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The San Diego Padres have been one of baseball's biggest spenders over the last few years, locking in Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts into long-term contracts, along with completing a blockbuster trade for superstar outfielder Juan Soto in 2022, but the Padres are reportedly likely to cut payroll going into 2024 for a variety of reasons, according to Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors.
The Padres currently have a payroll of just under $249 million, but find themselves at 77-79 and likely to miss the playoffs this season. The team is planning to implement a different strategy for next season, which includes a payroll of around $200 million, according to Polishuk. The reasoning is because the Padres are out of compliance with MLB regulations regarding their debt service ratio.
This does not necessarily mean just getting rid of players for the Padres, as there is significant money coming off of the books this offseason in the form of free agents.
Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller also reportedly might not be back for next season, as no decision has been made on that yet, according to Polishuk.
The Padres currently have a projected 2024 payroll of $128.5 million, but that does not include players who are arbitration eligible. Notably, Juan Soto is entering the final year of arbitration after making $23 million in 2023. He will get a raise for 2024, and it will be up to whomever is running the front office to decide on moving on from him as part of the payroll cuts. He would likely get the best return when it comes to prospects. Someone like Jake Cronenworth could also be included.
After a disappointing season, there are a lot of questions left to be answered this winter for the Padres.
