San Diego

Padres

Andujar had a strong season, split between playing for the Athletics and Reds. He hit .318/.352/.470 with 10 home runs in 94 games due to injury. Now, he was playing in arguably the two most hitter-friendly stadiums in baseball, but he also showed flashes of success in 2024 with Oakland. Heyman has said teams like the Rangers, Padres, Cardinals, and Cubs have expressed interest.

Song suffered the injury during a recent batting practice session and will be shut down from baseball activities until mid-February, which coincides with the Padres kicking off spring training in Arizona. The 29-year-old Korean infielder is expected to occupy a versatile multi-position role in his San Diego debut and offers some appeal in deeper fantasy formats. He’s expected to be a full go early in camp, but the recurring nature of oblique injuries makes this a developing situation worth monitoring for fantasy managers.

It’s an intriguing strategy considering Arenado’s bat has fallen off as he has gotten older, but his defense at third base remains strong. He also has seen his power decline, so he would not be the conventional choice for a first baseman. According to Rosenthal, the sticking point “was that the Padres were unwilling to take on as much of Arenado’s salary as the D-Backs,” which is also curious because the Diamondbacks only took on $11 million of Arenado’s $42 million. Perhaps their pursuit wasn’t overly enthusiastic, but the Padres are clearly looking for a solution at first base.

One of the highest profile minor league free agents this offseason, Solak winds up in San Diego where he represents a break glass in case of emergency bench option. The versatile 30-year-old got into four games for the Pirates last season, going 1-for-11 at the dish, after tearing the cover off the ball at the Triple-A level with a robust .332/.411/.492 slash line with 14 homers and 10 steals in 482 plate appearances across 111 games. The former top prospect will compete for a bench role in spring training but appears ticketed for Triple-A El Paso at the end of camp.

Fermin, who was arbitration eligible for the first time as a Super Two player, had been projected to earn $1.8 million through arbitration by MLBTradeRumors.com. The 30-year-old backstop hit .251/.297/.339 with five homers and 26 RBI in 347 plate appearances between the Royals and Padres during the 2025 season. Even if he does open the season as the Padres’ starting catcher, the only fantasy value that he provides comes from a solid batting average.

No word yet on the financial terms of that deal, but Sears had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $3.5 million via arbitration. The 29-year-old southpaw posted an uninspiring 5.04 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and a 117/36 K/BB ratio over 135 2/3 innings between the Athletics and Padres in 2025.

Adam secures a nice pay raise over the $4.8 million that he took home in 2025. The 34-year-old hurler delivered another dominant season in his first full year with the Padres, compiling a 1.93 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 70/25 K/BB ratio over 65 1/3 innings before a ruptured quad tendon ended his season prematurely at the beginning of September. He’ll function in a setup capacity in front of Mason Miller once again in 2026, limiting his overall fantasy appeal.

The 27-year-old flamethrower was arbitration eligible for the first time as a Super Two player. He had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $3.4 million in the arbitration process, so he appears to have done very well for himself here. With Robert Suarez out of the picture, Miller should have the ninth inning to himself in 2026 and will be one of the first closers plucked off of the board in all fantasy drafts.

After several false starts to his career, Morejón has been terrific as a reliever the last two years, finishing with a 2.83 ERA in 63 2/3 innings in 2024 and a 2.08 ERA in 73 2/3 innings last season. Although he’s just 26 — 27 in February — he’s only one year away from free agency, having spent considerable time on the injured list earlier in the decade. That’s resulted in him coming up in trade discussions this winter.

It still seems pretty ridiculous that Sheets should be worth $4.5 million in arbitration, but he actually was a valuable player for the first time last season, hitting .252/.317/.429 in his first year with the Padres. That gave him a career line of .236/.301/.397 in 1,979 plate appearances. As things stand now, he figures to be the Padres’ primary DH against right-handed pitchers. It’d be nice if they could upgrade and turn him into more of a spare part, but it’s unclear if the budget will allow for that.