Padres FREE AGENCY Plans Revealed | Can They Compete Without Big Money?

Padres FREE AGENCY Plans Revealed | Can They Compete Without Big Money?

On today’s show, the Padres’s might not have the biggest budget as they used to, but there are still some really interesting free agents upcoming from this class, and we’re going to talk about the ones that the Padres’s might want to look into. [Music] You are Locked On Padres, your daily San Diego Padres’s podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another edition of Lockout Batteries Podcast, which is part of the Lock Podcast Network, your team every day for Friday, October 31st. Happy Fun Friday, and especially Happy Halloween. Woo! Uh, as always, I’m your host, what’s sometimes the most, Javier Reyes, and I’ve recovered this team for six years now, not just for this podcast, but various other outlets, including just baseball.com, chief among them. Today’s episode, guys, is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. And today’s episode, guys, we’re doing the first of what will be many free agency talks, right? We’re going to do a little bit of a free agency primer, not diving as deep necessarily, not finalized, uh, who I think the Padres should be going after, but I want to talk about the free agency class, talk about some why this might be an underrated free agency class. I think in a lot of ways there are some really solid players here that the Padres’s could go after. And I also think uh we’re going to talk about just the na the main people that that stick out. And we’re going to be basing this on Jim Bowden’s latest article for the Athletic. If you want to read the thing in full, go check it out. His top 50 MLB free agents for 2025 2026 and some contract predictions. So, let’s get into it, guys. Um look, first of all, I just want to say that this isn’t going to be as indepth necessarily, right? I will be saving some of the more in-depth free agency profiles for individual players that I really want the Padres’s to go after and especially my official kind of list of Padres’s to go after. This is just what what kind of stands out, right? And it’s trick and it’s tricky this time, right? Because as we’ve talked about before, we don’t know exactly if everybody saw listened to the episode on Tuesday. We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen when it comes to the Padres’s spending, right? Is there going to be a little bit more available than we think? Cuz we thought there was going to be nothing last year and they ended up going out and getting Nick Paveta, right? Sure, his salary was like 1 billion this past year, but even still, like they got creative with the another playoff birth, with them breaking attendance records again, with a lot of momentum and San Diego like Padre Land becoming a little bit more of a destination, a topic of national conversation. Will ownership be like, okay, maybe we’ll be a little bit more um giving, especially because there’s so much money that’s on these long contracts that like they kind of have no choice almost, I would think, than to compete now. it would look really bad if you just have all these high played players and did nothing else for years until they ran out of their contracts, right? So, we we’ll have to see how it shakes out. Um, and another big thing about this is that, you know, with Udarvish, that’s why I talked about him on Tuesday, that if he were to retire, does that free up some money for the team potentially to use. You know, you’re probably losing Robert Suarez at free agency as well. So, there’s going to be at least some money, I think, left over potentially uh for the Padres’s. But, let’s talk about just the general uh state of the free agency class, right? So, I think that I think it’s a pretty good one. I think all things considered, right? It doesn’t have I think the 2023 levels of oh my god, this is stacked, but there’s a lot of really interesting free agents once you get to like the fact that um um what’s his face? Glabber Torres, right? Who had a pretty decent season this year with the Tigers being an on base machine. The fact that he’s ranked the 21st uh free agent by Jim Boda just gives you an idea, right? The fact that Tyler Mali is 30th, right? the fact that we’ve got guys like um Luke Weaver, Devin Williams out in the 30 range, right? Like there’s still definitely some value in some guys that could help this Padres’s team. And it’s always important to note, and I love bringing this up every time I get the chance, that the best year that the Padres’s have had under AJ Prowler was a year in which he traded Juanto for a bunch of death pieces. Sure. Right. He basically traded ostensibly for Dylan season 2 but Michael King Hagashio is great and signing Donovan Solano and Jerich Proofar that that ended up being the best season right the Padres’s have stars so the important part right now is not necessarily going after Kyle Tucker in terms of what I think the immediate needs for the Padres’s are I think it’s definitely some back-end starting pitching with upside is definitely what they’ll be looking for I don’t think that they have necessarily the the the budget right I don’t think that they have the um the clear check whatever the terminology is um in their price range to go after one of those big big