The San Diego Padres finally made the addition to their bench that had been coveted since the start of the offseason, signing Miguel Andujar to a one-year, $4 million contract. Considering the context of the roster and the team’s finances at present, Andújar represented the ideal target among those that remain available in free agency. 

Andújar is coming off his best season since 2018. That year, he posted a 3.9 fWAR with the New York Yankees and finished as a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year award. Such a breakout came courtesy of a .297/.328/.527 line that featured a .230 ISO and 129 wRC+. It also still stands as his peak, as the subsequent seasons were spent battling injury and toiling in the minor leagues with a handful of different organizations. 

After creeping his value back up to above average in 90 plate appearances with Pittsburgh in 2023 (105 wRC+), Andújar was able to maintain that level of performance in about a half-season’s worth of work with Oakland the following year. In the latter, however, his power vanished to the tune of a .093 ISO. Nevertheless, the Athletics saw enough to let him hang around in 2025 before he was eventually traded to Cincinnati. All told, his 2025 season came with a 125 wRC+ and career-highs in batting average and on-base percentage. The power still wasn’t back at his pre-2024 levels, but did show signs of reemerging at a .153 ISO figure. Despite the fact that he remained on the market at this late stage of the offseason, the reports of a number of teams interested in adding an effective bench bat go back several weeks. 

The Padres’ current roster situation made the addition of Andújar kind of an essential one. This is a team that, on paper, has significant upside at the plate. They also lack depth in that ability to contribute on offense. With news that Gavin Sheets will get the first crack at holding down first base and designated hitter likely to be rotated out rather than feature a mainstay, the team was left with the likes of Sung Mun Song, Will Wagner, Mason McCoy, Luis Campusano, and Bryce Johnson behind their starters. Outside of Song, though, the offensive profiles of the remaining bench options read as uninspiring. With Song himself being a lefty, there was an imperative on adding some right-handed depth. Enter Andújar.

Last year’s group was in the bottom half of the league against southpaws, posting a collective 96 wRC+ that ranked 17th. On the power side, however, their .130 ISO sat only 23rd. Andújar should contribute massively in this regard, as his splits heavily favor matchups against left-handed pitching. He went for a 171 wRC+ against pitchers of that handedness last year against a 108 mark vs. righties. His ISO, at .189, was 50 points higher. In general, he doesn’t walk much, with a 4.4 BB% in his career, but he also doesn’t strike out either (15.5 career K%). That should fit the Padres well, too, given their penchant for contact over punchouts. 

The question of how Andújar will be utilized within this lineup isn’t too difficult to solve, as a result. One imagines that he’ll get plenty of run in the designated hitter slot against pitchers of the left-handed variety. Should Craig Stammen choose to deploy him in the field, though, he has some versatility to his name. Andújar logged time at each corner spot last year; he spent 13 innings at first base, 237 at third, 217 in left field, and 22 in right field. He’s not particularly adept at the defensive work (he was either average or well-below at each spot), but the utility should prove valuable in the event that Stammen aims to get a regular off their feet for a day off. 

Even with this signing, Song will be the primary utility option off the bench. If the team can expand his utility to first and some work on the outfield grass, it’ll only add to versatility that served as a centerpiece behind the appeal of his signing. But Andújar won’t be far behind in his usage. Whether it’s as the designated hitter or part of the rotation that figures to be incorporated regularly, he’s not going to be wanting for playing time. For what it’s worth, FanGraphs projects Andújar for a shade over 20 percent of the playing time at first, five percent at third, and another five in left. Baseball Prospectus has him living primarily as the DH (45 percent) and as a first base supplement (25 percent), with only another five that’ll be spent in left field.

The Padres should consider themselves somewhat fortune to be able to bring in this type of player at this stage of the offseason. Despite whispers that A.J. Preller had been working on something big around the Winter Meetings, it’s been a while since they’d done something of note beyond a decent volume of minor-league signings. Andújar immediately changes the complexion of the roster and helps to quell prior concerns over the team’s lack of depth on the positional side.

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