Manny Machado spoke to reporters this morning in Peoria and confirmed that he will be opting out of his contract at the end of the 2023 season. He’s declining to comment on if negotiations are ongoing with the organization so how should fans feel right now? Plus, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale this week that the San Diego Padres are assured to lose money this season despite being expected to bring in more revenue than they have in any season in franchise history. Why would they lose money and should we believe Manfred?

According to Robert Murray, the San Diego Padres are adding Cole Hamels on a minor league deal. The pitching staff suddenly has a lot of depth.

Usually San Diego Padres fans are used to seeing players battle it out during Spring Training for starting spots but this team is so good that there aren’t any starting spots up for grabs (other than right field for the first 20 games because Fernando Tatis Jr. is suspended to start the year). Some then wouldn’t think there are interesting questions to be answered in camp but that’s not the case. Is Luis Campusano going to make progress towards earning the starting catcher job? How will Tatis look during his first MLB action since 2021? Is Matt Carpenter going to get outfield playing time? Which depth starting pitchers will stand out from the rest? These are just some of the questions that will be answered during Spring Training.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the San Diego Padres are signing starting pitcher Michael Wacha. The 31-year-old posted a 3.32 ERA in over 127 innings for the Boston Red Sox. What does this mean for our Padres?

San Diego Padres pitchers and catchers who are participating in the World Baseball Classic are reporting to Spring Training today so the offseason is unofficially over. Plenty of things could happen between now and Opening Day but I’m going to try to predict the 26-man roster for the first time this year. Feel free to do your own!

Yu Darvish was extended by the San Diego Padres yesterday and had his press conference today with President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller at Petco Park. Coming away from the presser it was clear that this extension got done because Darvish wanted to be here and the Padres wanted him here. The organization also continues to value certain things I say that because this seems to be the same thought process in a potential extension with Manny Machado. Preller told the media Machado has “expressed an interest in being here” and San Diego in turn has “expressed an interest in him being here”. That should lead to an extension, right? We can only hope. On the latest episode of Talking Friars, I give my thoughts on all that went on today. Do you think a Machado extension will occur?

According to MLB.com's AJ Cassavell, the San Diego Padres and Yu Darvish have agreed to an extension through the 2028 season. So this is essentially a five-year deal tacked on to the one season remaining on his contract. A HUGE extension for the Padres that provides more clarity to the future of the rotation!

Last week Ben Fadden filled out Dennis Lin’s San Diego Padres fan survey on the show so now that the results are out, he figured why not give his reaction to how the fan base as a whole feels about the current state of the franchise! Plus, Ken Rosenthal has a piece out about why he thinks a Manny Machado extension could happen before Opening Day.

On the latest episode of Talking Friars, I sat down with San Diego Padres fan Joe Dreamz to talk more about all that went on at FanFest over the weekend. We went through the positives of the day in addition to what the organization can improve on for next FanFest. Plus, how do we think the roster is shaping up as we head into Spring Training in the next couple weeks?

Today was a day San Diego Padres fans have been waiting for for a long time. 150,000 tickets were claimed by the Friar Faithful within days of tickets being made available so we knew it was going to be packed. It was great to see Petco Park packed again with all of us so excited for the season to begin. You can find Ben Fadden's thoughts on the day in the latest episode of Talking Friars!

One of the biggest questions heading into Spring Training in a couple weeks around the San Diego Padres is whether or not they’ll be able to make progress with Manny Machado and/or Juan Soto on contract extensions. A.J. Preller discussed the latest on that with Buster Olney on “Baseball Tonight” earlier today, saying that discussions will begin here in the next couple weeks/months. What are the chances of an extension getting done? Plus, what are fans looking forward to most on Saturday at FanFest?

The Athletic’s Dennis Lin has published his annual San Diego Padres fan survey where he asks fans their thoughts on the franchise. How confident are you in A.J. Preller? How would you rate the performance of Bob Melvin? What is your confidence level in Fernando Tatis Jr. making a successful return in 2023? Will the Padres keep Manny Machado beyond this season? How concerned are you in the lack of starting pitching? Will the Padres make it to the World Series in the next two seasons? All of these questions and more are answered on this episode of Talking Friars!

Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort told the Denver Post over the weekend that he doesn’t agree with “what the Padres are doing” despite his fans “probably” agreeing with it. Monfort added San Diego and other clubs “have spent a lot of money” which has put “a lot of pressure” on the Rockies organization. Monfort also made sure to mention that San Diego’s roster has some holes. Let’s be honest—he should be the last one talking about other team’s holes.

Credit to the San Diego Union Tribune’s Kevin Acee and Annie Heilbrunn for their great piece this morning on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s offseason. He’s been working out with Joe Musgrove and other Padres teammates in the pool to get ready for all of the challenges he will face during the 2023 season. Tatis says his shoulder is fully healed and his wrist is 90%. A lot of information to react to in this episode of Talking Friars!

The Athletic’s Dennis Lin put out another mailbag this week with some interesting tidbits. He says the San Diego Padres viewed losing Christian Vazquez was one of the bigger disappointments of the offseason. What could’ve that meant for Luis Campusano? Plus, some team officials have acknowledged that bringing back Juan Soto long term may be difficult. What does this mean for the Padres over the course of the next couple seasons? Should they trade him if it’s clear he isn’t going to sign an extension? All this and more discussed on the latest episode of Talking Friars!

Bob Nightengale came out with a report earlier this month that the San Diego Padres plan to be “all in” on Shohei Ohtani next offseason but he was the only one to report that at the time. But another writer—Dennis Lin, who knows the Padres better than Nightengale—reported yesterday that the Padres will definitely be in on the Los Angeles Angels superstar. Thus, it definitely seems like Ohtani is going to be discussed inside the Padres front offices. But what level of interest will San Diego have in Ohtani in terms of money? The franchise does intend to keep Manny Machado beyond 2023 and you’d think they’re going to make an effort to either extend Juan Soto or bring him back when he’s a free agent as well. Plus, a move in MLB was made this week that lowers the chances of Ha-Seong Kim being dealt. And last but not least, would it be smart for the Padres to use a six-man rotation? All this and more on this episode of Talking Friars!

The San Diego Padres let Mike Clevinger walk this offseason after a poor postseason performance but they are now linked back to him, as The Athletic is reporting that he is being investigated by Major League Baseball following domestic violence allegations.

You could argue that the San Diego Padres could be a stronger team if they added a couple more pieces to the roster before Spring Training but do they actually need to in order for them to be a postseason caliber team?

It seemed like former San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar was set to receive a four or five-year contract before the offseason started but he is still sitting unsigned. General manager A.J. Preller has only made some minor depth signings in the outfield so is there room for a bigger move to bring back a fan favorite? Plus, a Boston Red Sox beat writer is projecting that Ha-Seong Kim will be their starting shortstop. Is a trade that likely?

On the latest episode of Talking Friars, Casey Stern joined the show to talk about A.J. Preller’s offseason, the main area of concern for the club, what the Fernando Tatis Jr. reception will look like, what the Xander Bogaerts signing could mean for the future of the franchise and if he thinks the Padres are actually going to be all in on Shohei Ohtani.

An interesting report came out over the weekend by Bob Nightengale saying that the Los Angeles Dodgers’ stiffest competition for Shohei Ohtani will be the San Diego Padres, “who also plan to be all in” on the two-time All-Star. Should we actually believe this?

The San Diego Padres have had one heck of an offseason and Alex Curry came on the show today to talk about where they stand in the National League, if the Dodgers have had a disappointing offseason and what the Carlos Correa signing in Minnesota means for the Friars.

AJ Preller wanted to bring in Nelson Cruz before last season but saw him head to the Washington Nationals. Well he got his wish this time around, as the 42-year-old is coming to San Diego for $1 million. What will his role be and what does this signing mean for what’s next for the Padres?

The San Diego Padres could be set in their starting rotation but there’s still room to improve if the opportunity presents itself. Johnny Cueto just signed with the Miami Marlins, which leaves Michael Wacha as arguably the best remaining free agent starter on the market. In other words, there aren’t any great starters left. But what about the trade market?

The San Diego Padres number one priority going into this offseason was to acquire starting pitching and you could make the case they’ve done that with the additions of Seth Lugo, Wilmer Font, Brett Honeywell Jr., and Julio Teheran. With that said, you could also make the case that San Diego could use one more. If they don’t land Johnny Cueto, does it need to be through free agency though when there are more worthwhile free agent outfielders out there?