Yu Darvish is 39 years old and has a big contract that lasts until 2028. He missed the first week of July because of an injury and never got back to his best form after that. His 5.38 ERA was the worst of his career, and his 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings were the worst of his long career. Now, President AJ Preller has finally addressed the elephant in the room.

Darvish even considered quitting because the struggle was so hard, which is a shocking thing for a pitcher known for competitive fire. The Padres now have to decide whether to trade or move him to the bullpen, since he still has three years and a lot of money left on his six-year, $108 million deal.

Preller has mentioned that talks were still going on with the veteran right-hander. “AJ Preller says that he has spoken with Yu Darvish over the past week, and the dialogue will continue,” 97.3 The Fan reported.

The prez reportedly acknowledged that Darvish “wasn’t 100% during spring training and into the regular season,” signaling that health concerns played a significant role in his underwhelming performance. While the statement has context, it offers little clarity on how the organization plans to resolve the situation.

These roster problems come at the worst time for San Diego Padres.

The sudden resignation of manager Mike Shildt after two straight seasons with 90 wins shocked everyone in the organization. Shildt left even though he had two years left on his contract extension. He said he was mentally, physically, and emotionally drained from 34 years of coaching. But he had the best winning percentage in franchise history at .565.

The skipper left a team with huge financial obligations to Machado, Bogaerts, Tatis Jr., and others. And now, the Padres are looking for their sixth manager since 2014 while also making tough decisions about their roster that will determine how long they can compete for a championship.

Now with the latest statement of Preller, if Yu Darvish goes out, it would be even difficult for Padres to perform with a relatively new team and a new manager. Now this comes at a time when ESPN’s David Schoenfield claimed that this was the last best shot that the Padres had at the World Series.

“Never say never, but the future path to continued success for the Padres is littered with mega-contract-sized potholes,” he wrote, adding, “The Padres are getting older and more expensive. Maybe they’ll try to stretch it one more year behind their bullpen, but the bottom here — when it arrives — might not be pretty.”

The managerial opening, though, is only one piece of San Diego’s complicated offseason puzzle. The pitching staff of the team is also going through a lot of changes, which forces Preller to look for unusual ways to fix the problem that could change the way the whole roster is put together.

Padres president plans major shift for closer Mason Miller

After losing to the Cubs in the wild-card round, the Padres saw Dylan Cease enter free agency, Michael King’s mutual option still hasn’t been decided, and Robert Suarez seems ready to opt out. These departures leave enormous gaps in a rotation and bullpen that really need more players instead of new ones.

AJ Preller has come up with an unexpected way to fix the lack of starting pitchers.

The president of baseball operations told 97.3 The Fan that San Diego is seriously thinking about moving Mason Miller from closer to starting pitcher for the 2026 season. This is a big change in the way the reliever thinks. Since he joined the team in July, he has been very successful, with a 0.77 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 23.1 innings over 22 games.

Miller, who is 27 years old, has the right amount of experience for this change.

He started his major league career with Oakland in 2023, but after just six games, the Athletics moved him to the bullpen. That change turned Miller into one of baseball’s best closers, showing off the deadly stuff that made him almost impossible to hit when the game was on the line. His better command and more experience since those early Oakland starts, make it seem like he could handle the extra work.

The Padres are trying to make the most of their championship window while dealing with tough contracts. Miller’s versatility could give them the rotation they need without costing them a lot of money on free agent pitchers.