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National League Non-Tenders: 11/21/25

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Every National League team has officially announced their non-tender decisions. It was a quiet evening in terms of subtractions, with only the Rangers parting with any marquee players. All players who were non-tendered are free agents without going on waivers. A few teams dropped pre-arbitration players from the back of the 40-man roster. It’s possible they preferred not to expose them to waivers and are hopeful of re-signing them to non-roster deals.

Here’s a full list of today’s activity in the NL, while the American League moves are available here. All projected salaries are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

  • The Braves announced that right-handers Alek Manoah and Carson Ragsdale were not tendered contracts. Both had been acquired earlier in the offseason via waivers, and both are now free agents. Manoah was projected to earn $2.2MM. Ragsdale was not arb-eligible.
  • The Brewers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
  • The Cardinals chose not to tender contracts to lefty John King, catcher Yohel Pozo and righty Sem Robberse, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Jorge Alcala, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, was also non-tendered, John Denton of MLB.com adds. King and Alcala were both projected for a $2.1MM salary. The others were not arb-eligible.
  • The Cubs non-tendered catcher Reese McGuire, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. He hit .226/.245/.444 through 140 plate appearances in a backup catcher role and was arb-eligible for the final time. He’d been projected to earn $1.9MM. Right-hander Eli Morgan, who was projected to earn $1.1MM, was also non-tendered, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.
  • The D-backs non-tendered left-hander Tommy Henry, who’d already been designated for assignment, and right-hander Taylor Rashi. Neither was eligible for arbitration. They tendered contracts to their entire arb class.
  • The Dodgers did not tender a contract to closer Evan Phillips, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He was only under club control for one more season and projected for a $6.1MM salary but underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Dodgers righty Nick Frasso, who was not arb-eligible and finished the season on the 60-day IL, was also non-tendered, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
  • The Giants non-tendered left-hander Joey Lucchesi, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Lucchesi pitched to a solid 3.76 ERA with a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate and strong 7.3% walk rate in 38 1/3 innings and had been projected for a $2MM salary. San Francisco also non-tendered catcher Andrew Knizner, who was designated for assignment this afternoon when the Giants acquired Joey Wiemer from Miami.
  • The Marlins tendered contracts to all of their eligible players, per Isaac Azout of Fish On First.
  • The Mets are non-tendering right-hander Max Kranick, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. Kranick, 28, posted a 3.65 ERA in 37 innings with the Mets this year. It was his first big league opportunity since a five-inning cameo with the Pirates back in 2022. Kranick’s season came to an abrupt end back in July due to flexor tendon repair surgery. Southpaws Jose Castillo and Danny Young were also non-tendered, Sammon adds. Young had Tommy John surgery back in May. Castillo was a waiver claim who pitched for four different teams in 2025.
  • The Nationals tendered contracts to their entire roster, per a team announcement.
  • The Padres announced that lefty Omar Cruz and righty Sean Reynolds were non-tendered. Neither was arbitration-eligible. They tendered contracts to every member of their arbitration class.
  • The Phillies non-tendered righties Michael Mercado and Daniel Robert, neither of whom was arbitration-eligible. They’re both free agents. The Phils tendered contracts to all of their arb-eligible players otherwise.
  • The Pirates non-tendered outfielders Alexander Canario and Ronny Simon, as well as righties Colin Holderman and Dauri Moreta. All four were designated for assignment earlier in the week. Holderman was projected for a $1.7MM salary and Moreta for $800K. The others weren’t arb-eligible.
  • The Reds announced that catcher Will Banfield and right-handers Carson Spiers and Roddery Munoz were not tendered contracts. They’re all free agents. None of the three were arbitration-eligible, but by non-tendering them rather than designating them for assignment, Cincinnati bypasses the need to place them on waivers and can try to quickly re-sign any of the bunch to minor league deals, if the Reds are so inclined.
  • The Rockies non-tendered first baseman Michael Toglia, the team announced. He’d been designated for assignment earlier in the week, making today’s non-tender all but a formality.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/21/25

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The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is this afternoon at 4pm CT. Throughout the day, we’ll surely see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.

These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who were borderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.

Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.

All salary projections in this post come via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the day as deals are announced and/or reported. Salary figures are from The Associated Press unless otherwise noted.

Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images

Padres Sign Pablo Reyes To Minor League Deal

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The Padres have signed infielder Pablo Reyes to a minor league deal, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The Klutch Sports client will presumably also receive an invite to major league camp in spring training.

