Oscar Mercado Opts Out Of Padres Deal

Outfielder Oscar Mercado has exercised an opt-out in his minor league contract with the Padres and elected free agency, MLBTR has learned. He’s now free to sign with any other club.

The 28-year-old Mercado logged 32 big league plate appearances with the Cardinals earlier this season and hit .290/.313/.387 in that small sample. He’s spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A between the Cardinals and Padres organizations, batting a combined .308/.379/.544 with a dozen homers, 17 doubles, three triples and 25 steals (in 29 attempts). Mercado has walked in 8.8% of his Triple-A plate appearances, against a 20.1% strikeout rate.

Mercado grabbed a few down-ballot Rookie of the Year votes in 2019 (when Yordan Alvarez unanimously won the award), and understandably so. In 482 appearances during his rookie year in Cleveland, he turned in a .269/.318/.443 batting line with 15 homers and 15 steals. That strong debut campaign looked like it set the stage for Mercado to roam the outfield in Cleveland for years to come, but his bat fell off in 2020 and has yet to recover. In 491 Major League plate appearances since that rookie effort, Mercado has batted .206/.262/.334.

Even as Mercado has struggled at the plate in the big leagues, he’s produced in the minors. Beyond this year’s big production in Triple-A, he also slashed .281/.363/.449 (117 wRC+) there with the Guardians’ top affiliate in 2022. The right-handed-hitting Mercado is also a sound defensive player as well, playing all three outfield spots and drawing above-average grades during his big league tenure — particularly in center field (10 Defensive Runs Saved, 7 Outs Above Average in 951 innings). Statcast credited him with 74th percentile sprint speed in his brief MLB look earlier this year, and he’s generally efficient on the bases, succeeding in more than 78% of his MLB stolen base attempts and 86% of his tries in the minors this year.

On the whole, Mercado’s been a below-average hitter in the Majors, but he’s a speedy and efficient runner who can handle all three outfield spots and hold his own against lefties — evidenced by a respectable .254/.309/.406 batting line against southpaws. He’d make a sensible depth add for a postseason contender looking to stockpile outfield depth before the Sept. 1 deadline for playoff eligibility. With rosters set to expand to 28 players next month, he’d be the type of speed-and-defense player who could be added to deepen a team’s bench.