be turning away from a federal officer as he opened fire.
Minneapolis schools cancel classes after Border Patrol clash disrupts dismissal at Roosevelt - MPR News
Minneapolis Public Schools on Wednesday canceled classes district-wide for the remainder of the week “due to safety concerns,” following the killing of a woman Wednesday by an ICE agent. The district said it was acting “out of an abundance of caution.”
The move came after officials at Roosevelt High School said armed U.S. Border Patrol officers came on school property during dismissal Wednesday and began tackling people, handcuffed two staff members and released chemical weapons on bystanders.
San Diegans march downtown to protest ICE fatal shooting in Midwest - Times of San Diego
Protesters responded in San Diego Wednesday evening by marching through Little Italy to downtown and back to the County Administration Building. Some responded to the call “Who are we?” with “We are Renee,” referring to Renee Nicole Good, identified by a family member as the woman slain in Minnesota.