This team may be just desperate enough to allow Astros to unload Lance McCullers Jr.

Desperation is a powerful thing. It can make a ball club make a decision that they instantly regret. At the same time, sometimes you can profit from another team's distress. That's exactly what the Houston Astros would love to do when it comes to Lance McCullers Jr.

It's not all McCullers' fault, but the injuries that robbed him of most of his prime have turned his contract into an albatross. Fortunately, there's light at the end of the tunnel, with his deal expiring at the end of the upcoming season.

For a while, McCullers was an up-and-coming star. The five-year, $85 million extension he signed in March of 2021 was exactly what everyone wanted. Those are the breaks sometimes. After a nearly three-year layoff, McCullers struggled to stay healthy and effective in 2025, but given his pre-injury track record and the short-term nature of the commitment, perhaps someone can squint and see a bounce-back candidate. It would have to be someone desperate, though.

The San Diego Padres could make a desperation play for Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr.

Any team that would take a flier on McCullers would need to be the perfect storm of need, financial uncertainty, and a track record of taking risks. No club fits that bill better than the San Diego Padres.

The Padres have already lost Dylan Cease, and are likely to see Michael King walk away in free agency as well. Those two represent the top of their rotation from a year ago. Yu Darvish is out for the entire 2026 season after undergoing elbow surgery. Meanwhile, Joe Musgrove is expected back after missing all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

That leaves Nick Pivetta, Randy Vasquez, and not much else in their rotation. Simply put, San Diego doesn't just need one starter; they need multiple.

They've also shown a penchant for rolling the dice on talented pitchers with prior injury concerns and consistency issues, with Musgrove and Darvish being two prime examples. Perhaps they could believe that another year removed from his injury and all the setbacks, McCullers could be on the verge of returning to form.

The economics play a role here as well. San Diego wants to compete in a crowded NL West, but their ownership is mired in uncertainty and said to be considering a sale of the franchise. That means splurging in free agency isn't an option.

The Padres also have the league's bottom-ranked farm system. The depth down on the farm was an issue, and that was before the aggressive trade deadline that saw them part with super prospect Leo De Vries. That will make it hard for them to make a play for a cost-controlled starter like Freddy Peralta on the trade market.

McCullers won't fetch much in a return, but in either a swap of bad contracts or as a salary dump, a deal with the Padres could make sense. It's not likely, and if a deal were to happen, it would probably occur late in the process, but if there's any club that could be convinced to take McCullers off of Houston's hands, it's the Padres.