The Padres have signed utility player Niko Goodrum to a minor league deal, according to the transactions log on his MLB.com profile page. The deal presumably includes an invite to big league Spring Training. MadFriars first reported the transaction earlier this week.
Goodrum, 33 next month, has participated in parts of seven MLB seasons to this point. A second-round pick by the Twins in 2010 who made his big league debut in Minnesota back in 2017, Goodrum was cut from the club’s 40-man roster and wound up signing a minor league deal with the division rival Tigers during the 2017-18 offseason. The deal proved to be quite a coup for Detroit, as Goodrum went on to become a solid utility man for the club over the next four seasons. From 2018 to 2021, Goodrum hit a decent .232/.306/.401 (90 wRC+) in 376 games. He collected 6.3 fWAR during that time while mixing in at all three outfield spots in addition to first base, second base, third base, and even shortstop.
Unfortunately, Goodrum’s performance began to tail off in his later years with Detroit, and he hit just .203/.282/.350 in his final 504 trips to the plate with the club. That led the Tigers to outright him off their 40-man roster during the 2021-22 offseason, allowing him to return to free agency. Goodrum hasn’t found consistent work in the majors since departing Detroit, though he’s remained involved in stateside ball throughout the past three years. He spent the 2022 campaign in the Astros organization but was limited to just 35 games between the major and minor leagues due to injuries. The 2023 season saw Goodrum join the Red Sox organization and hit quite well over 65 games with Triple-A Worcester. That earned him an opportunity in South Korea’s KBO league during the second half and he hit .295/.373/.387 in 50 games with the Lotte Giants.
Goodrum returned to stateside ball in 2024 and bounced between five different organizations throughout the year. Goodrum initially signed back with the Twins on a minor league deal during the 2023-24 offseason, but after not making the club’s 40-man roster he was traded to the Rays and provided with a roster spot in Tampa. Throughout the year, Goodrum bounced between the Rays, Angels, and Pirates on the waiver wire before ultimately clearing waivers and electing free agency, where he signed a minor league deal with the Orioles. Goodrum failed to hit at the big league level in 2024 with a slash line of just .103/.188/.103 in the majors, albeit in a sample size of just 33 plate appearances. Goodrum’s Triple-A numbers were far stronger, as he slashed .284/.375/.460 in 243 trips to the plate across 60 games for the Rays’, Angels’, and Orioles’ affiliates.
Now, Goodrum is moving on to his sixth organization of the past calendar year in San Diego. The Padres are facing a significant budget crunch this winter and are severely lacking in positional depth after losing Jurickson Profar, Ha-Seong Kim, Donovan Solano, and David Peralta to free agency. While Goodrum is hardly an impactful bat even in his best years, the veteran utility man’s versatility could be a major asset to the Padres off the bench this year if they enter the season without more reliable solutions to their lackluster outfield mix.
Too bad this article wasn’t under a word/length crunch. Just joking, Nicky…keep at it kid!
Stove is cooking!
Seidler Bros to Padres fans “we hear you”.
“We see your frustration with the Sasaki signing”
“We have a treat for you”
Drumroll please…
Niko Goodrum is on his way to SD.
Ahhhh towinagain, our resident panic stricken fanatic. How many times do we have to tell you, the roster is almost full! We knew for 2.5 years that this would be a quiet offseason, but by all means, overreact to your whim! We need one SP, JurPro, probably Rizzo and a worthy half-Catcher. Calm down and recognize a MiLB depth signing when you see one!!! Lol
Hate to agree with the panic stricken, but we are seeing needs on the padres roster with no moves, and no whispers about talks with Profar, or anybody else.
Of course, these are just trade winds, but all we’re hearing is what padres may want to give up, not much on what they’ll get in trades.
I do believe Preller is working the magic in the background, and also that at least one of our in house starter options is gonna have a huge year (probably Morejon, maybe Waldron).
I am hoping we give Tow something to cheer about soon.
Keep on believin
Keep the Faith
For sure JSC. I’ll repeat that the roster is nearly full and we’ve known it would be for awhile. Our needs are minimal, and I’m also hoping for a big Morejon show in ’25. JurPro will be a Pad, I’m almost dead sure about it. Add Rizzo? Scherzer? And bring back Elias. We’ll find out.
And *ahem* …
Scott signed with the Dodgers
So, this is good, right?
Padres ownership doesn’t deserve any criticism?
Just a pass?
So, if the goal for your team is to win a WS, which I questioning the Seidler Bros intentions, don’t you have to go through the Dodgers?
You can’t compete with the Dodgers, heck the Dbacks and Giants with minor league signings and calling up prospects from your 28th rated farm.
You can’t compete by trading major leaguers like Cease and Arraez for salary relief.
You can’t compete when you don’t spend “the money saved” on other FA acquisitions.
You can’t compete with the likes of Ornellas, Lockridge, Rosario and Maldonado as your depth.
You can’t compete when you don’t re-sign Profar, let Scott walk and miss out on Sasaki.