guys like a Framber Valdez, right, who’s going to be available, like a Dylan CE who’s going to be available this off seasonason, right? So, I don’t think that’s necessarily in their future, but there’s still a lot of guys, but I think a starting pitcher who can be a back-end guy that can fill up innings with upside is going to be big, right? The next thing I would say is catcher, right? Do are they going to go fully in with Freddy Fermine? I’ve talked a lot on this show about how I think there’s a slight possibility that Ethan Salah could come up later this year depending on what they do in free agency depending on if they get another sort of decent backup catcher. Right. It’s Freddy Fine for now. Do they just want to sign someone in the Diaz tier? Sure. But there’s also the potential of them going out and getting a little bit better quality from the catcher and just having a nice tandem. That way we can give Ethan Salah some more time. The reason why I think he could debut if they don’t address catcher is because from what I understand his defensive skills are truly truly great. And yeah, the bat might not be there. Some may say it might never be there, but he’s super young and catchers develop in a weird way. Um, and I’ve heard comps to Gabriel Marino of the Arizona Diamondbacks. And if if it’s to be Gabriel Marino, that is a huge huge piece for this Padres’s team. But again, I could see a world in which the Padres’s rush their prospects because they tend to do that a lot, right? and they say, “You know what? At least Ethan Salah is going to be really good behind the plate.” I could see that happening. I don’t want it to happen, but I could see it. Right? So, catching is something else to keep an eye on. Um, first base, uh, is another position. Um, and I think that it all depends because there is a world in which they move, uh, Gavin Sheets and just have him play first base, right? Probably the worst defender on the roster right now, uh, currently for next year. Uh, and I think that they would say, you know what, let’s just put him at uh, at first base. I don’t know if I would be a fan of that necessarily because he succeeded so much as a DH this year and occasionally in the outfield and left field when they needed him to that I don’t want to break the thing that maybe him focusing just entirely on batting helped him out this year to be a solid contributor for this team. Um, and then DH, same thing, right? If they move him to first base, then all of a sudden it’s like, okay, they need a new DH. Can they go out and get someone who could just be a solid bat and vice versa, right? So, that’s a position to look out for. And then lastly, I it’s not a need, but don’t sleep on the Padres’s maybe sneaking a reliever in there, a cheap one, not no one big, but I could see a world in which maybe they lose Suarez. And if they’re really going to turn Mason Miller into a starting pitcher, I could see them saying, “Let’s get like one solid guy, maybe a Luke Weaver type of player, right? maybe someone who’s just okay that could give them some innings, give them some some decent bullpen depth so they’re not relying entirely on some of the more unproven commodities, right? Like is David Morgan going to be good as next year? I think he can be. Is um uh I’m bling out some of the other bullpen Marinacio going to be good next year, right? There’s some other question marks. If you lose Suarez and ostensively lose um um Mason Miller to being a starting pitcher, that affects things. So, don’t sleep on the possibility of them adding a little bit of a reliever. Um, and that’s basically it. Those are the overall uh things for this class. And I think that the class itself has so many good players. I’m just excited. I’m always excited with free agency. I just love seeing where guys go because I think in baseball, you know, it’s just it’s just fun seeing like what little players everybody acquires, where everybody ends up, who’s going to be the big paid guy, right? It’s just a lot of fun. And I think that while it does usually take way too long, um, don’t sleep on guys. Last thing I’ll say about this free agency thing, remember when we had that period in 2023 before that season, right? Remember the lockout and that whole thing? And remember how we got I think it was 2023 or 2022, I can’t remember right now, but do you remember when the lockout I think it was actually heading into 22. Do you remember when the lockout because of the upcoming lockout teams were signing free agents like that? Like it was like four in a day, big ones, big ones, and then the lockout came and then they signed some more. there’s the potential for a lockout upcoming with CBA negotiations. So, don’t be super surprised if we get a really lit December, right? So, you might hear about a lot of these things soon. Just a thing to keep an eye on because I do think there’s going to be a lockout of some sorts and based on how the players have been talking based on if you read between the lines and the tea leaves. Uh it’s it doesn’t look like they’re going to be so friendly. It’s not going to be an easy negotiation, which might be the product of them not necessarily fully um figuring out what they wanted the last time and and kind of I don’t want to say settling necessarily. I’m not super in tune with what