Infielder is one year away from being a free agent. New York Yankees Jersey He has to signing an extension but it doesnt appear anything is close on that front. Per a report from , the Friars have not yet engaged in serious extension talks with Arrez. The fact that extension talks have not happened yet doesnt nece sarily mean that they cant happen at a later date. Traditionally, clubs like to use this part of the calendar to focus on player acquisitions, leaving extensions for closer to spring training. However, Lin reports that there is some debate within the San Diego front office about how valuable Arrez is, which perhaps reduces the odds of extension talks gaining steam down the road. On top of that, there are the ongoing budgetary questions to consider. The Padres were among the most aggre sive clubs in baseball while owner Peter Seidler was still alive, but it was clearly unsustainable. In September of 2023, alongside news of Seidlers deteriorating health, it was that their debt service ratio was not in compliance with MLB regulations. The club had given out nine-figure contracts to players like , , , and , alongside some other notable deals as they looked to remake the clubs image as a small-market also-ran. As they were sending that money out the door, le s was coming in, as their TV deal with Diamond Sports Group collapsed. Going into 2024, the club needed to cut some payroll but had limited options for doing so. All of those aforementioned deals were quite large and therefore hard to trade. Even if the Padres found interest, all of those players have full no-trade clauses on their deals. All of these factors, as well as a lack of rotation depth, seemed to lead to the trade. That allowed the Friars to make a big cut from their budget and duck under the competitive balance tax while also bringing back arms like and , with Thorpe later flipped as part of the trade. Going into 2024, the budget could again be an i sue. Though they havent yet made any notable moves this offseason, projects them for a $210MM payroll next year, more than $40MM beyond last year. They are also projected for a $244MM CBT number, just above next years $241MM base threshold. Its unknown what sort of exact payroll parameters the club has for 2025, but Lin suggests the budget is tight again. He reports that the Friars were interested in catchers and but came up short despite those backstops getting relatively modest deals. Higashioka got $13.5MM over two years from the Rangers while Jansen settled for just one year and $8.5MM from the Rays. That doesnt suggest the club is working with a lot of financial firepower this winter. Arrez would be a speculative candidate for a move to open some spending capacity since hes effectively in the same position that Soto was last year. Hes going into his final year of club control and set to make a notable salary while several other players are locked into long-term deals. Cease and King are also just one year from the open market, but trading either of them seems le s likely. The San Diego rotation has a strong front three consisting of those two and Darvish but things get flimsy after that. Musgrove is likely to mi s the entire 2025 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October. just became a free agent. and are options for the back end but neither is fully established at this point. If anything, the club needs to add to that group, so subtracting King or Cease wouldnt make much sense. Arrez, on the other hand, could make more sense as a trade candidate. He is one of the games best contact hitters, having won three straight batting titles, but doesnt walk much or provide much power. He has only drawn a walk in 6.9% of his career plate appearances but has only been struck out 6.8% of the time, while never hitting more than ten homers in a season. His .323/.372/.418 batting line translates to a 120 wRC+. Thats a unique approach in todays game and Arrez is clearly the best at the things he does well, but its also a limited profile. Hes doesnt steal a ton of bases and isnt considered a strong defender at either second or first base, his two primary positions. projects Arrez for a salary of $14.6MM next year. Thats far le s than what Soto was slated to make in 2024 but still a lot of money for a useful but limited player. If the Padres were to trade Arrez, perhaps for some pitching, they could have an infield consisting of Machado at third, Bogaerts at short and at second, perhaps using some of the savings to go after a cheaper option at first. Lin writes that the club would prefer to have Bogaerts at second like the start of the 2024 season but they would need a solution at shortstop with now a free agent and likely to mi s the start of the 2025 season due to shoulder surgery. This is largely speculative but Lins report that the front office isnt convinced of Arrezs value could perhaps nudge them more towards a trade than an extension. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller has generally been unafraid to make bold strikes even when painful, as last years Soto trade showed, so the Friars could be a club to watch in the coming weeks if they shake up the trade market. One player unlikely to be on the block is reliever . Per Lin, the Padres are inclined to keep him as his contract has an opt-out after 2025, which complicates trade talks. The righty is set to make $10MM in 2025 and then $8MM in each of the next two years, though he can walk away from those final two seasons. He just posted a solid 2.77 ERA in 2024 and clubs would surely have interest in that kind of performance, but the contract provides a lot of downside. If Suarez suffered any kind of notable injury, he would surely decline his opt-out chance and linger on the books for those two years. Given that downside, a club may be reluctant to give up any kind of notable return or take on the entirety of the contract. Lin also adds that the Padres are hopeful, if not confident, about a potential reunion with outfielder . After a dreadful 2023 season, Profar signed with San Diego for a guarantee of just $1MM in 2024. That turned out to be a ma sive bargain for the club, as Profar went on to hit .280/.380/.459 for a wRC+ of 139. Profar and Preller have a long relationship, as he was working for the Rangers way back when Profar was signed as an international amateur. Since coming to the Padres, Preller has signed Profar multiple times. But on the heels of a career year, Profar might be looking to cash in. he could land a three-year deal with a $45MM guarantee. If Profar is looking for anything in that ballpark, it could be tough to get it from San Diego, given the aforementioned payroll restrictions. Mckinley Moore Jersey