You can’t compete when you don’t spend.
Broken record. Very much a small circle perspective, towin.
That’s all you want?!? Spend, spend, spend?!? Currently 7th highest payroll, with minimal roster spots available.
Let Scott walk?!? Free Agents decide where to play.
Can’t compete if you miss out on Sasaki?!? I guess 29 other teams better mail it in for ’25 then!
Ridiculous takes.
I suppose you’ll be the first one to complain when we get lesser Competitive Balance picks when (at worst) we lose Cease and King to FA. Where’s the Faith? Once again, I say let AJ cook.
I remember similar complaints this time last year, panic city. Then AJP went to work. But even after they signed Profar everyone said he was marginally a 4th or 5th OF at best and we needed a CF. Every whiner whined until opening day and beyond. Then 3 OFs became ASs, AJ stole Arraez for free, Cease ended up 4th in CY voting, and the rest of the pieces Higgy, Solano, Estrada yadda yadda opened our eyes and renewed our faith in AJ. But here we are again, mid-January, Towinagain is bitter, impatient and disenchanted. I plan to wait until at least March before i cry the sky is falling. After last year we do owe AJ some benefit of the doubt.
Absolutely I will.
I don’t care about competitive balance picks.
I’ll take signing veteran stars over competitive balance picks.
We’re literally made of veteran stars… and Merrill. Maybe run it back with HSK? Whatever happens, I trust in AJ. Cheers fellas
SD was waiting on Sasaki’s decision.The moves will come.
Not like the last few off seasons sure…but AJ hasn’t got started yet.
Trades lined up IMO
We’re literally trying to trade ALL of those veteran ‘stars’…
Who wants Arraez?
Who wants Cease?
Who wants Cronenworth?
Who wants Suarez?
What makes you so confident that AJ will get any of it right with no money to spend?
This is a good signing should be the kind of signing you people should be excited about. He’ll produce as much as a 10 million player. I know you aren’t smart enough to know when to cheer or not so I’ll tell you from now on. Cheer loudly. Affordable signing within budget these are the things you should want from your team and practice in your on life
Yeah, this was definitely a move to counter LA’s Roki acquisition.
Padres snagged another player from NPB
He spent 2024 in the US after playing in South Korea.
Yes, thanks for correcting that. KBO, like Woo Suk-Go, who the Friars signed for $4.5 million in January 2024.
On May 4, 2024, the Padres traded Go, Jakob Marsee, Nathan Martorella, and Dillon Head to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Luis Arráez and cash considerations.
That was such a great trade. The Padres 2024 payroll actually went down with that move by getting the Marlins to take Woo Suk-Go while paying all of Arraez’s salary beyond the league minimum.
Now they can’t afford Arraez.
What if the Marlins are down to do backsies?
Now THAT would be a great trade!
Then pawned off on the Marlins.
What happened to this guy? He went from being a pretty useful utility player for the Tigers for a couple of years to nothing
That’s Pittsburgh Pirates legend (for 1 week) Niko Goodrum to you.
I hear San Diego has Goodrum
Boom! Padres are on the board!
He might be able to run. He might be able to catch. I wouldn’t expect much with the bat.
He might be able to hold down a spot in El Paso while Rosario is in San Diego. If he can’t, he costs practically nothing.
Nick, give it up. The Padres are one of only 4 teams that have INCREASED spending this offseason. They are obviously not in a money crunch. Its pathetic bad you keep running out that tired trope in the face of facts that prove the opposite.
‘Budget Crunch’ doesn’t mean they haven’t spent money. It means they have spent whatever they had to spend and they have very little left.
They haven’t signed a single major league contract this off-season, thus far, nor traded for anyone. It’s been all minor league deals. Most of the increase in payroll is down to internal increases from arbitration.
They lost Ha-Seong Kim, Kyle Higashioka, Donovan Solano, Tanner Scott, Martin Perez, David Peralta, and Jurickson Profar to free agency and have replaced them, thus far, with minor leaguers.
It sure doesn’t seem like they are swimming in money. It sure looks like their internal payroll increase has put them in a bit of a bind. They have less talent on the roster, but it costs notably more then last year.
Nick’s characterization of a “significant budget crunch” seems fair.
Tell me who exactly they needed to spend money on? Where were the holes that they needed to spend big to fill? What holes other than catcher did they have that cannot be filled internally?
The Padres need a backup catcher. No one will deny that.
Other than that, they have no serious holes that cannot be filled internally with Rosario who would be a starter on half the team in MLB, Ornelas, Wade. and others that we don’t even know about right now.
Last season everyone tried to say at about this same time that they had a budget crunch and couldn’t add anyone and then they added Cease, Profar for $1 million (who was coming off a negative WAR in 2023), Arraez, Scott, Adams, Hoeing, Solano (minor league signing), Peralta (minor league signing), and Perez. Guys that played a huge role in the success of the 2024 club.
