Padres exercise club option in the least surprising move of the offseason

The San Diego Padres didn’t overthink the layup. Picking up Ramón Laureano’s $6.5 million club option is the sort of obvious, low-drama decision winning teams make early in the winter: lock in a proven everyday bat at a bargain rate and move on to the bigger puzzles. Laureano earned it. 

Across the 2025 season, the right-hitting outfielder posted a .281/.342/.512 slash with 24 homers in 488 plate appearances, the kind of consistent thump and edge that played everywhere he went. For a club that wants less noise and more certainty, this is exactly that — cost-controlled pop with above-average defense and a competitive streak that tends to ripple through a clubhouse.

Padres keep Ramón Laureano for 2026 by picking up $6.5M option

The deadline deal that first brought Laureano to San Diego, bundled with Ryan O’Hearn in a six-prospect swap with Baltimore, already looks like one of last summer’s needle-movers. Both hitters kept producing in San Diego, with Laureano rolling to a .269/.323/.489 line in 50 games, including nine homers, nine doubles and a pair of triples. 

Functionally, this settles left field for new manager Craig Stammen and streamlines the outfield picture alongside Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill. Laureano’s right-handed power gives San Diego a middle-order option who punishes mistakes and lifts the floor of an offense that too often leaned on streaks.

He runs well enough to turn singles into pressure, throws well enough to shut down first-to-third adventures, and brings the kind of on-edge competitiveness that tends to surface late in close games. Even if the bat simply matches last year’s level rather than leveling up, the profile balances this lineup.

It also sharpens the Padres’ offseason priorities. With left field solved at a discount, A.J. Preller can point resources toward the bigger-ticket items — frontline innings, another impact bat (especially in the “slug first, ask questions later” category), and bench depth that doesn’t evaporate in September. Retaining Laureano at this price insulates San Diego from the volatile corner-outfield market and buys optionality elsewhere: they can seek a lefty complement for matchup days, shop opportunistically for first base thunder, and still add swing-and-miss to the bullpen without threading a needle on every move.

The beauty here is fit. Laureano doesn’t need the lineup built around him to matter; he just needs to do what he did for five months — hunt mistakes, play fast in the corners, and dare teams to test his arm.