Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
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The opinion that the Padres wouldn’t outlay $100M plus for a SP of King’s caliber is quirky Steve. And the Padres Are Broke narrative is getting old, if not directly countered by what is playing out in reality. They project as a top 10 payroll team again this year, with much $ freed up next year. With 47 thousand in attendance on a Monday last night, this small market team will manage just fine.
Still so strange. I was having a chuckle at reading one of SI’s AI-written trade proposals that reiterated the “broke” narrative. Like the Pads are going to sell King and Arraez right now, and for a mid-tier AA guy. Lmao! Cheers Brewski
Go Pads!
Gwynn – Over the past 6 months SI has put out an insane amount of garbage. Like now they are using speculation from Bleacher Report to support their “Mets are interested in Rafaela and a trade could happen any day” headlines.
They are like the Jerry Springer of baseball news, hopefully they go away soon after losing all credibility.
100% FPG, makes for good giggles and that’s about it. The ironic thing was that the article I mentioned was King & Arraez to your Sox for a AA no-namer. Funny stuff!
San Diego may be a small market team, but the area has been growing for decades and the average income is enough that the Padres had the 4th highest home attendance in 2024 behind the large market Dodgers, Yankees, and Phillies.
I can’t easily find their TV ratings and cable contract.
30-35 years ago I could drive down the 101 with minimal traffic. That changed by the mid-90’s, and I’m sure there is as much congestion on the major arteries as in LA and SF most hours.
Hey Samuel! Don’t hit the 5/805 split at rush hour. Downtown gets bad, too… depending on time of day, ballgame, etc. Traffic updates aside, the Pads don’t have a cable contract and TV ratings are (probably) nonexistent… but they do stream every game through the MLBTV app. They should be top 2, 3, 4 in attendance again; the ballpark is always packed and alive with the rhythm of the city. Always energized! Tatis is a modern day gladiator with the way he gets the RF crown going, it’s a super awesome environment. The club is FAR from broke, and the common narrative that they are is a joke. Cheers buddy!
Nope. You can’t ride your horses from Tustin to Laguna Nigel and picnic/campout in the in orange groves anymore either.
Developers are simply great,loving people who care about you, your community and the Cayman Islands……
Im from DC. Bucket list item. Hit an afternoon card at Delmar than a nite game at Petco. Both venues have festive reps! Fun. The travel time between the two looks doable. Yes?
Easily doable, even without a car Jeff! Take the Coaster from Santa Fe Station (if you’re staying Downtown) and hop off in Del Mar. 30 minute scenic ride along the water for like $8. Coming back, transfer to the Green Line Trolley at Santa Fe and hop off at Convention Center/Petco. Door-to-door service, clean, reliable and fun. Catch the final post and first pitch if you time it right! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FUN FUN FUN (for the family, too!)
Great intel. Very cool. Thank you!
Samuel, Apparently it is growing rapidly. My aunt lived there for years and was stationed there, but she said she had to get the h*** outta there because of it.
I should have been more specific; the Padres are a small MEDIA market team (4th from bottom of MLB). It’s definitely a growing city.
Brew, It’s not that they’re broke, it’s will ownership continue to ok spending in the upper tier of the league. They seem to be compromising. Meaning, we’ll roll with what we have, but when these deals expire, we’re going down in payroll. You know, since teams won’t give us every prospect they have for our guys.
@dsett75. I thought they might pull back even more as well, but it seems as though they were honest about the CBT reset in 2024, as they’re now back up in the 2nd tier of penalties on the CBT in 2025. Doesn’t sound like they’re compromising (or broke) too much, as evidenced by the Pivetta signing and Merrill extension. Wouldn’t surprise me if they add more before trade deadline
In what way are they compromising? At $269.9 million their current payroll is in the top 5 in baseball, well into the 2nd tier of the CBT, and is guaranteed to be around the 1st CBT threshold in 2026. They have $200 million in guaranteed salaries for 11 guys out of a 26 man roster in 2026 and 2027, so payroll will not be going down prior to 2028.
Padres just signed Merrill to an extension during the season and we have public affirmation that they have engaged King about an extension. I think that an extension for one of King or Cease is a good possibility for the Padres, although Cease will be closer to $35 million AAV if he can repeat 2024 while King will be in the mid 20s because of his age and smaller history of excellence as a starting pitcher. Think a younger Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez.
The Padres have also talked to Arraez about an extension and you can be absolutely sure that if he wins a 4th straight batting title going into his age 29 season in 2026 that he will get 6 figures in free agency. 7/110?
We are not talking about a guy like Benintendi that made $8.5 million in his final arb season and had only the one good season in 2018 to speak of when he signed for 5/75 prior to the 2023 season. Arraez has averaged a full point higher WAR over the past 3 seasons than Benintendi did over the last 3 full seasons he played before signing his FA deal. As of today, Arraez has a 50 point higher BA, 20 point higher OBP and avg EV than Benintendi had in his career before signing his FA deal, and Arraez is striking out at an almost impossibly good 1.3% rate this season. How good is that? Tony Gwynn averaged 4.2% and his best season in terms of SO% was exactly double what we are seeing from Arraez so far this season. .
I think your way more optimistic about this ownership group then those looking from the outside in. Your roster is very top heavy and your GM was forced to put out one the weirdest contracts in years for Pavetta, paying him next to nothing this year followed by massively backloaded salaries, and paying 4 platoon/AAAA guys 1 mill each to cover LF and DH. While your ownership group is split and suing each other for control. It’s a weird situation looking at it from the outside.
Facts are facts. Padres have the 5th largest payroll and are over the 2nd CBT threshold and pretty close to the 3rd CBT threshold. If they do nothing except pay arbitration raises they will be close to the CBT threshold in 2026 and 2027.
All the doom and gloom about Padres payroll have proven to be garbage. Nothing but clickbait.
Padres have no more of those low cost veteran players in platoon roles than any other high payroll team. Here are the other 5 teams that are in the top 6 in payroll.
baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/2025.shtml
baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/2025.shtml
baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/2025.shtml
baseball-reference.com/teams/PHI/2025.shtml
baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/2025.shtml
Maybe look at it from reality instead of the outside.
Floatsam? Really
The Pirates are a perfect fit for nobody or everybody, depending on how you feel about it.
The team is a perfect fit for a lot of players baseball wise, but that ownership is not a fit for MLB so we won’t get to see what they could be.
The Pirates, Mariners and Orioles have prime opportunities to augment their teams. Pittsburgh and Seattle with their pitching and Baltimore with their position players. Alas, their owners prefer profit over everything, apparently. When they do that, they should be forced to sell. Unfortunately, the commissioner is on their side. Perhaps he gets a cut. Whatever the reason he wouldn’t do that, I bet he’d call the players greedy before the owners.
I’m so glad I’m not a fan of those teams. Its all a tease by owners.
Fans are just going to have to get used to seeing some of their players benched in favour of the platoon. Win probabilities go up a few percentage points every time you get the platoon advantage. Over 162 games, that’s the difference between playoffs and mediocrity.