No seriously, Jackson Merrill has a strong case as the Padres’ 2024 MVP

Eric Cole

San Diego Padres v Boston Red Sox / Jaiden Tripi/GettyImages

The San Diego Padres have had a lot of positive storylines during the 2024 season. Despite being late additions to the team, Dylan Cease has stabilized the Padres' rotation after a ton of offseason losses there and Jurickson Profar has been one of the best outfielders in baseball despite never looking remotely this good in his career. No one should take anything away from those guys as they deserve all the love they are getting.

However, there is a real argument that neither of them have been the Padres' true MVP in 2024. Instead, that honor may belong to rookie Jackson Merrill, who has surpassed every expectation that was placed upon him and has given the Padres a ton of clarity of where they are headed as a franchise.

The case for Jackson Merrill's ascent being the most valuable addition to the Padres this season

If we are looking strictly at a metric like WAR, Profar's 2.9 fWAR is higher than Merrill's. However, Merrill's 2.5 fWAR is not far behind, and he has done so as a rookie outfielder who was an infield prospect by trade just a few months ago. The counting stats have the race very close as well, with Merrill now having the edge in homers after his latest power binge. However, the only thing that is holding Merrill back is a low walk rate, but that feels likely to improve now that pitchers need to worry more about keeping him in check.

More importantly, Merrill slipping into the everyday outfield role after a strong spring training cannot be understated. The kid switched positions during big league camp and has become a cornerstone of the Padres' lineup in his first season in the majors. Profar's performance has been remarkable, but that feels like San Diego caught lightning in a bottle. Merrill, on the other hand, feels like he has carved a permanent place on the roster by sheer force of will at a position that they desperately needed clarity with.

When the dust settles, we will see where these two guys stand. Profar's lingering knee issues could hold him back in the second half and allow Merrill to make this a clear choice ... or Profar may just keep mashing all year long. The Padres are winners either way, but Merrill becoming such a key piece of their present and future this season still could be considered the most valuable development of all.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.