The World Series begins Friday night at Dodger Stadium, where broadcast correspondent Luis Arraez will represent a Padres team that had the pieces to go all the way. San Diego, of course, fell short in the National League Division Series, leaving many to wonder what could have been. One of the most productive rosters in franchise history will soon undergo at least moderate turnover.
The day after the Fall Classic ends — no later than Nov. 2 — free agency will open. The Padres have seven players headed toward the open market. The number will rise to eight if, as expected, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim declines his end of a mutual option. Almost all of these players contributed in significant ways in 2024, and the Padres would like to retain at least a couple of them.
“A lot of those guys have indicated that they really enjoyed being here,” president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said this week. “I had, like — I don’t know, five or six different conversations where, to a person, they were saying, ‘Hey, this is the best team I’ve played on.’ … Where does that leave us? What does that mean? Hopefully, players talk and they’re interested in coming back and being a part of it. We’ll tackle all that here in the next couple weeks and months.”
Here are notes on each of the Padres’ pending free agents.
Jurickson Profar
No player in the majors turned out to be a bigger bargain. Profar, coming off the worst season of his career, re-signed with San Diego for a $1 million guarantee. The left fielder went on to easily earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses while leading the league in multiple clutch-hitting metrics and supplying more FanGraphs wins above replacement than all but one fellow Padres position player.
“I don’t know if I could imagine any situation without Pro now,” rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill said. “That dude is one of a kind, and I wish the best for him. I want him back.”
Profar has confirmed he’d love to be back, and setting money aside, a deal to keep him in San Diego — where he has consistently played the best baseball of his career — feels like a no-brainer. Of course, it’s not that simple. Profar will turn 32 in February, and it remains to be seen how much appetite the Padres would have for a multiyear deal that could cost more than $10 million annually. Much will depend on the answer to the following question: How confident are the Padres that an aging player can sustain a reasonable approximation of his surprising 2024 season?
Ha-Seong Kim
Kim underwent surgery on Oct. 10 to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. The procedure is expected to postpone his return to action until sometime in the first half of the 2025 season. And it could have significant implications for the free agency of a middle infielder who might have been in line to earn a nine-figure contract before he injured his shoulder.
Still, Kim seems likely to decline his end of an $8 mutual option. In that case, the Padres would owe him a $2 million buyout, and if the two sides do not strike a new deal, the team could feel compelled to re-start Xander Bogaerts, a 32-year-old with declining range, at shortstop.
“Ha-Seong’s a very talented player. I think we felt that at the end of the year. Not having him here definitely was a blow,” Preller said. “He plays the game with a ton of energy. He’s an intelligent baseball player. He defends the field really well. He can play all different spots, he can take a walk, he can hit a home run, he can steal a base. That’s the way we evaluate him, and that’s a really talented and valuable player. … We’d love to bring him back. I think we’ve just got to kind of get into it and see where that leaves us.”
Tanner Scott
Scott appears poised to command the largest deal of any free-agent reliever, making a return to San Diego unlikely. Because the left-hander was traded midseason, he is ineligible to receive a qualifying offer, a tool teams often use to obtain draft-pick compensation. Assuming Scott signs elsewhere, the Padres should still have plenty of high-leverage arms. Their returning bullpen includes Robert Suarez, Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon, and prospect Francis Pena could make his debut in 2025.
Kyle Higashioka
Like Profar, Higashioka supplied notable production (17 home runs, then three more in October) at low cost ($2.18 million salary). Like Profar, the Huntington Beach, Calif., native would prefer to return.
“This is maybe the most fun I’ve ever had on a baseball field, playing with these guys,” Higashioka said after the Padres were eliminated in the NLDS. “I think we played so free over the course of the season. … I loved it. It makes it that much worse we lost. But, yeah, I had a blast.”
As in Profar’s case, Higashioka’s age (35 in April) has to be a consideration. Still, there should be interest from both sides in exploring a reunion. Luis Campusano has yet to establish himself as a viable starting catcher, and teenage prospect Ethan Salas showed in 2024 he might need at least another year of development.
David Peralta
Coming off flexor tendon surgery last offseason, Peralta settled for a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs, opted out in May and caught on with the Padres. His pickup turned out to be critical; the veteran filled in impressively while right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. missed time with a stress reaction, and Peralta finished with a 115 wRC+ in 91 games. At 37, he might have enough left to reprise his role as an effective platoon option. A potential return to San Diego could partly depend on Profar’s destination in 2025.
Donovan Solano
Like Peralta, Solano signed a minor-league deal early in the year, brought a line-drive approach to a revamped offense, and exceeded all expectations (118 wRC+). He’ll turn 37 in December, and his age could again limit interest from teams. The Padres, meanwhile, would not mind bringing back Solano or Peralta, if not both players. They fit well inside the clubhouse, and their contributions were key on the deepest roster of Preller’s tenure.
Martín Pérez
Following his July trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pérez was surprisingly effective (3.46 ERA) and a bit lucky (4.82 FIP). The veteran lefty was included on the Padres’ NLDS roster but not used, which might facilitate an exit from San Diego. Still, the 2025 Padres undoubtedly will need innings without Joe Musgrove, and Pérez has covered at least 135 frames in each of the past three seasons.
Elias Díaz
Díaz signed a minor-league deal in August, quickly supplanted Campusano as the Padres’ backup catcher and spent all five of the team’s postseason games on the bench while Higashioka remained entrenched behind the plate. Díaz, 34 next month, will join a free-agent class of catchers that includes Higashioka, Carson Kelly, Gary Sánchez and Danny Jansen.
(Photo of Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
