Padres strongly consider embracing youth movement after key free agent departures

The San Diego Padres have a lot of holes on the roster and only so much money to spend. While the Friar faithful have every reason to believe that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller will find some way to wave his magic wand and make everything okay, there is grounds for Padres fans to be a bit pessimistic as well.

Three of the Padres' top performers from last season were on bargain deals. Jackson Merrill's unexpected rookie performance, coupled with the outstanding All-Star season from Jurickson Profar, and surprising contributions from Kyle Higashioka accounted for 11.2 fWAR in 2024. The combined salary of those three players made up less than 3% of the Padres' $164 million payroll last season.

Unfortunately for the Padres, both Profar and Higashioka are now free agents, as is Ha-Seong Kim. There is certainly reason to believe that one, if not all three, will leave San Diego this winter. But it would seem that Preller has a plan for the future, and it involves the Padres top two prospects.

Padres strongly consider embracing youth movement after key free agent departures

Most Padres fans have heard of the team's top two prospects by now. Both Leodalis De Vries and Ethan Salas are playing in the Arizona Fall League at the moment, but those two teenage prospects are viewed as key pieces on the Padres roster moving forward.

Though it's unlikely that either De Vries or Salas sniff the big leagues in 2025, there is reason to believe that their presence in the organization could influence Preller's decision making this offseason.

When asked about the departures of Higashioka and Kim during the GM Meetings, Preller warmed up to the idea of finding a short-term solution at both shortstop and catcher. Preller said, in part, "...we think we have young players that are not terribly far away that can hopefully play for a long time."

After watching Merrill mature into the likely NL Rookie of the Year, Preller has to be feeling good about the Padres' ability to draft and develop young talent. It would seem that the Padres' top decision-maker sees De Vries and Salas in a similar light, and that may drive the Friars' offseason moves in the coming weeks and months.

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