all every player is going through, but for what the deal they took, that might be a part of it, right? So, we’ll have to see how it all shakes out. But one thing is for sure is that free agency is always an interesting time. Even if the Padres’s are a little bit low on their budget, we know AJ Per’s got something cooking, guys. We just absolutely know it. But before we talk about some of the things that uh from this free agency class, some of the guys to look out for and just the top like what we’ve got going and whatnot, I got to talk to you guys really quickly about our friends over at Prize Picks. You know what I love about prize picks? You know what I love oh so much? You know what I love? It’s simple, right? You and I make decisions every day, but on prize picks, those decisions can get you paid. And whether it’s NFL, NBA, or both, or whatever you want to look for, there’s no better time to jump in on the action. And all you have to do is pick more or less on at least two player stats and if you get them right, you win. It takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup and you can play anywhere. Price Pix operates including California, Texas, and Georgia. It’s great, guys. It’s great. You can also do the stacks feature. 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So for for one thing, Kyle Tucker the number one free agent of this off seasonason. He’s expected to get according to Jim Bowbout in 10 years 427 million. That’s the type of contract that he’s looking for. and he’s kind of the most auraless star uh in the league, right? So like I think there’s a lot of fans who maybe just listened to this show who aren’t fully familiar with Kyle Tucker. Like they might know he’s good and he’s really really good. He fell off a little bit in the second half. So I actually see a little bit of trepidation by some teams, but overall he’s going to be the biggest free agent and I actually think that it’s it’s it’s going to be interesting to see where he ends up. I can’t wait for him to just end up being a Dodger, right? Which is going to be great and I can’t wait for media to tell everybody this is fine. Actually, everybody, it’s good for baseball that your teams don’t have fun and you do nothing. Let’s just celebrate how amazing the Dodgers are, right? So, that’s what could potentially happen. But that’s one. Kyle Schwarber, I’m probably going to get some comments from people that are saying Kyle Schwarber would be perfect for this team. And he would be, right? If you moved Gavin Sheets to first base, uh Kyle Schwarber should be a DH. He is a very bad defensive player, but good god almighty is he really, really good. I mean, this guy hits for absolute bombs. He would be great, right? it would fix the Padres’s power issue. And again, I want to remind everyone, this is why you don’t always just say, “Let’s go out and sign the biggest free agents because let’s say you don’t sign Xander Bogarts. Let’s say you don’t do some of these contracts. Maybe a player like Kyle Schwarber is actually someone that they could go for, right?” I mean, he was just he he was just unbelievable. How many home runs did he hit this year? Let me check. I actually don’t have it in front of me. He hit 56 home runs this year, man. I mean, it’s just insane. But at the age of 32 and with a lot of his game predicated on power, I could see a world in which some people might be nervous for players like this, especially in baseball when guys fall off. But it should be interesting. He’s predicted to get five years 160. Pete Alonzo, another player that has been talked about on this uh podcast um before. Um he’s projected six years, 182 at 31 years old. He’s one of the best power hitters in the league in terms of just being super duper consistent, good on base skills. He’s great, but I honestly feel like the bets are going to be a team going after him. I do not see six years 182 being in the Padre’s future. Fra Valdez, the top overall free agent in terms of starting pitching, which is I know that that a lot of people might be like, “What? Really? Fragrance is is he that good?” Yeah, he really is that good. Um he’s was not as dominant as previous years, but he was still really really good this year. 366 ERA, a FIP of 3.37 and he hasn’t had an ERA above this was his highest ERA since let’s see here this is his highest ERA since 2020 just to give you guys an idea like he is just so so steady and you want that out of a starting pitcher he is going to get paid but again as much as the Potters need starting pitching I don’t think that’s a guy for them that they can afford six years 190 predicted by um Jim Bowden uh Bobette shorts stop obviously not someone for the Padres’s and he’s projected a lot of money um seven years, 189. He had a down year in 24, but he jumped right back this year and he’s been great. Although, I think he’s out right now. Alex Bregman with an opt out. I’m gonna be real with you guys. I had a dream, a dream that Padres signed Alex Bregman, which look, I don’t really know what dreams are. I’m going to be honest with y’all. Not to get into like conversations of faith and what you think about the world and the universe, but like I have I am so can’t make up my minds because a moment like last uh two nights ago actually when I had this uh this dream. It’s like maybe dreams don’t mean anything cuz there’s no way in heck Alex Bregman makes sense for the Padres’s at third base. They have Manny Machado. He’s projected six years 182. The only way this would possibly happen is if they had more money to spend if they shock the world and they move him to second base. But we already have Jay Kronorth. So you’re putting Jay Corith back at first. