Padres Notes: Martinez, Tatis, Soto, Payroll

The Padres have discussed the possibility of restructuring the contract of Nick Martinez, reports Dennis Lin of the Athletic. The right-hander has to decide whether to opt out of the final three years and $19.5MM on his deal by this evening, but Lin suggests it looks likely he’ll remain in San Diego either by opting in to his existing deal or reworking his contract.

According to Lin, one idea under consideration is to remove future opt-out possibilities from Martinez’s deal. The four-year guarantee he signed upon coming over from NPB last winter afforded him opt-out chances after each season, giving the former Ranger hurler plenty of long-term contractual leverage. If he’s to forfeit that right moving forward, the Padres would certainly have to increase the guaranteed money on his deal over the coming seasons.

San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller acknowledged the 32-year-old would prefer to work as a starting pitcher. Martinez started 10 games this year but otherwise came out of the bullpen 37 times. He fared better in relief and Lin writes that some within the organization believe he’s better suited for such a role, but giving Martinez at least the opportunity to crack the rotation could aid San Diego’s efforts to keep him around for the next few seasons. The Friars have Joe Musgrove under contract for five years, but Blake Snell and Yu Darvish are headed into the final seasons of their respective deals. Meanwhile, Sean Manaea and Mike Clevinger are now free agents.

On the position player side, Preller provided reporters (including Lin and Alden Gonzalez of ESPN) with an update on Fernando Tatis Jr. Coming off a season lost to wrist/shoulder surgeries and a stunning performance-enhancing drug suspension, the two-time Silver Slugger winner is now something of a Wild Card. He’ll be eligible to return from his PED suspension on April 20 next year, and Preller noted he’s expected to resume baseball activities in January after rehabbing from his shoulder procedure. San Diego saw Ha-Seong Kim break out in his second big league season in Tatis’ stead at shortstop, and Preller acknowledged that Tatis could assume more of a multi-positional role upon returning.

He’ll certainly play every day, but it’s not clear he’ll immediately step back in as the shortstop. Lin reports the Friars are open to moving Tatis to second base on occasion, kicking Jake Cronenworth over to first while leaving Kim at shortstop, where he’s a plus defender. The Friars have also toyed with the possibility of deploying Tatis in the outfield, covering for some offensive struggles from center fielder Trent Grisham and/or the possible free agent departure of left fielder Jurickson Profar. Much depends on how the Padres build out their roster over the next few months, of course.

There’s no need for Tatis to see any action in right field, as the Friars have Juan Soto there after their massive deadline splash. He’ll be around for at least another two seasons, as he’s controllable via arbitration through 2024. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes the Friars are likely to try to discuss a longer-term deal with Soto this offseason, although they’ve yet to open those talks. Soto rejected a $440MM offer from the Nationals that would’ve been the largest contract in MLB history. It’s clear the Padres would have to top that number to get the superstar outfielder’s consideration, but they at least seem likely to open informal discussions. For the moment, he’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $21.5MM in 2023 if he goes through the arbitration process.

Owner Peter Seidler has expressed a willingness to continue pushing the Friars’ payroll forward, although Acee writes in a separate piece they could be approaching their limit to some extent. Acee suggests they’re likely to open 2023 with a similar payroll as they had this season. San Diego exceeded the luxury tax threshold for the second straight year in 2022, finishing with a CBT figure around $233MM. That’s easily a franchise-high, and Roster Resource projects their CBT number around $216MM for next season. As Acee points out, that leaves them with some room for rotation and left field help, although it raises a question as to how aggressive Preller and his staff might be on the free agent market in particular.