How the Padres can fix their outfield

When the San Padres traded Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees earlier this winter, they created two large holes in the outfield, with right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. slotted as the only returning starter from last year. The Padres also sent away two of their primary left-handed hitters in that trade, leaving the club with just two lefties in their projected 2024 starting lineup (Jake Cronenworth and Cal Mitchell). 

Now, more than a month since that blockbuster move, the team still hasn't found replacements for Soto and Grisham. Luckily for San Diego, there are still options in free agency.

Eddie Rosario, who played last season for the Atlanta Braves, checks off two major boxes for San Diego. He is a left-handed batter with experience at every outfield position. Rosario finished his 2023 campaign with 122 hits, 21 home runs, 74 runs batted in and an on-base plus slugging of .755. All of those numbers are better than Grisham's totals (93 hits, 13 home runs, 50 runs batted in and .666 on-base plus slugging percentage).

Per Spotrac, Rosario's market value is just over $6.4 million per year. He could be a Band-Aid for one or two seasons.

San Diego could also get a bit creative for a solution to the outfield issue. With the team's starting infield already set in stone, the Padres played their No. 2 prospect, Jackson Merrill, 45 innings at left field in Double-A last season. He had a 1.000 fielding percentage, an encouraging sign that Merrill — who's primarily a shortstop — could play the position if necessary.

MLB.com has predicted that Merrill will be making his Major League debut at some point in 2024. He probably wouldn't be an Opening Day fix in the outfield, but rather one who could end up there later in the season.

If the Padres go that route, third-year player Joze Azocar is one option to potentially get the Opening Day nod in center field. As a defender, he would slide into the role extremely well – he has a career .982  fielding percentage at center and is in the 97th percentile for sprint speed, per Baseball Savant. In 2024, Baseball Reference predicts he will have a higher OPS (.689) than what Grisham posted in 2023 (.666).

With the Padres looking to shave off payroll and use players with more years of control, replacing the likes of Soto and Grisham is far from easy. Their best chance is to make smaller-market moves while trusting their prospects and young players to get the job done.