Reyes, 32, has appeared in seven big league seasons. He has mostly served as a part-time utility player and as a source of hope and inspiration. Overall, he has appeared in 259 games and stepped to the plate 606 times over those seven campaigns. He has produced a .245/.305/.342 batting line and stolen 14 bases. The righty swinger has been better against lefties, with a .272/.325/.418 line when holding the platoon advantage.

Defensively, Reyes can fill multiple positions. He has at least 150 innings at the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as each of the outfield corners. He’s also had briefer stints at first base and in center field, plus five mop-up innings on the mound.

One year ago, he signed a minor league deal with the Yankees and eventually cracked the Opening Day roster with that club. He was on the roster for almost three months but didn’t play much. He got into 25 games, mostly as a defensive replacement. He only received 34 plate appearances and put up a .194/.242/.226 line in those. He was designated for assignment in June, became a free agent and then landed a minor league deal with the Mets. He put up a strong .289/.385/.484 line for Triple-A Syracuse over the next few months.

The Padres currently project to have an infield of Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth and Gavin Sheets from left to right, with Ramón Laureano, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the outfield. Guys like Mason McCoy, Will Wagner, Tirso Ornelas and Bryce Johnson are on the 40-man and are candidates for bench spots. The first three of those guys have options and could be sent to the minors. Reyes will come into camp looking to earn a reserve role. If he eventually gets a roster spot, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Randy Jones Passes Away

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The Padres announced Wednesday that two-time All-Star and former National League Cy Young winner Randy Jones has passed away. He was 75 years old. The team issued the following statement:

“With deep sorrow and heavy hearts, the Padres mourn the passing of our beloved left-hander, Randy Jones. Randy was a cornerstone of our franchise for over five decades, highlighted by becoming the first Padres pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame in 1999, his impact and popularity only grew in his post-playing career, becoming a tremendous ambassador for the team and a true fan favorite. Crossing paths with RJ and talking baseball or life was a joy for everyone fortunate enough to spend time with him. Randy was committed to San Diego, the Padres, and his family. He was a giant in our lives and our franchise history. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife Marie and the entire Jones family during this difficult time. RJ will be greatly missed.”

Jones was the Padres’ fifth-round pick in the 1972 draft and was in the majors as a 23-year-old the following season. The Fullerton native, born just about 100 miles north of the city where he’d eventually star on the mound, appeared in 20 games during his rookie season and immediately impressed with a 3.16 earned run average in 139 2/3 innings.

From that point, Jones became a fixture in San Diego’s rotation. A tough 1974 season saw him lead the National League with 22 losses, but he flipped the script in 1975-76, reaching 20 wins in both seasons. Jones logged an NL-best 2.24 ERA in 285 innings during the ’75 season and finished second in Cy Young voting to the legendary Tom Seaver. A year later, it was Jones’ turn to take home the hardware. He tossed an MLB-best 315 1/3 innings, including an incredible 25 complete games (five shutouts) and notched a tidy 2.74 earned run average. Coupled with 22 wins, that performance helped him beat out runners up Jerry Koosman, Don Sutton and Steve Carlton for what would be the lone Cy Young Award of his decade-long career.

Jones spent another four seasons in the Friars’ rotation but never returned to those lofty heights. He averaged 204 frames per season from 1977-80, working to a collective 3.62 ERA along the way. The Padres traded him to the Mets following the 1980 season, and he’d go on to pitch two years in Queens with a 4.69 ERA in 167 innings before being released.

Though Jones’ peak was fairly brief, he was one of the faces of his team in the mid-70s and is fondly remembered by fans for that pair of stellar, Cy Young-caliber seasons in ’75-’76. He retired with exactly 100 wins and a 3.42 earned run average compiled over the course of 1933 innings in the majors. We at MLBTR offer our condolences to the family, friends and countless fans of Jones — and to the entire Padres organization.

Padres Select Garrett Hawkins, Miguel Mendez

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The Padres announced that they have selected right-handers Garrett Hawkins and Miguel Mendez to their 40-man roster. That protects both of them from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft. San Diego’s 40-man roster count climbs to 36.

Hawins, 25, was the Padres’ ninth-round pick in 2021. He pitched 60 innings in 2025 with a sparkling 1.50 ERA with a massive 35.1% strikeout rate against a 10.1% walk rate. He’s a pure bullpen prospect who returned from Tommy John surgery in 2025 with even better velocity and strikeout rates. Hawkins still hasn’t pitched in Triple-A but is an obvious candidate to get a big league look at some point in 2026.

