The San Diego Padres are heading into an offseason that already looks messy, and the clock may run even longer than usual if the looming MLB lockout drags things out. With plenty of roster churn ahead before Dec. 1, president of baseball operations AJ Preller will once again be looking for value in places other teams might overlook.
That approach has worked before. Last offseason, the Padres brought in Ty France on a minor league deal, and he turned into a major steal.
France, who was nearly done with baseball after his age-30 season, became the club’s best hitter while making just $1.35 million in 2026. He is now positioned for a much bigger payday in 2027 after posting a 4.5 bWAR season and an OPS+ nearly 40% above league average.
Now MLB.com insider Mark Feinsand has pointed to another first baseman as a possible fit for San Diego: Milwaukee Brewers postseason standout Jake Bauers.
Bauers entered the 2026 season with a career batting average of .211, but his bat came alive at the right time. In October, he hit .286 in the National League Championship Series with an OPS of .983.
That wasn’t just a short burst, either. He carried over the success he showed in the second half of 2025 and put together the best regular season of his career.
Across the year, Bauers posted a 3.3 bWAR, easily the highest mark of his career, along with a .266/.389/.484 slash line and an .874 OPS. All of those numbers were better than anything he had previously produced in the majors.
Feinsand views Bauers as a replacement for France, and the financial picture helps explain why. Bauers played on a bargain in 2026, making $2.7 million to avoid arbitration. But after the season he just had, Spotrac projects a four-year, $58 million deal, which would come out to $14.5 million annually.
That still comes in below the deal Spotrac projects for France, who is expected to land a three-year, $49 million contract worth about $16.4 million per season.
With the Padres already tied to more than $100 million for five players through at least 2030, a slightly younger, slightly cheaper first baseman who just helped finish the job San Diego is chasing could make a lot of sense.
In Other News...
Padres Bullpen Plan Is Getting Clearer After Two Pitching Moves
The Padres bullpen picture is coming into focus with a pair of moves that say plenty about how the front office views its late-inning depth. San Diego protected a 23-year-old left-hander from the Rule 5 draft by putting him on the 40-man roster, a vote of confidence for a pitcher whose 2026 season was interrupted by injuries but whose long-term value still clearly matters to the organization.
At the same time, the club extended a qualifying offer to All-Star lefty Adrian Morejon, keeping the door open on a return even as he heads into free agency. Morejon has said he wants to be back, though he also understands the business side of the process, and the timing comes with Mason Miller earning finalist status for National League Reliever of the Year after leading the league in saves and games finished. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Lose Longtime Front Office Leader To A Rival At Worst Time
The Padres are dealing with another significant front-office shakeup, and this one stings because of both timing and destination. Caroline Perry, who had been the clubs chief operating officer since 2023 and had spent 16 seasons in the organization, is leaving for the Dodgers, where she has been hired as executive vice president and COO to replace retiring Bob Wolfe. Perry had risen through the Padres ranks from general counsel to COO, making her departure a notable loss of institutional knowledge as the organization tries to keep its business side steady.
San Diego moved quickly to fill the vacancy by promoting Chris Connolly to executive vice president, chief marketing and operations officer. The change keeps the Padres leadership structure intact on paper, but losing a longtime executive to a division rival is never a clean break, especially when the new job comes with a familiar opponent across the way. For a franchise trying to maintain momentum in every part of the operation, the optics of this one are hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Just Got A Complicated New Factor In Free Agency
The qualifying-offer market is taking shape, and it has already put a familiar Padres name into the mix. Adrin Morejn is among the eight players who received the $23.15 million one-year offer, a list that also includes Randy Arozarena, Jake Bauers, David Bednar, Ryan Jeffers, Brandon Lowe, Trevor Rogers and Seiya Suzuki. For San Diego, it is another reminder that one of its own is now part of a winter process that can reshape both rosters and draft capital.
Morejns situation is especially notable because the qualifying offer is designed to give teams compensation if a player signs elsewhere, which can complicate the market for anyone attached to it. The group is a reminder of how quickly free agency can get tricky, and of how clubs have to weigh talent, cost and the draft-pick price tag that comes with letting a player walk. [Read more 🡒]