The San Diego Padres, New York Mets, and Milwaukee Brewers have each been in contact with free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The Padres are apparently involved in a continuing dialogue with the former All-Star after already being linked to the southpaw this offseason, though they have not been willing to meet his asking price. The fit is obvious, as San Diego has a fairly inexperienced rotation with Nick Margevicius and Chris Paddack each making their MLB debuts over the weekend.

The Brewers also remain connected to reliever Craig Kimbrel, and he's seen as the priority over Keuchel with Milwaukee's bullpen reeling from Corey Knebel's season-ending Tommy John surgery.

While the Mets have been keeping tabs on both Keuchel and Kimbrel, the club is downplaying its interest in both pitchers, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Currently, the Mets rotation is fairly crowded with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, and Jason Vargas in place.

Keuchel rejected a $17.9-million qualifying offer after the 2018 season. If he doesn't sign a new deal before the amateur draft in June, his new team will not have to relinquish a draft pick as compensation.

Even though Keuchel missed training camp and remains unsigned into the season's early days, he carries a professional pedigree with the 2015 Cy Young award on his resume. For his career, he's 76-63 with a 3.66 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over 1,189 1/3 innings - all with the Houston Astros.