Mendez, 23, climbed through three levels this season, topping out in Double-A and posting a collective 3.22 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate. The Dominican-born hurler draws plus grades for his fastball and slider — the former, in particular — but he has subpar command that still needs refinement if he’s to continue as a starter. For the time being, the Padres have continued to try to develop him in a rotation role; he started 21 games in 2025.

Nine Players Reject Qualifying Offer

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The deadline to accept the qualifying offer has passed. Four players — Trent Grisham, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Woodruff, and Shota Imanaga — chose to accept the one-year, $22.025MM deal and remain with their current clubs. The remaining nine players rejected the deal. They are: Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker, Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber, Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette, Astros lefty Framber Valdez, Padres righty Dylan Cease, Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez, Mets closer Edwin Diaz, Diamondbacks righty Zac Gallen, and Padres righty Michael King. All nine are now free agents.

There’s not much surprise in any of the nine players who rejected. Tucker, Schwarber, Bichette, Valdez, Cease, Suarez and Diaz were all locks. Gallen may have given some brief thought to accepting after a rough showing in 2025, but he finished strong and has a track record as a high-end starter who’s garnered multiple top-five finishes in NL Cy Young balloting. King was hobbled by nerve and knee injuries in an odd season but was dominant in 2023-24 and through the first two months of the current season. He was healthy late in the year and fanned three in his lone inning of postseason work. He’ll test the waters in search of a multi-year deal as well.

Now that this nonet has rejected qualifying offers, they’ll all be subject to draft compensation. Interested teams will need to surrender a draft pick (or multiple picks) and, in some cases, space from their bonus pool for international amateurs in order to sign any of this group. The extent of that draft compensation depends on the revenue-sharing and luxury tax status of the new team. MLBTR broke down which pick(s) each club would forfeit by signing a “qualified” free agent last month.

Similarly, the compensation for each player’s former club is dependent on revenue-sharing and luxury tax status — as well as the size of the contract signed by the player in question. MLBTR also ran through the compensation each team would receive if their qualified free agents turned down the offer and signed elsewhere.

The Padres Need To Make A Decision On Luis Campusano

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Is Luis Campusano a part of the Padres’ future? President of baseball operations A.J. Preller says he is. “He’s going to be in our mix next year, for sure,” Preller said last month, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I’m hoping his experiences this year are going to help him overall as a player.”

Those words don’t align with the club’s actions, as they haven’t shown much faith in him. Campusano was a top 100 prospect a few years ago. He got cups of coffee from 2020 to 2022, never topping 16 games played in any of those seasons. He was called up late in 2020 and didn’t use an option that year, but he burned two of his three options in the following seasons.

In 2023, he was up with the big league club all year but spent a lot of time on the injured list. He was only healthy enough to play in 49 games but put up a huge .319/.356/.491 line and 133 wRC+ in that sample. His defensive grades weren’t great but that offense was certainly enticing. His .331 batting average on balls in play was on the high side but he also had a small 12.1% strikeout rate, meaning he put the ball in play a lot.

The following season was a disappointment, however. He got into 91 games, his biggest sample of big league work to date. His batted ball luck flipped the other way, as his BABIP dropped to .240. That wasn’t just luck as his average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard hit rate all dropped compared to the prior season. He finished the year with a .227/.281/.361 line and 83 wRC+. That kind of offense would have been passable for a glove-first backstop but Campusano was not that. He had a fielding run value of minus-13 and was also credited with minus-17 Defensive Runs Saved, making him one of the worst defensive catchers in the majors that year.

That performance understandably led to a reduction in playing time but he stayed on the roster for a while as Kyle Higashioka and Elias Díaz handled the catching duties. The Padres optioned Campusano to the minors on September 11th, which was seemingly not a coincidence. A player doesn’t burn an option year unless he spends at least 20 days on optional assignment. When the Friars sent Campusano down last year, there were 19 days left on the schedule.

That left Campusano still with one option remaining going into 2025 and they seemed determined to use it. They re-signed Díaz and also signed Martín Maldonado to be the catchers at the big league level. Campusano was optioned to the minors to start the year.

