The San Diego Padres bullpen was arguably one of the best units in baseball during the 2025 season.

Padres relievers accrued a collective 3.06 ERA last year, the lowest mark of a bullpen in MLB. Moreover, the bullpen held opponents to just a .209 batting average, the best in the league.

The Padres bullpen was quite impressive to open the season, from relievers like Adrian Morejon to Jason Adam, there was much to be said about the San Diego unit. However, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller orchestrated the trade of the July 31 deadline to cement the bullpen as a major threat.

The crown jewel on the bullpen market was Mason Miller, and Preller managed to acquired the highly-touted reliever in a trade that sent the Padres top prospect Leo De Vries to the Athletics. San Diego also sent three additional prospects as part of the return package.

While the Padres acquired Miller, the team didn’t use the right-hander as a closer because they already had a star in Robert Suarez. The right-hander sported a 2.97 ERA with 75 strikeouts across 69.2 innings of work.

Despite being 34 years old, Suarez is considered a premier free agent this winter as he opted out of his contract with the Padres at the end of the 2025 season.

Now, the reliever is looking to sign elsewhere as a return to San Diego is unlikely with Miller available to assume the role of Padres closer. MLB insider Jon Heyman believes Suarez is slated to sign a considerable offer in the winter.

“The NL saves leader could be replaced by Mason Miller in San Diego. $60M, 3 years,” Heyman writes.

Suarez and Edwin Diaz of the New York Mets are considered the top free agent closers on the market this offseason. Both relievers are projected to sign sizable contracts, but it’s unclear where that will be.

Some reports have suggested the Los Angeles Dodgers are interested in signing one of the two top relievers. This wouldn’t be the first time the Dodgers poached a San Diego reliever as Tanner Scott inked a four-year, $72 million deal with the defending champions last winter.

Nevertheless, Suarez did plunk Shohei Ohtani in June and there could be reason to believe this could dissuade the Dodgers from signing the reliever.

As for the Padres, their bullpen seems relatively unscathed with Suarez leaving thanks to Preller’s acquisition of Miller.