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense not seeing it, but can’t wait to see where he goes. Ranger Suarez, another top tier pitcher, six years 164 out of the Padres’s price range. Dylan CE, interestingly, he still thinks Jim Bowden that he’s getting six years 187. I would not be shocked if Dylan CE gets one of those, I’ve said this before, a threeear 75 opt out after each year because he’s a Boris um type of player. He lost himself some money this year, but six years 187 is not bad. I could see him taking that. It all depends and teams might just say like if you’re and he says he puts here Padres’s as one of the fits, right? Which obviously I don’t think that they could afford this, but Braves, Mets, Orioles, Cubs, Giants, Angels, Red Sox, Tigers, I think if you’re Mets, if you’re Braves, if you’re Cubs, if you’re teams that are a little bit more established and can take a risk, I think Dylan CE is going to be a big-time guy for all the reasons that we talked about last week in the player review for Dylan CE. So, go check that out. Uh, Tatsuya imi, I think is how you say his last name. uh Japanese player seven years 154 projected uh by Jim Bowden. I don’t know much about him admittedly. I’m gonna have to talk to my prospect people. Uh but not going to be a cheap guy uh international uh free agent wise, right? Like it’s not going to be easy. He’s represented by Scott Boris. Cody Bellinger. Um projected six years 168. This is why like I remember the off seasonason when he was a free agent. I actually said that I wouldn’t mind taking a shot on him just because why not? He wasn’t going to cost too much. The Cubs did it right. Ended up being good. Then they gave him an extension and then they traded him for nothing. By the way, a lot of people don’t remember that. Cody Ballinger fell off a little bit in 2024, but that wasn’t reason to give him up for nothing with that contract, right? And instead, he’s going to get paid even more now. So, a little bit of an L by the Cubs. Zack Gallon is ranked a little bit high. Five years, 135. Don’t see that. Munitaka Murakami, another player from Japan. I assume he’s going to the Dodgers. That’s the way I feel about all these guys. Michael King he writes about very interestingly um as another one of those guys ranked number 13th on free agent. So if you guys are hoping that maybe he could fly under the radar he might not. But Jim Bowden writes here very importantly right he says however he was placed on the IIL in on May 25th with a pinched thoracic nerve and when he returned on August 9th he threw only 17 and two/3s over the remainder of the regular season and only one inning in the postseason striking out three of the four batters he faced. His medicals will determine the type of contract he gets this offseason. And it is difficult to predict his contract without seeing those records. With that caveat and taking into account the potential injury risk, I pict a similar contract to what Nate Yavaldi got from the Rangers and Sunny Gray got from the Cardinals, even though King is considerably younger than both. That said, if the medicals are completely clear, I could see him getting a 5-year deal in the 140 million range. I’ve talked about this a lot. What is going on with him? I still have not gotten an answer for you being brought back off the IIL showing that you’re pitching as a starting pitcher and in a do or die game they only use you for one inning, especially when the rest of the bullpen was taxed. I I’m just wondering is Michael King a little bit more hurt than he is and that might determine whether or not the Padres’s could afford him and whatnot. I’m really curious to see how that goes. Edwin Diaz, he has an opt out. I don’t know if he’ll opt out. We’ll see how that goes because he might love the the um what’s his face? What are they called? The Mets, right? We’ll see how that goes. They love him over there. And then last of what I would call the elite group of free agents, right? Because this is the last of the guys who are at the top tier of their position. Robert Sores at 15. He has an opt out. Projected to get four years, 80 million. I think they’re going to let him go. I wouldn’t mind it either uh for the Padres’s because I just think that I think that the bullpen they can I just don’t like paying relievers a ton of money. I I just don’t it scares me every time when you pay them this much. Uh, and I know that some have come through. Edwin Diaz got paid a lot and he’s been pretty good for them. Although he did miss that one entire season after the World Baseball Classic uh, mishap. But to me, Robert Suarez, he showed some worrying signs uh, a little bit at points this year. He’s a little bit older low-key very quietly. He’s 34 years old. Not not that he can’t be good again, but for me, I just don’t like that he doesn’t get as many swings and misses and he can give up some hard contact. I don’t mind if if they