Seemingly, the plan was for Campusano to be honing his craft with Triple-A El Paso but the Padres also made some curious decisions in that context. He was recalled in early May as the Padres had some injuries, not to any of their catchers, but he was optioned back down three days later. He was recalled again in late May and was up with the club for three weeks but only got into six games with 14 plate appearances before getting optioned back down in the middle of June. He was recalled again for a couple of days in July when Gavin Sheets went on the paternity list, getting optioned back down a couple of days later.

Ahead of the deadline, the Padres acquired Freddy Fermin from the Royals. Maldonado was designated for assignment, leaving the Friars with Fermin and Díaz for the stretch run. They re-signed Maldonado to a minor league deal at the end of August. At the end of September, Díaz seemed to be banged up with an oblique injury and he was excluded from the club’s Wild Card roster. Campusano was called up but the club also selected Maldonado back to the roster, giving them three backstops for their series against the Cubs. Fermin got all the playing time behind the plate in that series.

All of this happened while Campusano crushed Triple-A pitching in 2025. He was aided by a .370 BABIP but his 15.2% walk rate and 17.3% strikeout rate were both great figures. He hit 25 home runs in 475 plate appearances. Even in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, his .336/.441/.595 line translated to a 148 wRC+.

Despite those monstrous numbers, the Padres mostly kept him in El Paso. When they did call him up, he hardly played. They didn’t put him behind the plate in the big leagues at any point this year. They kept rolling with Díaz, Fermin and Maldonado despite none of those three guys hitting. Maldonado, in fact, has been one of the worst hitters in the majors throughout much of his career.

Both Díaz and Maldonado reached free agency at the end of the 2025 season, with Maldonado announcing his retirement shortly thereafter. That leaves Fermin and Campusano as the two catchers on the 40-man roster. Ethan Salas is one of the club’s top prospects but he is only 19 years old and has barely played above High-A. He may be the future but a promotion in 2026 would be ambitious.

Campusano is now 27 years old and out of options, meaning he can’t be easily sent down to El Paso any longer. He actually qualified for arbitration a year ago as a Super Two player, so the Friars paid him $1MM in 2025. Since he hardly played in the majors this year, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to make the same salary in 2026. Friday is the non-tender deadline, giving the Padres a few more days to decide whether or not to tender him a contract again.

The Padres clearly didn’t trust Campusano to be a big league catcher in 2025. They didn’t put him back there at any point and opted for light-hitting veterans instead. They presumably were still hoping to make him a long-term catcher, as they played him there in Triple-A, along with some time at first base. However, they also interrupted his Triple-A routine with sporadic call-ups that featured little playing time. If they were committed to having him maximize his glovework in 2025, then those recalls stand out as odd choices.

If Campusano does survive the winter and comes into camp with the Padres in 2026, is he the backup catcher? If he’s going to be more in the first base/DH mix, they probably would need to add a veteran backstop, which is less than ideal roster construction. Also, even veterans without much upside cost a few million. They had to give Díaz a $3.5MM guarantee last offseason, for instance. That’s not much in baseball terms but it’s notable for a club with ongoing payroll concerns.

There’s an argument for trading Campusano. A rebuilding club without a clear solution behind the plate, such as the Nationals or Twins, could take him on. One of those clubs could let Campusano have some run at the catcher position to see what happens. However, they’re not likely to give up much for a such a flier.

The Padres could tender Campusano a contract and then try to run him through waivers. Since he has at least three years of service time, he has the right to reject outright assignments in favor of electing free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service, he would have to walk away from his remaining salary commitments in order to exercise that right. In the scenario where he has been tendered a contract and is slated to make about $1MM in 2026, he would presumably accept, allowing the Padres to keep him as non-roster depth. However, given his track record and three remaining years of club control, it’s no guarantee he would clear.

Put it all together and the Padres should seemingly pick a lane. If one takes Preller at his word, they already have. With a tight budget and question marks in the rotation, perhaps they will stick with Campusano and find a role for him. But they just finished a season during which they didn’t trust him to catch, despite needing clear upgrades there. Even when he was called up, he didn’t get a lot of at-bats. That doesn’t bode well for him serving as a bat-first bench piece, especially with teams usually preferring to have a bit of defensive versatility from their reserves.

