According to Spotrac, the Padres have 13 free agents—which now includes Logan Gillaspie, Luis Patiño, Bryce Johnson and Mason McCoy after they were non-tendered by the club this past week.
Today let’s focus on three free agents who I predict won’t return to the squad in 2025.
Ha-Seong Kim
Kim is currently rehabbing from his labrum surgery that he had while the Padres were in the postseason. He’s expected to return between mid-April and early May.
That obviously means San Diego needs a shortstop for Opening Day if it’s not going to be Xander Bogaerts and it’s not even a guarantee Kim will come back and have a 2023-caliber season, which is what the Padres would likely be paying for.
Kim hired Scott Boras to represent him, which doesn’t make me feel great about Kim returning. Why would he bring Boras in if he’s just looking for a pillow deal to return back to San Diego?
It sure feels like there will be other teams who’d be willing to give him more guaranteed money and perhaps more years than the Padres considering FanGraphs projects their luxury tax payroll to be at $244+ million right now.
Milwaukee and San Francisco have reportedly shown interest already.
Tanner Scott
It’s great Tanner Scott pitched so well in a Padres uniform because they obviously were trying to go on a long postseason run but he also has taken himself out of the Padres price range.
While Scott was more of a team player compared to another recent Padre high leverage reliever, that doesn’t mean he’ll take a huge discount to come back. Is it out of the question that a team will pay him Hader money to go be their lock down closer? If not for five years, a team could give him $15-$20 million a year on a shorter deal.
No way do I see San Diego doing that. They’ve already committed significant reliever money to Robert Suarez ($26 million remaining) and if there’s any area we should trust A.J. Preller at rebuilding, it’s the bullpen.
Plus, the current group of arms is still pretty talented (Suarez, Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon at the back).
Martín Pérez
I’d welcome Pérez back. He was solid post-trade deadline and it’s not like he’s receiving anywhere near the money Scott will get. The problem though with his situation is how his 2024 ended. Despite being named to the NLDS roster, he never pitched in a game.
If I was him, why would I want to return to a place that didn’t think I was good enough to face even three batters in the postseason after I helped them get to October?
There’s going to be another team out there willing to give Pérez a one-year deal.
