Forrest Wall Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Padres

Outfielder Forrest Wall has opted out of his minor league deal with the Padres and is ticketed for free agency, according to a report from ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. San Diego signed Wall back in January and he’s been playing for the club’s Triple-A affiliate ever since.

Wall, 29, was a first-rounder selected by the Rockies back in 2014. A top-100 prospect back in 2016, Wall was traded alongside Cory Spangenberg to the Blue Jays for Seunghwan Oh. After years spent toiling in the Colorado, Toronto, and Seattle farm systems Wall finally made his big league debut in Atlanta during the 2023 season. He received just 15 plate appearances over a 15-game cup of coffee with the Braves, but in that time he went 6-for-13 with two doubles and a homer and walked twice against four strikeouts.

That sensational cameo earned Wall a spot on Atlanta’s 40-man roster headed into 2024, but he struggled when called up to help fill in for Ronald Acuna Jr. in June of last year. Wall was designated for assignment by the Braves, and his struggles continued after he was claimed off waivers by the Marlins. Wall hit just .250/.314/.250 in 35 plate appearances in that second taste of big league action. Wall was DFA’d by Miami late in the 2024 and claimed by the Orioles, who eventually outrighted him to the minor leagues. That allowed him to elect free agency and sign on with San Diego, for whom he’s played 69 games at Triple-A this year.

Wall’s struggles to establish himself in the majors could be due to relatively unimpressive numbers at the highest level of the minors. He’s spent parts of six seasons at Triple-A, and has a mediocre .273/.360/.391 slash line at the level across 450 games. While his numbers have improved in recent seasons, they still hardly jump off the page; Wall’s .298/.384/.429 showing for El Paso this year is actually good for only a 99 wRC+ due to the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Still, Wall’s limited big league exposure has resulted in some success, with a 125 wRC+ in 31 total games. Perhaps that’s enough to catch the attention of a club in need of right-handed outfield depth as they gear up for the stretch run. If Wall doesn’t find an offer to his liking in affiliated ball, another option could be exploring overseas opportunities. At 29 years old with less than one year of service time under his belt in the majors, even if Wall did catch on in the majors he would likely be exiting his prime by the time he reached arbitration. That could make searching for a more immediately lucrative deal overseas a more attractive option for the outfielder.