If he gets squeezed off the roster, he’ll be destined for the trade block, the waiver wire or perhaps he’ll just be non-tendered later this week. If he does end up departing San Diego, he’ll be an interesting change-of-scenery candidate. Perhaps there will be some clarity on his status in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Padres Re-Sign Kyle Hart

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The Padres announced they’ve re-signed Kyle Hart to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2027 season. The Nello Gamberdino client is reportedly guaranteed $1.2MM. He’ll be paid $1MM in 2026 and is guaranteed a $200K buyout on the $2.5MM option. The option price would climb by $250K apiece if Hart reaches 16 and 20 starts next season; it’d jump another $500K at 24, 28 and 32 starts. The buyout price would climb by $100K each at 50, 55 and 60 appearances.

Hart, 33 next week, posted a 5.86 ERA in 43 innings of work for the Padres this past year while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen. The lefty inked a $1.5MM guarantee with San Diego back in February that came with a $5MM club option for the 2026 season that Padres opted to decline earlier this month. That wasn’t necessarily a shock given his lackluster performance; even during his time at Triple-A El Paso, Hart posted a middling 4.10 ERA in 63 2/3 innings of work with a strikeout rate of just 18.5%. 2025 marked his first work in the majors since his 2020 big league debut with the Red Sox, which lasted all of 11 innings.

During the interim, Hart had bounced between various minor league affiliates before heading overseas to pitch for the KBO’s NC Dinos. He made 26 starts for the Dinos in 2024 and pitched exceptionally, with a 2.69 ERA and a 28.8% strikeout rate across 157 innings of work. It was a strong enough season that Hart looked to return to the big leagues and see what he could do at the highest level, but things didn’t work out quite so well last year. Hart is hardly the first player to dominate overseas but struggle to replicate his production stateside, as even 2023 KBO MVP Erick Fedde struggled in the big leagues this past year after enjoying a strong return season with the White Sox and Cardinals in 2024.

Regardless of Hart’s struggles last year, however, it’s understandable that San Diego decided to re-up with the lefty for 2026. The Padres are a team in desperate need of volume when it comes to rotation-capable arms. Dylan Cease and Michael King have both departed the organization for free agency and, while Joe Musgrove is expected back next year from injury, it’s already known that Yu Darvish won’t pitch next year. Musgrove and Nick Pivetta are both quality veterans, but Randy Vasquez, JP Sears, and Matt Waldron are all questionable as quality regulars in a contending rotation. That’s true of Hart as well, of course, but having additional depth behind that group figures to be valuable in order to avoid a situation like the one San Diego faced in 2021 when a lack of pitching depth forced them to turn to displaced veterans like Jake Arrieta and Vince Velasquez as they narrowly missed the playoffs due to a late September collapse.

Signing Hart helps fill out the depth on a budget, but it won’t do much to solve the problem of San Diego needing additional impact in the rotation. The Padres have operated with some financial uncertainty in the years since Peter Seidler’s death, and the recent announcement that ownership intends to explore a sale of the franchise further clouds the club’s financial picture in the short-term. That’s not to say making a splash in free agency and adding a mid-rotation or better arm to the mix is completely out of the question; they did manage to find room in the budget to add Pivetta just last year, after all. That could lead to a creative solution like trying Mason Miller or Adrian Morejon in the rotation as the team’s best option if they hope to add an impact starter with a pursuit of someone at the top of the market like Cease or Framber Valdez seemingly unlikely.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the guarantee, option price/buyout, and maximum value of the escalators. The Associated Press had the specific escalator breakdown. Image courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images.

Seidler Family Exploring Potential Sale Of Padres

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The Padres announced Thursday that the Seidler family, which has owned the majority stake in the franchise since 2012, will explore “strategic options” for the team, including a potential sale of the franchise. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the potential sale just minutes before the team’s formal press release.

“The family has decided to begin a process of evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise,” chairman John Seidler said within this morning’s announcement. “We will undertake this process with integrity and professionalism in a way that honors [late chairman Peter Seidler’s] legacy and love for the Padres and lays the foundation for the franchise’s long-term success.  During the process and as we prepare for the 2026 season, the Padres will continue to focus on its players, employees, fans, and community while putting every resource into winning a World Series championship. We remain fully committed to this team, its fans, and the San Diego community.”

It’s been nearly two years to the day since the untimely passing of late Padres chairman Peter Seidler, who passed away at just 63 years of age. His brother, John, was approved as the team’s control person earlier this year.

