Padres News: Opening Day Roster (Mostly) Finalized

On Sunday morning, the Padres finalized their 25-man roster for Opening Day. After the additions of Travis Jankowski, Jabari Blash, and Luis Perdomo prior to Saturday’s exhibition game, and the addition of Colin Rea after the conclusion of the game, the Padres still had two open roster spots to decide on. While it was expected that there would be one more bullpen arm and one more bench player added, the results may be surprising for some.

So Padres’ final three spots went to Buchter, Colin Rea and Josh Martin. Amarista, Erlin, Hedges, Pirela all optioned.

— Dennis Lin (@sdutdennislin) April 3, 2016

So initially, the Padres decided on having a thirteen man bullpen with both Josh Martin and Ryan Buchter making the team. Therefore, there will be four bench players for the Padres, including Blash, Jankowski, and Christian Bethancourt, as well as Brett Wallace. With that decision, the Padres remaining infielders including Amarista and Pirela were optioned to Triple-A, as well as Austin Hedges and Robbie Erlin.

However, one more bit of news came out immediately following the release of the 25-man roster.

So this might clear things up a bit: Look for Adam Rosales to be added to the roster and Josh Martin to be designated prior to tomorrow.

— Dennis Lin (@sdutdennislin) April 3, 2016

Turns out Martin will not be making the team, and the Padres will be using a traditional seven man bullpen and five man bench. Despite impressing in spring training, Jemile Weeks is not on the Opening Day roster, with Rosales making the team instead.

Beyond that, both Jon Edwards and Buddy Baumann will start the season on the disabled list, and both could end up on the roster once their DL stints conclude. With the roster finalized, the Padres Opening Day payroll will come in at just under $100 million.

For a look at the final roster, see below.

#Padres announce 25-man roster. Robbie Erlin, Jose Pirela, Alexi Amarista and Austin Hedges optioned to El Paso. pic.twitter.com/gUc3hQWZel

— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) April 3, 2016

The Padres don’t play until tomorrow at 4 o’clock against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but baseball is finally here. Here’s to a good season and let’s go Padres!

Patrick Brewer

Editorial and Prospect Writer for East Village Times. Twenty-five years young, Patrick has lived in San Diego for his entire life and has been a Padres fan nearly as long. Patrick lives for baseball and is always looking to learn new things about the game he loves through advanced stats.