The San Diego Padres made only a few roster moves during the offseason, but despite remaining in playoff contention, their offensive struggles are becoming impossible to ignore.
Their recent series against the Philadelphia Phillies highlighted those issues even more, as San Diego was swept and held scoreless twice.
Key stars such as Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Jackson Merrill have all continued to struggle at the plate, leaving the lineup without much production.
Because of those offensive problems, the Padres’ failure to re-sign Ryan O’Hearn is now looking like a costly mistake.
According to Robert Murray of Fansided, San Diego was among several teams interested in O’Hearn during the offseason after previously acquiring him from the Baltimore Orioles at the 2025 trade deadline.
Instead of returning to the Padres, O’Hearn signed a two-year, $29 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in free agency.
Although he is currently on the injured list, he was one of Pittsburgh’s top hitters before getting hurt, batting .289 with an .827 OPS in 44 games this season.
Had O’Hearn stayed in San Diego, he would currently rank as the team’s most productive hitter. Gavin Sheets owns the club’s best OPS among regular hitters at .817, while the Padres as a team have posted one of the worst offensive marks in baseball with a .652 OPS.
Following their disappointing series against Philadelphia, it has become increasingly clear that letting O’Hearn leave may have been a major misstep by general manager A.J. Preller. His offensive production is exactly what the Padres lineup has been missing throughout the season.
