Taking a look at the Padres 2020 payroll going into the offseason

One thing you always have to consider before going into an offseason is the San Diego Padres current payroll.

We all know there are major constraints on what A.J. Preller and the San Diego Padres can do this offseason based on payroll.

We take a look at what the current payroll looks like and just how much Preller could have to spend this offseason.

Before even getting into arbitration and pre-arbitration players, the Padres 2020 payroll currently sits around $97 million.

Based on MLB Trade Rumors arbitration projections, they could have another $25.6 million on the books for 2020 — if they were to retain every arbitration-eligible player.

That brings the Padres current 2020 payroll to around $120 million.

And that creates a big problem because the Padres final payroll figure for 2019 was $104 million and they’ve never really gone beyond $107 million.

* All contract figures come from Spotrac.com. 

Even if you want to optimistically say that the Padres will extend their Opening Day payroll to $110 million, that means they’ll still have to find a way to shed a lot of money.

The team has already shed some of that money with Robbie Erlin (projected $2 million) and Carl Edwards Jr. (projected $1.6 million) electing free agency after being outrighted.

They also moved Travis Jankowski and his projected $1.2 million salary to the Cincinnati Reds.

How much can they spend? 

It’s really impossible to tell just how much the Padres can spend at this point because they’re already over their typical payroll limit.

We also don’t know if the front office will be willing to push the envelope this year.

After the big signings of Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado the last two offseasons, it seems unlikely they’ll be in the running to make another splash this offseason.

That likely means that Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, and Anthony Rendon are not in the picture.

Maybe the most likely route for the Padres to add this offseason is through trades.

We know they have a great farm system that is crowded with talent. They will likely have to move some of that talent this offseason in order to improve the team for 2020.

If the Padres are going to spend any money this offseason, they’ll first have to get creative and try to find ways to cut payroll.