This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell's Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Padres have already accomplished a lot this offseason. They signed Xander Bogaerts. They brought back Nick Martinez and Robert Suarez. They brought in Matt Carpenter and Seth Lugo.

There's still work to do.

With just over a month until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, the Padres have grown increasingly comfortable with the state of their roster entering the 2023 season. But there are a few pieces that need to fall into place.

Here's a look at five things the Padres must take care of in the early months of 2023:

1. Find pitching depth
This should be priority No. 1. Even if the Padres believe they'll enter the season with a rotation of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, Martinez and Lugo, there's just not enough organizational starting pitching depth.

It's entirely possible that a Triple-A arm like Jay Groome or Ryan Weathers could help fill that void. Maybe Adrian Morejon will respond well to his transition to a starter’s workload. But if the Padres were to enter the regular season with those as their primary depth options, they'd be taking a risk. An injury or two in their rotation -- however minor -- could derail their lofty 2023 ambitions.

A year ago, the Padres found suitable starting pitching depth, essentially entering the year with seven capable big league starting pitchers.

There are still free agents to be had for the back end of the rotation. There's also the possibility the Padres could deal for a starter -- though the farm system is far more barren than it was when they pulled off their Snell-Darvish-Musgrove coup two winters ago.

2. Explore the catching/outfield market
Unlike the pitching side of things, the offensive upgrades don't feel mandatory.

It's easy to envision the Padres entering the season with Austin Nola and Luis Campusano behind the plate. It's less likely -- but also entirely possible -- that they will enter the season with their current outfield mix, presuming Fernando Tatis Jr. would make a full-time transition.

The Padres' offense is loaded. But if there are any weaknesses, it's these two. Campusano is unproven and Nola might be best served as more of a part-time starter. In the outfield, Tatis and Soto provide plenty of thump. But the lefty-hitting Trent Grisham could perhaps use a platoon partner.

3. Fill out the coaching staff
The Padres have yet to announce their coaching staff, having generally done so in December in years past.

There's not much left to sort out, with manager Bob Melvin set to bring back the majority of his staff. But the departures of hitting coach Michael Brdar and catching coach Francisco Cervelli leave two spots open.

Brdar's departure doesn't necessarily mandate a hitting-coach hire. It's expected that Ryan Flaherty will move into that role -- though little will change regarding his duties, as Flaherty, Brdar and hitting instructor Morgan Burkhart all chipped in on the hitting side of things. Still, the Padres are looking to add another staffer to work alongside Flaherty and Burkhart in 2023. The title of that hire remains to be seen.

4. Settle arb cases
In A.J. Preller's nine-year tenure as the Padres' general manager, he's never gone to an arbitration hearing. He also hasn't had many arbitration cases as interesting as this winter’s.

First and foremost, Juan Soto is due a raise on his $17.1 million salary from 2022. He's entering his penultimate season of arbitration eligibility. Meanwhile, Josh Hader will get a bump from his $11 million salary. That's two perennial All-Stars the Padres still must attempt to settle with.

On top of that, Jake Cronenworth, Grisham, Tim Hill, Morejon and Nola are arbitration-eligible. The deadline for sides to exchange figures for arbitration is Jan. 13 (though salaries can still be agreed upon once figures are exchanged).

5. Finalize spring rosters
Remember the Padres' issues in the rotation, at catcher and in the outfield? Well, they've already added Julio Teheran, Pedro Severino and David Dahl on Minor League deals -- at least somewhat fortifying their options for those positions.

Those three will be non-roster invitees to Spring Training. At some point over the next month, the Padres will unveil their full spring roster, replete with other potential depth pieces. It can often feel like something of a formality. But recently San Diego has gotten meaningful contributions from both José Azocar and Nabil Crismatt, each of whom were NRIs in the past two seasons. The truth is, if the Padres can get big league-caliber production from an NRI or two, it’ll go a long way in their roster construction.