The Padres’ offseason could get interesting fast if Gavin Sheets ends up as one of the casualties.
Sheets was one of the few steady bats San Diego could count on during a rough offensive stretch before the 2026 All-Star break, and his value showed up most clearly against right-handed pitching. He finished the year with 17 home runs off righties, trailing only Manny Machado’s 25 and Jackson Merrill’s 20 on the club.
That mattered because the Padres as a whole managed just a .401 slugging percentage against right-handed pitching. Sheets posted a .436 mark in that split, making him one of the lineup’s clearest bright spots.
The financial side is where things start to get tricky. Spotrac and Baseball Prospectus project Sheets at $5.5 million in 2027, his final year of arbitration eligibility. MLB Trade Rumors has him a bit higher, at $6.5 million.
For a team built around him, that kind of number can look reasonable. For another roster, it can feel like a lot for what amounts to a partial designated hitter, even if the production is real.
That’s why Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune raised the possibility Thursday that the Padres could non-tender Sheets and let him hit free agency, with the condition that “the Padres successfully woo a big free-agent bat to play the outfield and/or first base.”
So far this winter, San Diego’s pursuit of a big-name starting pitcher has been treated as the clearest measure of whether the new owners are truly willing to spend. A meeting with Tarik Skubal is a start, as long as it leads to a serious offer.
But the decision on Sheets could say just as much about how the Padres see their lineup going into 2027. Merrill is expected to provide power against right-handed pitching throughout his nine-year contract, but if that doesn’t hold, Sheets becomes an important backup source of thump.
There are other paths, though, and some of them may be more appealing.
Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato could be the best left-handed hitter in a fairly thin free-agent class. If he can handle time in left field, first base and DH, he would offer an upgrade over Sheets and is two years younger.
Jake Bauers, the NLCS MVP, was basically neutral against both sides in 2026. If the adjustments he made at the plate stick, he could be a better fit than bringing Sheets back.
San Diego could also try to use one of its right-handed hitting catchers, Luis Campusano or Freddy Fermin, in a trade to improve the left-handed side of the lineup. It’s not clear who would actually be available in that kind of deal, but A.J. Preller has a reputation for running through every option on the market.
So while keeping Sheets remains on the table, it is far from guaranteed. If he’s gone, that would likely mean Kwanza Jones and Jose Feliciano’s promise to go “all in” on the Padres includes a real upgrade to the lineup, not just the starting rotation.
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