move on from Suarez and say, “You know what? Let’s that’s just a little bit too much for us right now. But shout out AJ Peller, by the way. He found Robert Suarez. No one wants to give Pller credit, right? National media only wants to give the Dodgers credit for their building and team building and all that stuff, right? But when it comes to AJ Prowler, remember that nobody knew who he was kind of signing this guy as a rookie like 30 years old from the KB. Guess what? He ended up being really, really good, right? And a really, really solid relief pitcher and at times an amazing relief pitcher. So, shout out to him. But that is it in terms of the top tier free agents I think of this class. And I’m really excited. Like again, those aren’t scrubs. I know that Kyle Tucker, I know there’s no Juan Soda, there’s no show Otani, there’s no like it’s not like it’s 20 players deep. But I’m just telling you guys, I need to emphasize with you guys. If you take away one thing from today’s locked on Padres’s episode, it is the Padres’s are in a position where there are some free agents that you can get for cheap that I’m going to talk about that could absolutely help this team build out the edges and just have some decent depth. Remember that feeling after the trade deadline how much Rhino Hearn and Raone Lauraniano did for this team and Freddy Fine as well. Those aren’t top level stars, right? Those are the type of players that any team can afford, which is why the lack of spending from other teams is so frustrating, right? But keep that in mind how dynamic their offense looked after that time. How great they were in 2024. Backend depth players absolutely can help this team win and be a contender and just get them in the dance, right? That’s absolutely something that could happen. And I want to talk about some of those bargain bin players that stuck out to me initially. Right? I haven’t dove deep into the stats out all these guys necessarily, but this is just a little bit of a preview of some guys that I think the Padres should absolutely be targeting this off seasonason. But guys, let me tell you about FanDuel real quick before we get into that. We love FanDuel here. Official one of the official sponsors of this podcast, I should say. And with the NBA back, there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot and FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. And right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Heck of an offer. My goodness. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And just like that, everybody, we are winding down this locked Padres’s podcast. Well, not winding down. We’re in the waiting moments, I should say, of this year locked up parties podcast. Remember everybody to check out the show wherever you get your podcast from and subscribe on the YouTube. And when you do, leave comments in the comment section below and I will answer them on the Monday mailbag pod about whatever you want. You want to ask me about uh free agents, go for it. You want to submit some free agent ideas, go for it. You want to talk about Stitch, go for it. You want to talk about one battle after another, you want to talk about the World Series, whatever you want, I’d love to hear from you guys. And even if it’s a troll, I love responding to trolls, too. So, let’s now talk about some immediate players that stuck out to me when it comes to this upcoming free agency class, right? In terms of the top 50 that our guy Jim Bowden talked about. And again, these are just guys that stuck out initially, not necessarily players that I’ve dug deep into, right? I haven’t looked too deep into some of these guys, but nonetheless, I do think that these are players that for sure, at least I’m pretty certain, the Padres’s could potentially go after and afford. Absolutely. So, let’s talk about them. Um, first up we got the boy Michael King. I already talked about him obviously. Um, and as I noted before, depends on how his medicals go, but if you’re if we’re looking at an off seasonason in which he maybe doesn’t get paid as much, that would make you nervous in the sense that if he’s not going to get that much and teams are worried about the medicals, do you still want the Padres’s to resign him? Again, it’s just it’s such a wild card. But three years 75 for any pitcher frankly I do think is something that the Padres’s can maybe convince ownership and be like hey it’s only going to be for three years or maybe they sign Michael King to a threeear 75 with opt outs after each year right maybe he wants to prove it first and then go get his six-year 180 right he could potentially make more next summer if I think teams just see one more good solid season of him looking healthy and looking great uh and he is phenomenal so that’s one to keep an eye on some others that jumped out to me Mel Kelly predicted two years $30 million dollars. Uh Mel Kelly is old, right? So that’s the first red flag, right? But Mel Kelly has just been the definition of a little bit of a an innings eater solid pitcher guy, right? He was actually pretty good for the Diamondbacks here. It was actually one of their only reliable pitchers since 2021. His RA, the highest RA he’s had was actually uh since uh was uh 4.44 in 2020 um or 2021, I’m sorry. Then after that 3.37, 3.29, 4.03, 03. And then this year, 2025, one of his better seasons in a while, 3.52. He doesn’t walk too many batters. He doesn’t give up the the biggest home runs in the world. He’s just the definition of solid. And I think getting that guy at the back end of your bullpen or back end of your rotation. 