Padres lose starting pitching target to Mets

Jon Heyman reported four days ago that the San Diego Padres were one of the many teams interested in Kodai Senga.

Notice that one of the other teams listed were the New York Mets. They ended up winning the Senga sweepstakes tonight, as the Japanese ace is reportedly signing a five-year deal worth $75 million with New York.

Senga had a 1.89 ERA in 148 innings this past season pitching for the Fukuoka Soft Bank Hawks.

The 29-year-old met with the Padres in San Diego earlier this offseason and it was believed that San Diego had a good chance to land him, especially considering how much Senga has looked up to Yu Darvish.

It isn’t known if the Padres made an offer to Senga but I expected him to receive more than $15 million per year based on how much money other starters are getting paid per year this offseason.

Now the Padres will continue their hunt for at least one other starting pitcher to join Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell and Nick Martinez in the rotation. Carlos Rodon is the best remaining starter available but Ken Rosenthal indicated to me at the Winter Meetings this week that the former Giant might be demanding more than what the Padres are willing to give him.

So if Rodon isn’t an option, then perhaps San Diego will go after someone like Chris Bassitt or Nathan Eovaldi—pitchers who’ve proven they can start at the major league level. Seth Lugo has also been connected to the Padres recently.