Padres minor-league signing could be very sneaky Jurickson Profar replacement

Both the San Diego Padres and Jurickson Profar have expressed an interest in a reunion this offseason. The Padres are not confused in terms of how valuable Profar was to the team in 2024 and that they would love to have him back. Profar has be open in his desire to return to the place where he saved his career. Unfortunately, these things are often not that simple.

Profar's ascendant 2024 campaign certainly warrants a raise over the $1 million he got last season, but exactly how much of a raise is a fair question. As great as he was, 2024 was an outlier versus the rest of his career; free agent prices in general seem pretty crazy at the moment; and the Padres go into this offseason with some restrictions on how much they can spend.

Right now, a reunion could still happen. However, the Padres recent signing of Yonathan Perlaza suggests they may be hedging just a little bit in the event that Profar ends up playing in a different uniform in 2025.

Padres News: San Diego signs Yonathan Perlaza to minor-league deal after successful stint in Korea

Minor-league deals, more often than not, don't move the needle all that much. However, Perlaza is an interesting case as he was a pretty decent power-hitting prospect in the Cubs' organization before he decided to play over in Korea. In 2024, Perlaza showed out with a .275/.364/.486 line accompanied by 24 homers. Clearly San Diego liked what they saw enough to try him out for size in 2025.

Assuming a world where the bidding for Profar exceeds the Padres' comfort level, Perlaza is not the favorite among the internal replacement options; Tirso Ornelas is the frontrunner there. However, there is no guarantee whatsoever that Ornelas will hit in the big leagues, and if Perlaza puts up a good showing this spring (or during the season in the minors), it isn't that crazy to think that he could get a look.

Based on what is coming out ahead of the Winter Meetings, it does feel like San Diego still wants to figure out a way to bring Profar back, and who can blame them? However, it is still nice that they are getting some contingency plans in place in case it doesn't work out.

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