37 years old, a two-year deal, you could do worse, man. That’s just going to help give the Padres’s depth in their rotation and make it so that they maybe don’t have to necessarily force Mason Miller to leave. Like, if it ain’t go broke, don’t fix it, right? It it makes just the starting pitching room a lot clearer. Think about it, right? Let’s take that those numbers that I just showed you and then add that to a rotation of Nick Paveta, Joe Musgrove, U Darvish, Mason Miller, Melo Kelly. Not the worst in the world, dude. It’s not the worst in the world at all depending on how things shake out. So, he definitely is bargain hunting a decent player. Uh, next, JTom predicted two years 34 million by Jim Bowden. This one’s tricky because while yes, that’s not a lot of money, it is the top catcher probably available and he has been declining for a few years now. But again, it all depends. I talked about in the first segment, what exactly are the Padres’s going to do? Do they feel comfortable with just having some whatever as their backup and running Freddy Firmina as their primary catcher? They could. I think I think Firmina has some decent upside, right? So, I don’t think that this is necessarily a contract that they have to go out and go for. I think that they could probably go real bargain. Just do another Elias Diaz type of thing and just be like for me as the starter. Let’s just keep hoping on Ethan Salah. But it also depends on how Ethan Salah is doing, right? If Ethan Salah is not looking good behind the scenes and teams evaluators are like, you know what, we might want to trade this guy. If they trade him or if they just know he’s not ready, then maybe a real MO as your primary catcher, even though he is kind of approaching the end of his prime. Not even approaching the end of his prime, past his prime, right? He was the Phillies backs stop for a while, but overall he could still play some pretty good defense. He could still be solid. He was 2.1 wins above replacement. Making that guy your primary catcher is not the worst thing I’ve ever heard in the world. Right. And then having Freddy Firmina as your backup. Not bad. Especially with his declines. I think the Padres’s could potentially uh or I’m sorry, the um what’s his face? Yeah, the Padres’s could potentially uh go for that because of the decline. Wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. Some other guys that stand out to me, Tyler Mi predicted one year 17 million. I think this is one of my favorite deals in the league right now. I really do. Um Tyler Mali was really good for the Rangers this year. Now, he missed a lot of time, right? That’s been his whole thing is injury, which is why he’s not going to get paid a lot. But he’s 30 years old, right? 31 years old, actually. That’s not too old. And he produced in the 86 innings that he did this year a 2.18 RA. Now, don’t get me wrong, with that comes a FIPA 3.37. an expected RA 4.35 because he walked a lot of batteries, didn’t get as many strikeouts, and his home run and fly ball rate was obscenely low. So, he’s probably not a 218 RA guy, but before that, he was a 316 RA guy before, he’s been okay. One-year deal for a guy like this at 31 years old with some upside. Who knows what Ruben Aba could do, right? We saw what he did with the Cavetta this year. I like it as a back-end guy with at least okay upside. Uh, next one. Marcelo Zuna predicted one year $12 million. Uh because he’s a DH, right? He’s never going to be that guy that get gets paid a lot of money. Only the Yordon Alvarez types get paid that much. And I understand that he wasn’t very good this year. Actually, he was quite bad this year. 232, 355, 400 line, 1.2 wins above replacement, 114 WRC plus, but but and there’s a big butt here. His overall numbers were good. His weighted on base was 334 and his expected was 362, right? with 21 home runs, he started showing more signs of life in the second half of the season power-wise. So, what I’m saying is basically this. If they want to move Gavin Sheets to first base, if they want to use him in a different way, and you want to have Ozuna come in and give you a true power DH, who could also walk, by the way, if that also fits the Padre’s uh you know, philosophy. They’ve been really wanting guys that get on base a lot, I think he could be good, and I just don’t think that he’s going to cost too much. um as a DH there are much much much worse options to go. Uh, two more guys left. I want to talk about Paul Goldmid. Little bit of a similar thing. Depends on what they want to do, right? Do they want to go after Ryan O’Harn? Two years 24 million. Paul Goldmid one year 10 million predicted uh for both of these guys. Bargain been hunting, baby. If you just get a solid first baseman there, I don’t think you guys understand that like Goldmid even at this stage of his career is probably a better player than Luisa Rise was and Ryan O’Harn certainly was that, right? If you want to do that, you have second base, you still have your DH free. It’s just it