José Iglesias has drawn a pretty clean line for what comes next: if the Mets or Padres call, he’s interested. If not, he’s ready to step away.
The 36-year-old infielder said on Craig Melvin’s Glass Half Full podcast that he would only consider continuing his MLB career if New York or San Diego comes calling. Otherwise, he sounds comfortable moving on.
“If that phone rings… I’ll be there… I’m in that stage in my life where, not just to play, but to play for something.” Iglesias said during an appearance on Craig Melvin’s Glass Half Full podcast.
That is a narrow runway, and it tells you plenty about where Iglesias is mentally. He’s not looking to hang on for one more season just to stay in the game. He wants a role with purpose.
Iglesias spent the 2024 season with the Mets and made himself a clubhouse favorite. In 85 games, he hit .337 with four home runs, 26 RBI and a .381 on-base percentage, and he helped New York get to the postseason. Along the way, he had a string of memorable moments during the team’s playoff push.
His path with San Diego was a little different, but just as direct. Iglesias returned to the Padres in 2025 and played in 112 games, batting .229 with three home runs and 36 RBI. He also gave them flexibility across the infield while adding more than a decade of MLB experience.
Now a free agent after the 2025 season, Iglesias is carrying a career line that MLB.com lists at 4,346 at-bats, a .279 average, 54 home runs and 428 RBI.
For Iglesias, this doesn’t sound like a search for any available job. It sounds like a final choice: one more meaningful run with the Mets or Padres, or the end of the road on his own terms.
In Other News...
Padres Season Now Hinges On One Painful Game 2 Decision
The Padres had the kind of Game 2 that lingers, the sort that turns a single inning into the center of an entire postseason conversation. Mason Miller was asked to get the final six outs, but he could not finish the job, and Milwaukee walked it off on Jackson Chourios two-run single for a 4-3 Brewers win that pushed San Diego to the brink. Millers command wavered badly along the way, and by the end of the night the choice to keep him in drew plenty of scrutiny.
Now San Diego heads home down 2-0 in the NLDS and staring at a simple but punishing equation: win three straight or the season is over. The pressure is no longer just on the lineup to score or the bullpen to hold, but on the decisions that shape each high-leverage inning from here on out. One game changed the tone of the series, and it left the Padres with very little room to survive another misstep. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Explain Late Mason Miller Call After Crushing Game 2 Collapse
The Padres Game 2 loss in Milwaukee left them staring at an 0-2 hole in the National League Division Series, and the way it unraveled only deepened the sting. San Diego had turned to Mason Miller for six outs in a high-leverage spot, trusting the closer to help lock down the game, but the plan fell apart in the ninth when his command slipped and the Brewers kept pressing until Jackson Chourio delivered a walk-off two-run single.
Afterward, manager Craig Stammen and Miller both addressed the late call to extend him beyond the usual closer usage, a decision that now looms over a crushing collapse. For a Padres team that needed one clean finish to even the series, the choice to ride Miller that long became part of the postgame conversation, with the result leaving San Diego to answer not just for the loss, but for how it got there. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Got A New NLDS Concern As Series Shifts Home
As the National League Division Series shifts to San Diego for Game 3, the Padres added another experienced arm to the mix by reinstating right-hander Walker Buehler from the paternity list. To make room, Randy Vasquez was taken off the roster, a move that reflects how tightly San Diego is managing its pitching staff as the series changes venues and the leverage starts to climb.
Buehler is expected to matter if the matchup goes beyond Game 3, which gives the Padres a little more flexibility in how they piece together the back half of the series. For a club trying to control every pitching decision in October, getting him back into the active roster only adds to the questions Milwaukee now has to account for as the series moves forward. [Read more 🡒]