The San Diego Padres Have a Bleak Financial Outlook For 2024 Now

One year after going all-in to try to win a World Series, the San Diego Padres are resetting the deck.

The team could be prepared to run a payroll of lower than $200 million, per 'The Athletic.'

From Dennis Lin:

According to people briefed on the club’s thinking, the Padres might be inclined to open next season with a payroll that is more than a little lower than $200 million, a number that has been widely reported as a rough target.

Doing so would help with another potential objective. Team officials have recently indicated they would prefer to stay under Major League Baseball’s $237 million luxury tax threshold in 2024. FanGraphs’ projections have the Padres carrying a $152 million payroll and a luxury tax figure of $205 million, which is determined using the average annual value (AAV) of each rostered player’s contract. Another public resource, Cot’s Contracts, pegs those numbers at $148 million and $199 million.

... Their franchise-record $255 million payroll in 2023 contributed to, according to a league official, a final luxury tax figure of $291 million — which would require a tax bill of $39.15 million payable by Jan. 21

As a result of the financial pressures and desire to curb spending, San Diego has traded superstar outfielder Juan Soto to the Yankees this offseason. They also appear willing to let Josh Hader and Blake Snell leave in free agency. They also dealt Matt Carpenter to the Atlanta Braves. Michael Wacha has also left in free agency.

The Padres made the NLCS in 2022 and then spent $280 million on Xander Bogaerts in the offseason heading into 2023 but then embarrassingly missed the playoffs.

With the Dodgers getting Shohei Ohtani and the Giants and Diamondbacks spending money again this winter, the battle in the National League West once again appears to be an uphill climb for San Diego.