That appointment came after a monthslong legal battle wherein Peter’s widow, Sheel Seidler, filed suit against brothers-in-law Matt and Bob Seidler, alleging that they had breached fiduciary duty and committed fraud as successors of their late brother’s trust. Sheel Seidler accused Matt and Bob of selling assets to themselves at “far” below-market prices as they attempted to consolidate control of the franchise. Matt vehemently denied the allegations in a formal statement of his own, wherein he accused Sheel of “manufacturing claims” against other trustees in an effort to secure control of the franchise herself.

To this point, Sheel’s lawsuit has yet to be litigated in full. If it reached that point, it’d presumably be a yearslong process. There’s no indication that the parties have settled the suit outside of court, either.

At this juncture, it’s not yet known whether the Seidler family will sell the majority stake or seek new minority investors. Acee reports that one minority owner, who owns a roughly 10% stake in the team, is in the process of selling his stake in the club. Whether there will be larger portions available remains to be seen and is surely in part dependent on interest. Acee’s report also indicates that the preliminary $1.8 billion valuation of the franchise includes around $300MM in debt and “more than $150 million in paybacks to owners for two cash infusions made in recent years.”

As we recently saw with the Twins, who had a reported $425MM in debt while they attempted to sell the franchise for around $1.7 billion, that level of debt can prove a major obstacle in finding a buyer. The Pohlad family ultimately opted not to sell the Twins franchise, instead bringing in two new minority stakeholders whose investments in the club (coupled with an aggressive deadline fire sale) helped to clear that debt.

While the current ownership landscape is rather tumultuous, the Padres should still be in a position to command considerable interest. Both Forbes and CNBC have reported the team to be profitable. They’ve set franchise attendance records in three straight seasons and ranked second in the National League in terms of attendance this season — thanks in part to a lack of competition in terms of major sports teams in the market — but still enjoy the benefit of receiving revenue-sharing funds due to the size of their market. In that sense, even with that notable debt and some infighting among the current owners, the Padres have many points working in their favor if the Seidler family does choose to pursue a sale of the majority stake.

Acee further reports that even as the team explores a potential sale, one source described the team’s baseball operations as “business as usual,” adding that payroll will be in the same general range as in 2025. The Padres opened the 2025 season with a payroll of nearly $210MM and tacked on a few million more over the course of the season. RosterResource currently projects a $201MM payroll, though that’s before any potential non-tenders or trades from the big league roster.

The Padres were far more free-spending under Peter Seidler’s watch than they have been since his passing. “Business as usual,” in that sense (coupled with a repeat of the 2025 payroll), seems to suggest that San Diego will need to explore creative deals to address various holes on the roster. The Padres have utilized complex contract structures (e.g. Nick Pivetta’s backloaded, opt-out-laden four-year contract) to keep payroll in what current ownership deems an acceptable range. They’ve also worked aggressively on the trade market to find low-cost options at areas of need (e.g. catcher Freddy Fermin, closer Mason Miller) — but in the process have further depleted an already thin farm system. They’ll now look to fill multiple rotation holes and perhaps add a bat without much in the way of financial flexibility.

Further cementing the notion that the status quo will be maintained, at least from a baseball operations standpoint, Acee writes that John Seidler and president A.J. Preller have been discussing a contract extension which could be finalized in the near future. Preller is entering the final season of his most recent contract extension. He’s been running baseball operations in San Diego since 2014. Readers are highly encouraged to read Acee’s piece in full, as it contains more granular details about the current financial structure of the ownership group and quotes from various anonymous sources on the possibility of a sale and the long-term outlook of the club.

Padres Notes: Rotation, Arraez, Adam

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The Padres’ top priority in the offseason was plain for anyone to see. Even before the announcement that Yu Darvish would miss the 2026 season following UCL surgery, San Diego was already faced with the potential losses of Dylan Cease and Michael King to free agency. Nick Pivetta, meanwhile, has an opt-out opportunity next offseason. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller removed any modicum of doubt about his to-do list at this week’s GM Meetings, telling Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune that “especially with King and Cease in free agency and Darvish’s injury, [starting pitching] is probably our top need going into the offseason.”

More notably, Acee reports that San Diego seems unlikely to play at the top of the market in its quest for rotation help. The Padres have already been exploring the trade market for potential options, per the report. King and Cease both received qualifying offers and seem likely to reject in search of more lucrative multi-year deals. Acee suggests that the Padres will “almost certainly” be moving on from both pitchers. Assuming that’s the case, San Diego will get a pair of draft picks as compensation — though their status as a luxury tax payor means those picks will come after the fourth round rather than after the first round.

