The Padres and free agent infielder Jose Iglesias are reportedly in agreement on a minor league contract. The Boras Corporation client will earn a $3MM base salary if he makes the roster and can take home another $1MM via incentives. That’s a bit heavier base than the standard minor league pact, which seems reflective of Iglesias’ 2024 season and perhaps strong interest on non-guaranteed deals of this nature.
Iglesias, 35, enjoyed a tremendous comeback season in 2024 after not appearing in the majors at all in 2023. (He spent a portion of that season with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate.) Originally signed to a minor league deal by the Mets, Iglesias was summoned to the big leagues in late May as a scuffling Mets club shuffled up a roster that had produced a 24-33 record through the season’s first two months. The 12-year veteran went on to appear in 85 games and slash .337/.381/.448 in 291 turns at the plate. He also became a key figure in the Mets’ clubhouse and a fan favorite whose “OMG” song became an anthem for the Mets as they turned their season around and marched to an NLCS appearance that looked wildly improbable at the time of Iglesias’ call to the majors.
Impressive as Iglesias’ numbers were in 2024, the Mets haven’t been keen on bringing him back. That’s in part due to a largely inflexible roster; catcher Francisco Alvarez and likely backup infielder Luisangel Acuña are the only two projected position players on the Mets’ roster who can be optioned. Re-signing Iglesias would’ve effectively left the Mets with a static 13-player position core, as Alvarez isn’t likely to be optioned at any point in the near future. That would leave the Mets playing with a short bench anytime a position player needed a couple days off with a minor injury or illness.
Furthermore, there’s simply good reason to believe that Iglesias’ output was unsustainable. He benefited from a sky-high .382 average on balls in play that sat 72 points higher than his career mark entering the 2024 season. That surge in batted-ball results came despite Iglesias producing bottom-of-the-scale marks in terms of average exit velocity (85.8 mph), barrel rate (2.2%) and hard-hit rate (30.6%). The Mets — and presumably, based on his eventual contract — other clubs around the league clearly didn’t expect him to replicate or even approximate his 2024 results.
While some regression is to be expected, that shouldn’t take away the entirety of what Iglesias did with the Mets. He continued to demonstrate superlative contact skills, fanning in only 12.4% of his plate appearances. He’s also retained plus sprint speed even as he’s entered his mid-30s, clocking in at 28.6 ft/sec, per Statcast, and landing in the 83rd percentile of big leaguers as a result. Iglesias also played strong defense at both third base and second base, per Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. He’s not going to be the batting title contender that a cursory look at his 2024 line might suggest, but even a dip to his “expected” .314 weighted on-base average (via Statcast) would make him a useful utility infielder.
That could well be Iglesias’ role with the Padres, but it’s possible he emerges in a more significant capacity. San Diego presently expects to have Jake Cronenworth at second base and Luis Arraez at first base. If the Friars want to affordably bolster their infield defense, however, shifting Arraez to a DH role and moving Cronenworth back to first base could open second for Iglesias.
It’s also possible that he’s only in the mix for a bench spot, which would place him in something of an unofficial competition with infielders Eguy Rosario and Tyler Wade. Rosario is out of minor league options — one of the more intriguing out-of-options players in the league this spring — whereas Wade can’t be sent down without his consent due to his status as a veteran with more than five years of MLB service. The Padres aren’t going to carry all three on the roster. Iglesias could beat out either player, given his ability to handle any infield spot other than first base. Rosario isn’t yet arbitration-eligible and is thus earning roughly the league minimum. Wade’s $850K salary is barely north of the minimum. He has a $1MM club option, however, suggesting the Friars would prefer to keep him around.
Iglesias is an Article XX(b) free agent — meaning he’s a free agent with more than six years of MLB service who finished the preceding season on a major league roster or injured list. The 2022-26 CBA stipulates that such free agents who sign minor league contracts have three uniform opt-out opportunities baked into the contract: the first being five days prior to Opening Day, the second on May 1 and the third on June 1. As such, if Iglesias is informed late in camp that the Padres don’t plan to carry him on the Opening Day roster, he can trigger that out clause and explore opportunities with other clubs.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the agreement between Iglesias and the Padres. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported it was a minor league deal and also was first on the terms of the contract.
