HOUSTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 24: Framber Valdez #59 of the Houston Astros reacts on the bench after exiting the game in the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park on September 24, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
GM addresses possibility of big Fernando Tatis Jr. Jackson Merrill move.
Don’t expect Tatis or Merrill to move from the outfield.
For a team full of players with shortstop experience, it’s a little ironic that the San Diego Padres could be in the market for a new shortstop this offseason. That’s the reality, however, as general manager AJ Preller doesn’t sound interested in moving Fernando Tatis Jr. or Jackson Merrill to the infield.
With shortstop Ha-Seong Kim expected to opt out of the final year of his contract, the Padres have more than enough options to replace him internally. Preller just doesn’t want to mess with what’s worked.
“They’d probably love that possibility,” he told reporters of Tatis and Merrill. “They always joke around — ’Whatever’s needed.’ The great part of those guys is they’re talented athletes.
“They can play different spots. … But Tati winning the Platinum [Glove] two years ago, and Jackson doing a tremendous job in center field this year, we know that they’re really good at what they do in the outfield.”
At 25 years old, Tatis has played 242 major-league games at shortstop but primarily played right field the last two years. Merrill, a rookie, exclusively played center field in his first season in the majors but played 196 games at short during his minor-league career.
If that Padres don’t want to move a current player, they can look to bring Kim back or go after another free-agent shortstop like Willy Adames.
The Padres’ internal shortstop options: From Fernando Tatis Jr. to Manny Machado
San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) looks on from the dugout before game five against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
As Preller said, Tatis is a former platinum glove winner, so there’s no reason to move him from right field. Though Statcast clocks him as an outfielder with slightly below average range, he has one of the best arms in the game to make up for it.
As for Merrill, he was one of the best outfielders in baseball as a rookie, worth 12 outs above average, per Baseball Savant with a strong arm to boot.
Thankfully for the Padres, Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth, and Xander Bogaerts can all play short and are all under contract for next year (and beyond). Bogaerts moved back to shortstop in September when Kim went down with a labrum injury.
If Kim returns to San Diego, Bogaerts can simply stay there until the 29-year-old completes his rehab, which is projected to be within a couple months of the start of next season.
A permanent replacement from within becomes much more realistic if the Padres lose Kim and miss out on Adames. Without a deep shortstop free-agent field, it may be more tempting to, say, move Cronenworth back to short and go after a high-profile first baseman, like, say Pete Alonso.
Russell Steinberg covers Major League Baseball and the New York Liberty for ClutchPoints. A baseball and basketball lifer, he has written for Boardroom, SLAM, SB Nation, The Next, and more. He graduated from NYU in 2012 and still returns to serve as PA announcer and occasional broadcaster for the school’s basketball and volleyball teams.
