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The Padres' top priority this winter should be signing Roki Sasaki. (And they aren't the only team with that pursuit at the top of their checklist.)

Sasaki is a 23-year-old fireballer with a wipeout splitter and an excellent slider. He has ace potential, and whichever team signs him will do so at a minimal cost, all things considered. International bonus pools are capped, and Sasaki would be earning a rookie salary. The Padres are rumored to be among the favorites for the Japanese right-hander.

But while Sasaki might be the Padres’ top priority, he isn't their first priority. At least chronologically. Whenever Sasaki is posted, he will have 45 days to meet with teams, and the 2025 international signing period does not open until Jan. 15.

In the meantime, a busy month lies ahead. The Winter Meetings begin a week from today in Dallas, and the Padres have much to accomplish, even if they’re keeping one eye squarely on Sasaki.

Here's a look at three things the Padres can get done by the end of next week's Winter Meetings.

1. Re-sign Jurickson Profar
San Diego’s most glaring need is probably in the rotation, with Joe Musgrove expected to miss the entire 2025 season following Tommy John surgery. Second most glaring? A corner-outfield bat.

There’s a familiar one they could reunite with. Profar has already expressed his desire to remain in San Diego after he posted the best season of his 11-year career in 2024.

“This team, I think they have all the things to win a World Series,” Profar said in October after the Padres' postseason exit. “Hopefully I'm part of it.”

Sure sounds like that feeling is mutual.

“He had a great year this year,” general manager A.J. Preller said last month. “He’s somebody we’re definitely interested in talking to and is a real part of what we’re doing.”

Now the dollars and cents need to line up. That’s never a sure thing -- as evidenced by Profar’s 2022-23 offseason. He was also coming off a solid season in San Diego, before opting out of his contract and not receiving the overtures he’d hoped for from San Diego. Profar ended up in Colorado instead (before rejoining the Padres after he was released in mid-August).

But this time feels different. The Padres need a left fielder. Profar is clearly a better fit in San Diego than he is anywhere else. After the Padres reached the postseason, general manager A.J. Preller spoke glowingly of Profar’s effect on the clubhouse.

There seems to be only one outcome both sides are hoping for. Now, we wait.

2. Settle the shortstop situation
On multiple occasions this winter, Preller has expressed a desire to have an answer at shortstop earlier than he did last offseason.

A year ago, the Padres were still mulling trade possibilities involving Ha-Seong Kim in mid-February. They made the call to hang onto Kim, who was entering his final season before free agency. So it wasn't until the day Xander Bogaerts reported to Spring Training that he learned he'd be moving to second base.

"I would think," Preller said, "we’ll be able to have an earlier idea of how things are going to unfold."

Still, the Padres have yet to publicly commit to a plan at shortstop for 2025. Bogaerts himself seems a sensible enough choice. He took over at the position late in '24 after Kim's season ended early due to a right shoulder injury. With 18-year-old Leodalis De Vries -- the Padres' No. 2 prospect (MLB Pipeline's No. 28 overall) -- on the horizon, the Padres could simply use Bogaerts as a stopgap for '25, before eventually moving him back to second.

That's the best option for the lineup. But it's not ideal defensively. At this point, Bogaerts is clearly a better second baseman than a shortstop, and his presence at short might move Luis Arraez into daily first-base duties.

A Kim reunion remains unlikely but possible (though Kim will miss the early part of the season anyway while he recovers from shoulder surgery). The Padres don't appear to be in the mix for Willy Adames, the market's top shortstop.

So if they're going to find a regular shortstop this winter, they'll probably have to...

3. Make a trade
Those lights. That music. The holiday decor. Yep, Preller is probably scheming up another trade.

It's December -- and Preller has a penchant for throwing the entire sport into chaos in December.

No, I don't think anything this month would rise to the levels of 2023, when Preller traded Juan Soto. Or '20, when he traded for Blake Snell and Yu Darvish on the same day. Or '14, when he basically shook up the entire Padres roster.

But Preller is going to wheel and deal. It's just a matter of when. As noted above, it's possible the Padres could look to the trade market for a shortstop. But the likelier possibility comes on the pitching front.

As with those Darvish and Snell trades (and Musgrove one month later), the Padres have managed to find some serious ace-caliber starters via offseason trades. Their farm is notably thinner after an aggressive Trade Deadline. So maybe shooting for an ace is asking a bit much. But clearly Preller is among the most active of holiday shoppers.