Right-handers Dylan Cease and Michael King were both extended qualifying offers ahead of Thursday’s deadline, and will now have a week to decide whether to accept those offers (worth $22.025 million over one year).
The Padres also picked up the one-year, $6.5 million team option on Ramón Laureano, who figures to serve as their starting left fielder in 2026.
Thursday — five days after the end of the World Series — was the deadline for teams and players to make decisions on contract options and for teams to extend qualifying offers to players. Neither Robert Suarez nor Luis Arraez was extended a qualifying offer.
Here’s what it all means:
Qualifying offers for Cease and King
Starting pitching is typically at a premium on the free-agent market. As such, it was always likely that Cease and King would be extended qualifying offers. If either of the two declines the offer, the Padres would receive a compensatory Draft pick. If both decline, the Padres would receive two picks. (Those picks will be after the fourth round because San Diego exceeded the CBT in 2025.)
Relatively speaking, Cease and King are coming off down years in 2025. Cease struggled for much of the season and finished with a 4.55 ERA. King posted a 3.44 mark, but missed about half the year due to injury.
Thus, it’s not a lock that both King and Cease will decline the offers, even if that seems to be the likeliest outcome. They could view the offer as an opportunity to return to San Diego and boost their value for next offseason. That said, it seems more likely that both opt for free agency, where they’d presumably fetch a greater haul.
That would leave the Padres scrambling to fill out their rotation — especially in light of the news that Yu Darvish will miss the 2026 season due to an elbow injury. But in that scenario, they would at least receive two compensatory picks (and Draft bonus pool money) as consolation.
No offers for Suarez and Arraez
King and Cease weren’t the only two candidates. Ultimately, however, the Padres decided against extending offers to Suarez and Arraez.
Earlier this week, Suarez declined a player option worth two years and $16 million, making him a free agent. Suarez recorded 40 saves in 2025 and posted a 2.97 ERA with a 0.90 WHIP. He’s generally been excellent in the closer role.
But the Padres have perhaps the sport’s deepest bullpen, even without Suarez. Rather than risk Suarez accepting the offer, the Padres can allocate those funds to other areas of need on their roster — like the rotation.
Meanwhile, Arraez figures to become one of the winter’s most polarizing free agents, given his skill set — arguably the game’s best contact hitter but without much power or defense to offer. But he’s coming off a down year in which he posted a .719 OPS and a 104 wRC+.
It’s unclear how seriously the Padres would pursue Arraez in free agency. (At the right price, they would; but what is that price?) Arraez has expressed a desire to return to San Diego, but the Padres — who ranked 28th in the Majors home runs last season — might be looking for more pop out of their first baseman.
The first-base vacancy appears to be the only opening in the Padres’ starting lineup now that Laureano is back. When they traded for Laureano at the Deadline, it was always their intention that he’d be their starting left fielder in 2026. His performance in ‘25 makes that $6.5 million team option look like quite a deal.
Laureano posted an .855 OPS with 24 homers — including nine after his arrival in San Diego. He sustained a fractured right index finger during the season’s final week and missed the NL Wild Card Series against the Cubs — a major blow to the Padres’ chances. But Laureano will be fully healthy for the start of Spring Training and should have a fairly normal offseason.
The Laureano decision was the last of a handful of option decisions the Padres had to make this week. They already declined team options on Kyle Hart (one-year, $5 million) and Tyler Wade (one-year, $1 million), and they declined their half of a mutual option on Elias Díaz (one-year, $7 million).
