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2011 Contract Issues: San Diego Padres

The Padres face four contractual options after the season:

  • Starting pitcher Chris Young has an $8.5MM club option.  This year he made his April 6th debut start before hitting the disabled list with a strain of his surgically-repaired shoulder.  This DL stint appears minor, but looking at the bigger picture the Padres will likely decline Young's option.
  • Adrian Gonzalez's $5.5MM club option for 2011 is a mere formality.
  • The Padres have a pair of mutual options in Jon Garland and Yorvit Torrealba.  It's rare to see both sides exercise such an option.

Four more players are up for free agency: Kevin Correia, David Eckstein, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Matt Stairs.  The four make a combined $7.425MM in 2010.  Young, Garland, and Torrealba make $11.7MM, bringing the total freed up to $19.125MM (minus a million or so in buyouts).  So, about $18MM will come off the books if everyone but Gonzalez leaves.

Gonzalez will get a $750K bump; that's it for players under contract.  First-time arbitration-eligibles include Tony Gwynn Jr., Edward Mujica, and Tim StaufferMike Adams will go for a second time, while Heath Bell and Scott Hairston go for a third.  Regarding Bell, we may have overestimated his potential raise in suggesting earlier that he could double his $4MM salary.  Think $6-7MM instead.

Even holding payroll at $38MM and retaining all arbitration-eligible players, the Padres would have over $10MM to spend in the winter of 2010-11.  A few midseason trades, a handful of non-tenders, and a higher payroll would increase the spending money.








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