On opening day 2024 the Padres 3B was Wade. Their bench consisted of a backup catcher coming off a negative WAR season for the Yankees named Higashioka, Graham Pauley, Jose Azocar, and Eguy Rosario.
3 seasons in a row the Padres have picked up a backup catcher that has played far above their career averages once in the Padres uniform.
Nick is constantly and continuously full of bovine excrement.
So please. If you don’t understand how the Padres have operated in the past, just don’t comment.
“Mom, can we get Juricksob Profar?”
No sweetie, we have Jurickson Profar at home.”
Jurickson Profar at home:
Man, I sure could use some good rum!
90 wrc+ decent? (10% worse than league avg is decent)
Padres under significant payroll crunch? (One of only a handful of team’s whose lux tax number has gone up this year, a team who is over the tax line. That’s has done zero payroll dumping).
Lack luster outfield? (Merrill and Tatis)
Common, even the local padres media writers who you are referencing payroll issues from don’t paint their situation this gloomy.
Bench guys don’t tend to score high. That’s why they are bench guys. If they were above league average by a significant amount, they would be starters.
Outfield mix. It’s a key word in the sentence. Refers to depth. The only problem is you and your paper thin skin.
Nah, that comment was garbage, just like yours.
So “mix” doesn’t indicate depth ?
No, it doesn’t. The Padres OF mix means who is on the roster that plays OF. That would be Tatis, Merrill, Ornelas, and Lockridge which is actually BETTER than what the Padres had on the roster at this time LAST season.
At this point last year, the Padres OF was Tatis, Azocar, Ornelas, and either Marsee or Merrill. Profar had not been signed yet. Merrill had not played a single game in CF. Peralta was 3 months away from being signed to a minor league deal.
Do you understand why people that actually pay attention to the Padres are calling BS on what is being said?
Of all the mlbtr writers, I honestly doubt that Nick Deeds cares if his narratives reflect reality. The Pads were the only team in MLB with 3 OFs on allstar team. 2 are superstars and are back this season. The team has already added significant competition for OF depth spots at AAA and MLB level. They seem to be already in better shape at OF than majority of other teams and AJP specially has said they will be adding a ML quality RF this offseason. Saying the opposite is either purposeful, or simply naive.
Meant to say adding a ML caliber LF, not RF (didn’t mean to worry you Tati)
Ok.
Maybe he is just trolling a bunch of overly precious sooks, who cry every time he writes something.
FFS. It’s like 14yo girls reacting to Taylor Swift criticism.
Grow up. The pathetic nature of grown men harassing a dude like that is mind blowing.
Yeah, maybe it’s purposeful by Nick (I wasn’t serious too about that) and maybe the Padre fans are pissing you off intentionally too, like some sort of mlbtr spaghetti western
I doubt it. There is a lot evidence of them being remarkably soft in the head.
Im on weak nature rather than clever trolling of me.
Maybe he is just a hack who should be glad he is getting paid 15 cents per word to write this drivel.
What is mind blowing is you trying in vain to defend him when neither he nor Tim will even try.
If the Padres sign Profar which many believe they will. Then what they go from the lack luster outfield to the best outfield in baseball?
The Padres have the best or second best centerfielder in the game. They have a top what 2-3–4 RF in the game? At a stacked position. They could play the ball boy in LF and still have one of the best outfield mixes in the game.
The Padres have one of the best OF in baseball regardless of who is in LF. It ranks in top 7 or 8 in MLB with a replacement level player in LF.
I will go out on a limb, a pretty thick limb, and predict that the Padres will have two OF with over a 5.0 WAR in 2025.
Always root for a man with this cool of a name to stay as long as possible in the bigs. Always.
GO NIKO!
An MLB The Show legend, anything to keep him in the game one more year. Now somebody needs to sign Adalberto Mondesi.
Some Good Rum to cure the Sasaki Blues.
Think I’d rather have some good sake to cure my rum blues…?
Reminds me of the Kentucky Fried Movie sketch-
Loo : And who are they?
Dr. Klahn : Refuse, found in waterfront bars.
Loo : Shanghaied?
Dr. Klahn : Just lost drunken men who don’t know where they are and no longer care.
Prisoner #1 : Where are we?
Prisoner #2 : I don’t care!
Loo : And these?
Dr. Klahn : These are lost drunken men who don’t know where they are, but do care! And these are men who know where they are and care, but don’t drink.
Prisoner #3 : I don’t know who I am!
Prisoner #4 : Yeah. and I don’t drink.
Dr. Klahn : Guards!
[moves prisoners]
Dr. Klahn : Do you care?
Prisoner #5 : No.
Dr. Klahn : Put this man in cell #1, and give him a drink.
Guard : What do you drink?
Prisoner #5 : I don’t care.
This was reported almost a week ago:
x.com/madfriars/status/1879292636273787054
Sell the team!
Good signing.
I actually drafted this guy in 2019 thinking he had 15/25 upside. Maybe even 20/20. It didn’t work out for me lol.