At present, the Padres’ rotation includes Pivetta, Joe Musgrove (returning from 2024 Tommy John surgery) and a slew of question marks. JP Sears struggled after coming over from the A’s in the Mason Miller blockbuster. Randy Vasquez posted a solid-looking 3.84 ERA but did so with one of MLB’s worst strikeout rates. Metrics like FIP (4.85) and SIERA (5.43) feel he’s due for major regression. Matt Waldron couldn’t replicate his 2024 form. The rest of the depth was thinned out when Preller traded Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek, Braden Nett and Henry Baez in deadline trades to acquire catcher Freddy Fermin (Bergert, Kolek) and the aforementioned Miller (Nett, Baez).

Preller acknowledged to both Acee and Dennis Lin of The Athletic that the Padres could again consider moving a reliever to the rotation, as they’ve successfully done in the past with King, Kolek and Seth Lugo. It’s something the club will explore, but Preller noted that in past instances of the Padres making such a move, he only did so when the reliever in question was enthusiastic about the move. Acee notes that moving a reliever to the rotation seems unlikely at present. He lists Miller and Adrian Morejon as possible candidates, as does Lin, who adds righty David Morgan as a possibility for the switch. However, Preller cautioned against depleting the strength of his bullpen, which is already losing Robert Suarez, and noted that it’s important to make sure his club doesn’t end up with “two mediocre units” (referring to his rotation and bullpen).

Though the focus is on the rotation, it’s not the Padres’ only need. Preller tells Robert Murray of FanSided that his club has interest in retaining first baseman Luis Arraez, who’s a free agent for the first time this winter.

The 28-year-old Arraez (29 in April) spent most of the 2024 season and all of 2025 in San Diego after being traded over from Miami. This past season was arguably Arraez’s worst in seven major league seasons. He yet again posted a quality batting average, but not to his usual extent, and he did so with even lesser on-base and slugging marks than usual. Arraez’s .292/.327/.392 is well shy of the career .323/.372/.418 line he carried into the 2025 season.

Arraez feels more like a luxury than a need for the Padres, who could plug in Gavin Sheets at first base as an affordable option or utilize Jake Cronenworth at first and give Sheets more of a DH role. That’d allow the club to pursue middle infielders, with Xander Bogaerts capable of handling either shortstop (as he did in 2025) or second base (as he did in 2024). Arraez doesn’t seem likely to break the bank given the lack of punch and on-base heft behind his perennially strong batting average, but if the Padres plan to focus primarily on rotation help, even a relatively modest two- or three-year deal for Arraez might not be in the cards.

One other question facing San Diego this winter is the health of setup man Jason Adam. The right-hander suffered a season-ending tendon rupture in his quadriceps in early September but is on the road to recovery. Adam tells Jeff Sanders of the Union-Tribune that there’s a chance he’ll be ready for Opening Day, though he could be cutting it close. Adam says he expects to pitch at some point in spring training but may not be “right on time.” He and the team aren’t ruling out Opening Day, which is a clear goal, but he cautions that he “won’t be stupid about” his recovery and risk a setback.

The 34-year-old Adam has risen from relative obscurity to staking a legitimate claim as one of MLB’s top setup arms. Dating back to 2022, he’s pitched to a combined 2.07 ERA, including three seasons with a sub-2.00 mark (and a 2.98 ERA in his “down” year in 2023). Along the way, Adam has fanned 29.2% of his opponents against an 8.4% walk rate. Since 2022, only three relievers — Tyler Rogers, Bryan Abreu, Griffin Jax — have more holds than Adam’s 92.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $6.8MM salary for Adam next season. That’s his final year of club control, so if he were expected to miss a notable portion of the season, Adam would’ve been a natural non-tender candidate, despite his excellence. The fact that he’s now citing Opening Day as a realistic target makes it far likelier that he’s back, though if the Padres are particularly crunched for payroll space — a 2026 budget remains unclear — then they could feasibly look to move Adam for a modest return and reallocate those dollars toward the rotation.

Even with Suarez opting out and Adam in limbo health-wise, the Padres still boast a deep late-inning group with Miller, Morejon (2.08 ERA), Morgan (2.66 ERA as a rookie) and Jeremiah Estrada (3.45 ERA, 35.5 K%) all still in the fold. A healthy Adam would give San Diego one of the best bullpens in MLB, if not the best.

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