The Padres have spent the last several years acting like a club convinced it could buy its way to October glory. Since 2020, San Diego has opened every season with a payroll ranked inside the top 15 in baseball, and the front office has kept swinging for stars in an effort to chase a World Series.
That push has not delivered the title the organization wanted, and the cost has already shown up in the roster. Juan Soto, Blake Snell and Josh Hader are among the high-profile names the Padres have moved on from as they worked to bring the payroll back down to something more manageable while still staying competitive.
Now, according to Padres insider Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the team has at least looked into another major financial reset. Lin reported that San Diego has explored moving Xander Bogaerts and the $280 million contract he signed before the 2023 season.
"Over the last year, there has been at least some exploration of what it might take to move Bogaerts’ contract," Lin wrote. "It would be a surprise if both [Manny Machado and Bogaerts] play out the rest of their deals in San Diego; by that time, they would both be 41. It would also be a surprise if either player is moved this year; the Padres would have to eat a ton of money."
Bogaerts’ deal runs 11 years and still has seven seasons left after the 2026 season. San Diego owes him $24.5 million annually.
The fit has not matched the price tag. Bogaerts has trended downward over the last couple of seasons, and if the Padres seriously want to move him, they would likely have to absorb a significant chunk of the remaining salary and include additional pieces to make a deal work.
When he arrived in San Diego, Bogaerts was billed as another big win-now addition. He came in with four All-Star selections from his time with the Boston Red Sox, but he has not reached an All-Star Game or won a Silver Slugger since joining the Padres.
This season started with some promise, but the production has slid back. Bogaerts is hitting .225 with eight home runs and 35 runs batted in, along with a .642 OPS.
At this point, it is difficult to see another team taking on that contract without help from the Padres. For now, San Diego’s best hope is that Bogaerts rediscovers the form he had before arriving in the organization.
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What makes the situation trickier is the shape of the market. San Diego needs multiple answers, but the farm system is thinner after recent trades, so the front office has fewer easy ways to chase them. There is at least some hope that ownership will be willing to push payroll higher, but even with that kind of backing, the Padres are staring at a deadline where the hardest part may simply be finding enough available help to make a real dent. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes the pattern stand out is how often it has repeated, and how little it seems to depend on the stage of the franchise at the moment. Whether the Padres were chasing a star, reshaping the bullpen, or trying to patch a roster need, Preller has never seemed especially attached to the idea of holding first-round picks just for the sake of it. For fans, the familiar question is not whether he will move another one, but which prospect becomes the next name to disappear from the organizational ledger. [Read more 🡒]