fixes a little bit of a problem, right? The only thing with Gold Schmidt would be that there’s not much power there anymore. So, I’d probably prefer the Mali or Ozuna route, but it’s still a guy to talk about and it’s it would be exciting. It would be a potential, you know, he’s a vet and he’s a fringe Hall of Fame player, so I would not mind that for this Padres’s team. However, they do need power, which is why I prioritize guys like O’Harn, Ozuna. Uh, I just think even if it’s a guy who doesn’t get on base, even if Ozuna’s like plate discipline skills fall off a little bit as he gets older, if he hits like 28 home runs for the team, I’ll take that. Again, power, power, power is absolutely what the Padres’s need. Last free agent I want to talk about is Brandon Woodruff, predicted by Jim Bowden to get a two-year $22 million deal. Um, only thing about this guy, I actually think there might be too many teams that are going to be interested in him because of the fact that he got hurt late and they know when he’s healthy he’s awesome and if he’s going to cost that little, a lot of teams are going to be interested in him. Like a lot of teams, as he writes, Woodruff missed all the 2024 season and part of this year after undergoing shoulder surgery in October 2023. He made his 2025 debut in July and became a legitimate contender for comeback player of the year with 12 strong starts, 3.2 to RA 0.912 whip. However, a right lateral strain in late September forced him to miss the playoffs. Obviously, the medical risk assessment will determine what type of offers he could get in free agency, but if healthy, he could be one of the best value signings in free agency, and he predicts two years 22 million. Uh guys, if that’s what he’s going for, this team should be giving him more than that. I would absolutely take the risk on a guy like Brandon Woodruff who’s been amazing before and if teams are scared off a little bit I understand but and and I understand if you’re scared off as a listener saying I don’t want damaged goods but in the position that the Padres’s are in that guy just really stitch stuck out to me right absolutely Adrien Hower even sticks out to me right decent you know he could just fill out biddings there are going to be guys that the Padres’s sign this offseason for sure but someone like Woodruff someone like Ozuna someone like uh a uh JT Ramuto, like all the guys that I’ve mentioned absolutely can keep this team in contention and make up for the fact that they lost so much of their farm system that they have a lot of weird contracts on this team and I think those are in their price range. I think that’s what I’m going with for right now on this lovely fun Friday spooky Halloween spectacular. I was not wearing a costume for my uh podcast today. It’s not it didn’t ship yet at the time of my recording this um but I wanted to. And for those who don’t know, go watch if you’ve ever heard of Porco Rosso. Uh that’s what I’m being for Halloween. So that’s it guys for my initial free agency primer. We’re going to talk a lot about this next week too. We’re going to talk I’m going to dive deeper into some more free agents and give my official free agent kind of wish list as we uh get through the offseason, right? And then of course leave some comments in the comments section below for Monday’s mailbag episode. Maybe we’ll even hear about a new sighting. Uh maybe or I should say maybe we’ll hear about a new manager Ruber. Maybe Albert Pools is going to be announced. We’ll have to see how that goes. Tuesday’s episode will then be the Padres’s Bullpen year in review. That’s going to be a lot of fun. Not a player, not specific, one player, right? We’re going to talk about the whole bullpen and that’s going to be a lot a lot of fun with some other crossovers potentially in the works as well. So, I hope you all enjoy your hollow weekend and hopefully at the time of this podcast when you’re watching this, maybe the Dodgers somehow lost. I doubt it. Highly doubt it. But nonetheless, until next time, stay safe and of course stay faithful. My fire faithful homies. Take care.

San Diego Padres face a critical 2025 offseason with limited budget but unlimited opportunity. Can smart depth signings bring the magic back?

Javier Reyes breaks down the upcoming free agent class, analyzing which players the Padres can realistically pursue given their financial constraints. The discussion covers elite talents like Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso who are likely headed elsewhere, while identifying affordable targets including Merrill Kelly, Brandon Woodruff, and Marcell Ozuna who could address the team’s needs in starting pitching, power hitting, and depth. Other key topics include Michael King’s mysterious injury situation and potential contract, the philosophy behind prioritizing depth pieces over stars, and how the Padres’ successful acquisitions like Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Jurickson Profar, and Donovan Solano proves affordable additions can fuel championship contention. Go Padres.

1:31 Intro- Free agency introduction
14:42 Dylan Cease Contract Predictions
17:45 Robert Suarez Opt Out Decision
21:48 Affordable options that stand out
29:28 Outro + future episodes preview

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