At the outset of the offseason the San Diego Padres offense was (for better or worse) set. It already included perennial superstars Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill alongside solid contributors like Freddy Fermin and Ram\u00f3n Laureano.<\/p>\n
But, with the departure of everyday first baseman Luis Arr\u00e1ez in free agency to the division-rival San Francisco Giants, San Diego had an opening at the cold corner. So general manager A.J. Preller did what he does best: he found low-risk, high-reward opportunities.<\/p>\n
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As Cactus League propels toward Opening Day, here\u2019s a look at five candidates (in order of least to most likely) who could fill first base for the Friars on March 26.<\/p>\n
Jose Miranda<\/p>\n
The former corner infielder for the Minnesota Twins, Miranda owns a career .263 batting average across four years of MLB service time. But this spring he\u2019s been raking.<\/p>\n
In 11 Cactus League games, Miranda owns a .375\/.464\/.667 slash line with four extra-base hits and one home run. He\u2019s totaled seven RBI in those games.<\/p>\n
His glove is solid as well, with a 1.000 fielding percentage in 16 innings logged at first base. But manager Craig Stammen continues to give him more innings at third, making it seem like Miranda is viewed as more of a utility player than as an everyday one.<\/p>\n
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Gavin Sheets<\/p>\n
I know, I know, I know. He\u2019s ranked lower than you thought he\u2019d be. I just really cannot see Gavin Sheets playing first base every day for this team.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not his bat, he\u2019s been a fantastic addition to the Padres lineup. It\u2019s the glove. He\u2019s done well this spring, so it seems unwarranted to question his defense. But at the major league level (across a full season), it\u2019s uncertain he can maintain that elite level of defensive play.<\/p>\n
In the past, Sheets has been used at first base sparingly, only starting more than 20 games in a season once at the position (41 starts in 2024). He\u2019s been great in Spring Training, and his bat is fantastic, but he seems like more of a DH who plays first base occasionally than the starter.<\/p>\n
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Miguel Andujar<\/p>\n
Andujar was the \u201cbig\u201d offensive free agent splash for San Diego this offseason. Signed to a one-year, $4 million deal, he fits best as the Padres designated hitter while being a viable candidate to take some outfield reps.<\/p>\n
That being said, Stammen has started him at first in two spring games. Across 11 innings, he has a perfect fielding percentage. But the same problem presents itself as with Sheets. The bat is (obviously) there, but can the glove stay consistent after a full season?<\/p>\n
Nick Castellanos<\/p>\n
It\u2019s surprising to see Castellanos \u2013 someone who hasn\u2019t ever played a single inning of MLB at the cold corner \u2013 so high on this list. But his bat has performed extremely well in Spring Training, posting a 1.011 OPS in nine games.<\/p>\n
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The only problem is his defense, which everyone knew would be somewhat of an issue. It\u2019s passable and (for a guy who\u2019s never played the position) really solid. But it\u2019s not fantastic and the Friars need consistent defense at the cold corner.<\/p>\n
Castellanos figures to stay in the mix for a utility-type role, splitting time between first base, DH, and outfield like most of the other guys on this list.<\/p>\n
Ty France<\/p>\n
The signing of France to a minor-league deal marks a homecoming to the club he began his seven-year career with. Historically he has been considered a bat-first player, but in 2025 France turned that around.<\/p>\n
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After a disappointing 2024 campaign that saw him post a -12 OAA (Outs Above Average) at the cold corner, France led all MLB first basemen in \u201825 with +10 OAA. Because of that, he won the Gold Glove Award for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n
If France can replicate that elite defense and continue to rake like he has so far in Cactus League games (posting a .375\/.444\/.500 slash line across 10 games) he could easily earn the starting spot.<\/p>\n
One more great thing about France\u2019s offense. He\u2019s been torching left-handed pitching, hitting .500\/.600\/.500 compared to .350\/.409\/.500 against righties.<\/p>\n
For a team who, on Opening Day, will face arguably the most dominant lefty on the planet in Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, San Diego will take all the help it can get.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the outset of the offseason the San Diego Padres offense was (for better or worse) set. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2407],"tags":[5,54201,53,920,2127,1530,871,4993,85,1527,4808,59,60,4,8639,43,1495,137,18,66,4339,4338,151,382,39836,3197],"class_list":["post-613642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego-padres","tag-baseball","tag-craig-stammen","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-fernando-tatis-jr","tag-freddy-fermin","tag-gavin-sheets","tag-jackson-merrill","tag-jose-miranda","tag-luis-arraez","tag-manny-machado","tag-miguel-andujar","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-nick-castellanos","tag-padres","tag-ramon-laureano","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sandiego","tag-sandiegopadres","tag-spring-training","tag-tarik-skubal","tag-the-san-diego-union-tribune","tag-ty-france"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116194888117734401","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}