The San Diego Padres certainly aren't going home happy from Chicago after a brutal ending to Game 3 of the Wild Card Series with the Cubs after an egregious strike-three call threw a wrench into a comeback attempt, but they're going home all the same. And now the Friars and general manager AJ Preller will have a long offseason to ponder what they can do to redeem themselves next postseason. In doing so, that's going to come with some tough decisions.
Preller has never been shy about being aggressive, which he put on full display at this year's trade deadline with an electric flurry of moves to amplify an already strong bullpen, not the least of which was adding Mason Miller. However, the Padres have to operate creatively in that way with a bloated payroll that's difficult to add to. So, with some of the free agents that San Diego has coming off the books, that's going to lead to some tough decisons.
Specifically, it's going to lead to some big names and key figures from the Padres' run to the playoffs, and even keeping this team alive against the Cubs, no longer being around. These four players, in particular, are almost as good as gone this offseason and won't return for the 2026 campaign. Nothing is ever a guarantee, but it'd be shocking if these players hadn't just played their last game with the Padres.
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These San Diego Padres free agents won't be brought back for 2026
IF Luis Arraez
With a bevy of batting titles decorating his shelf, no one can deny the contact prowess of Luis Arraez, and even how valuable that's been over the years to the Padres and even the Twins and Marlins before that. At the same time, as the 28-year-old Venezuelan is an outlier in modern baseball, especially with his on-base percentage declining in recent years. Yes, you can have faith he's going to flirt with hitting .300 every season, but how valuable is that for a player who finished this season with a .719 OPS with his lack of pop and overall athleticism?
Furthermore, when you combine the conundrum of Arraez at the plate with his subpar defense, it's nearly impossible to ascertain his value on the open market as he enters free agency this offseason. But here's the key component of that: The Padres shouldn't concern themselves with that, because Arraez isn't their long-term solution at first base or anywhere on the infield. Instead, they should simply be ready to let him walk and explore other options.
I'd honestly have that same assessment of the situation even if the Padres felt like they were in the market to keep Arraez as well. Despite everything I've said, his unique profile is still likely to earn him a substantial payday on the open market, and it'll likely be a contract that doesn't age all that well. It's a situation that San Diego should and, to their credit, appears on track to steer clear of.
DH Ryan O'Hearn
Among the aforementioned aggressive trade deadline additions for the Padres was the versatile Ryan O'Hearn, primarily a DH but capable of playing multiple spots defensively if necessary. More importantly, though, San Diego acquired him from the Orioles after the big lefty posted an .837 OPS with 13 home runs and 15 doubles, most notably mashing with power against righties, over his first 94 games of the year with Baltimore.
The unfortunate truth, however, is that didn't carry over to the Padres. Across 50 games, O'Hearn still hit .276 with his new team, but did so with a minuscule .736 as all of the power seemed to go by the wayside. He hit just four home runs and totaled only 10 extra-base hits across that span. He wasn't a net negative by any stretch of the imagination, but he also wasn't the power surge that Preller and San Diego hoped they were adding to the lineup either.
Now set to hit free agency, the Padres can simply do better at DH moving forward than O'Hearn. They could certainly afford him, but it feels like an easy spot to upgrade, particularly with someone who doesn't have as strong of platoon splits.
RP Robert Suarez
If the Padres could force one decision from a player, it would probably be to ask All-Star reliever Robert Suarez to not opt-out of the $8 million he could make next year to stay in San Diego. There's absolutely no shot of that happening, but it's certainly what they would like to happen. After all, with the true super-bullpen that this team built at the trade deadline, he's been an elite piece in the heart of it, and now it seems like they might not be able to afford to keep him.
Perhaps the only thing working in the Padres' favor when it comes to the hopes of keeping Suarez would be the fact that he's 34 years old and will turn 35 early next year. There's no real chance of him getting a long-term contract for many years. However, what's going to hurt San Diego is that the ultimately cash-strapped franchise at this moment likely won't be able to match the AAV that teams are going to throw at the potential closer when he becomes available.
It wouldn't be remotely shocking to see the Padres work their hardest to try and work out something reasonable for their sake with Suarez. That's just hard to envision when a bidding war could get started for one of the best relievers in baseball being a free agent.
Either SP Michael King or SP Dylan Cease
Two of the big-name acquisitions that the Padres have made over the years are now at the end of their club control, with both Michael King and Dylan Cease set to become free agents this offseason. With the financial constraints that we've already mentioned several times, there's absolutely no way that this franchise can simply afford to re-sign both King and Cease.
Having said that, all reports throughout the year have indicated that the Padres intend to try and keep one of the two and will talk with both. Perhaps that's an effort to keep both, but I still don't believe that's ultimately a realistic goal barring some truly ground-shaking unforeseen changes that would shake up the payroll. And for my money, with the way Cease finished, it should be King that the Padres are striving to keep.
Alas, whatever the organization and front office decides, one of these guys won't be back with the Padres next season. That will raise some questions about how they build the rotation, certainly, but if there's one thing that Preller has shown us, he'll find a way to replace whichever one he loses.