The Padres are close to a deal with veteran reliever José Leclerc, as first reported by journalist Mike Rodriguez. It’ll be a minor league deal for the Munger English Sports Management client once it’s complete, Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds.
Leclerc missed the bulk of the 2025 season after suffering a severe lat strain and eventually requiring shoulder surgery. He threw a bullpen session for interested clubs a couple weeks ago and was said at the time to be targeting a return around July. The Padres will hope his recovery goes well in the next few months, thereby allowing him to bolster their pitching staff midseason.
It’s a buy-low move for the Padres, who are known to be working under some budgetary restraints. The past few offseasons have seen them mostly stick to modest contracts. Even when they have splurged a little bit, such as their deals for Nick Pivetta and Michael King, they have backloaded the money in order to lower the near-term hit.
Leclerc is just over a year removed from earning a $10MM deal from the A’s. That was somewhat surprising at the time but he did have some intriguing stuff on his track record. From 2018 to 2024, he tossed 299 2/3 innings for the Rangers, allowing 3.24 earned runs per nine. His 11.8% walk rate was quite high but his 31.8% strikeout rate was very strong.
In that time, he had worked both as a closer and a setup guy, earning 41 saves and 58 holds. He mixed in six different pitches, with his four-seamer and sinker sitting in the mid-90s as he also threw a high-80s cutter and changeup, a low-80s slider and a curveball in the high-70s.
His 2025 season was mostly lost. He only made ten appearances for the A’s before the aforementioned lat injury put him on the shelf. He will still be recovering from his surgery for another few months. It hasn’t been reported what salary he will make if selected to the Padres’ roster but it is presumably well below $10MM.
The Padres have a strong bullpen, even though they let Robert Suarez walk in free agency. Mason Miller is one of the best closers in the game and he’ll be joined by Adrián Morejón, Jeremiah Estrada and David Morgan. Perhaps Jason Adam can be healthy by Opening Day but he’ll be back in there at some point regardless.
Over a long season, pitcher injuries are inevitable and the outlook will change. As Leclerc is potentially getting back in game shape in July, the Padres will ideally be looking to bolster their roster ahead of the August 3rd trade deadline. If Leclerc looks to be in good form by then, perhaps that will subtract one item from their shopping list.
Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images
Mid season bullpen help it looks like. Not a bad pickup and no risk with a MiLB deal.
Did the Athletics give him $10 million last just to avoid a players union grievance?
I think so.
Fangraphs just dropped an article with their bullpen rankings showing the Padres at #1.
It’s interesting to me that Leclerc is trying to crack into this group because it seems like he’d have a more realistic shot at getting onto a roster elsewhere, but its good depth for the Padres to have in AAA when he’s healthy.
Yeah sorta puzzling from the player perspective, but perhaps was his only offer (or the only offer he liked). Even healthy I couldn’t see him beating out Rodriguez for a low/mid-leverage role. Good depth signing tho.
Next year the Padres could use him with Adam and Morejon becoming FAs, so maybe they’re grooming him for that
I suppose it doesn’t hurt the odds if they wanna try to retain him.
Or protection in case of a deadline deal where a couple of BP guys are traded for a starter.
Maybe because no one else was willing to pay him?
When it’s a toss up between retaining Maranccio (no options) and adding Rodríguez to the roster when both have more than earned a spot you know you have a deep BP.
AJ might need to swing that end of ST deal.
Might need him to rotate in for all of the bullpen games that are on their way.
I think rotation has a good chance to be solid by mid-year (after Canning returns) but it’ll definitely be all-hands-on-deck until then
known budgetary restraints
I can’t say that I read all posts for other teams but I can’t really say that I’ve ever seen this term used (or not every time) any article on say, Pirates, Braves, Guardians, Brewers, Rockies, and so on and so on.
What gives?
yeah, especially when it’s just a minor league signing.
Given that the payroll and team value on the market is listed in the top 10 of MLB, you’d think it wouldn’t be a media mantra.
A few years ago it was 4. Now it’s 9. That drop has been because there has been payroll restraints, correctly labelled by the media as…..wait for it…….payroll restraints.
Ha ha. It’s not overly complicated.
Yeah, cheap arsse Padres. That they didn’t sign Suarez for $15M AAV to boost their already leaguebest bullpen clearly indicates they’re broke.
No one said their broke. They said this.
It’s a buy-low move for the Padres, who are known to be working under some budgetary restraints.
Now you are just making stuff up. Surprise, surprise.
It is a buy low move, the but the move doesn’t in any way suggest that the latter part of the the sentence is true.
The Dodgers just signed Logan Allen to a minor league deal, because they have known budgetary restraints.
MiLB depth signing = “known budgetary restraints”
Lololol
And known… by whom?
That’s easy. Everyone except the gang !
This media victimisation just keeps happening ! So hilarious.
They must have been Acee
Like a fly on…fopsy arrives
Yes. Your weak childish attitude to Padre articles is the funniest thing ever. Most incriminating, unbecoming thing I’ve seen a man do. I love it.
Awesome, I’ve been going out of my way to bait you in everyone loves a clown.
Ha ha ha. Of course you have !
Too funny. Who are you trying to fool ? Yourself ?
Nah, chumming you in is just all too easy
lol. Oh dear. I’m convinced you are the weakest man alive.
Ok. Let’s run with the 17yo schoolboy inspired “I’m just deliberately getting into your head” story. I get it. It’s your best option. Here’s hoping for you that the readers buy into it.
So cute
I think there’d be more “budgetary uncertainty”, considering we won’t know who is gonna own the team by mid season or how much they’re gonna be willing to spend.
But if you buy a franchise for the rumored 3+ billion donate, I’d hope you’re willing to spend a good bit on players.
Can never have enough pitching…
So tired of the budgetary constraint verbiage in every padres article. You don’t have to be a fan of the team to know by now that the padres aren’t willing or even able to spend like the Mets or Dodgers, even tho they’re still a top ten payroll. I also don’t think we need to be reminded in every single article how they handicapped themselves by signing older all-star players to massive contracts/extensions Manny/Bogey/Darvish/Musgrove. It’s old.
How about framing the article in terms of roster construction, crafty contracts, minor league deal treasure hunting, SOMETHING, other than:
“yes, here. Here now is another case of the budgetary constraints. Here, see it? They signed another guy for cheap, instead of overpaying for another guy”
How about we start every Rockies, Marlins, and Pirates article with the budgetary constraints of constructing a roster every year for $100 million or LESS (the A’s are forgiven for now). “The Rockies, with their budgetary constraints of staying in the cellar of Major League Baseball, just signed Michael Lorenzen to a one-year deal”
Anyways. Thanks.
and it’s not like we are 10th. I think we are 6th in spending at the moment. Is MLBTradeRumors saying padres should spend more than the Dodgers?
The Padres have been dumpster diving all offseason.
Leclerc: French for blown save?
Buehler got nailed in his final spring start after being added to the opening day rotation. King pitched 17.2 IP this spring and recorded a 10.19 ERA. Pivetta was well off too.
The Padres Skubal and Valdez to open the season. Detroit didnt hit all that well this spring but Skubal and Framber both look ready.