The Padres need to improve their roster, but they also need to do it with a tight budget. How can the Padres free up some money on their current payroll to spend elsewhere?

San Diego beat the odds in 2024. They traded Juan Soto, shed almost $100 million in payroll, and got better. It appears that the Friars will need to do something similar in 2025.

The Padres successfully stayed under the tax penalty threshold for the 2024 season, resetting the penalty schedule. However, that doesn’t appear to mean the Padres are willing to hand out blank checks this year.

They currently sit at $244 million for the 2025 payroll, which is $3 million above the first tax threshold. The next threshold sits at $261 million. If the Padres are willing to stay between the first and second thresholds, that means they have a little less than $17 million of wiggle room to fill several roster holes.

The Padres need multiple starting pitchers and multiple bats, including one that can fill the void in left field. That’s a lot of items on the shopping list with less than $17 million to pass out if that is indeed what they are willing to stomach.

Several free agents are still available that could help the Padres. Starting pitchers like Jack Flaherty and Nick Pivetta or hitters like J.D. Martinez and Anthony Santander are still out there. Many options exist via trade if the Padres are willing to part with prospects and inherit contracts.

Here are three ways the Padres can free up some extra cash for a big signing or trade acquisition.

Trade Robert Suarez ($10 million)

This would certainly rock the boat in some camps of Padres fandom. After all, Suarez just finished an All-Star campaign in 2024. Over 65 appearances, he tallied 36 saves with a 2.77 ERA. He also was willing, time after time, to enter a game before the ninth to try for a save longer than three outs. That was something his predecessor, Josh Hader, was famously unwilling to do. That goes a long way in the clubhouse and with the fans.

The harsh reality is- closers are very replaceable. The Padres, for all their faults over the years, have a good track record in acquiring or developing solid closers over and over. The Padres could trade Suarez and slide in Jason Adam or Jeremiah Estrada into the closer role at a fraction of the price. That $10 million off the books could go a long way.

Not only would the Padres free up tons of cash, but the return for a possible Suarez trade could yield a quality big leaguer in an area of need. EVT’s James Clark wrote on a possible trade for Suarez last month. Trading Suarez doesn’t necessarily mean the roster has to get worse. A.J. Preller could shop him around for a win-win scenario, acquiring big league level bat in the process.

Trade or Extend Luis Arraez ($14.6 million projection)

The 2024 NL batting champion is in his final season of arbitration. The $14.6 million number is a projection by FanGraphs. For a player who has an extremely elite skill, Arraez sure finds himself on the trade market a lot. Straight up trading him for prospects would indeed lower payroll, but certainly will also lower team and fan morale. Given that Arraez would be a one-year rental, the return for him would have a certain ceiling. Still, the Padres could probably drum up a scenario where they acquire a young outfielder to plug into left field in the process.

The more fan-friendly route could be to extend Arraez and buy out that final year of arbitration. If the Venezuelan contact hitter would agree to such a deal, the Padres could pay him less than his projected total for the 2025 season in exchange for back-loading the deal (and perhaps trade him later when that number becomes too much). This is certainly more of a move that NFL teams do with their football stars to stay under the National Football League’s salary cap. However, in this case, it could create a win-win scenario where Arraez becomes less expensive, the Padres have a bit more money for the 2025 payroll than originally thought, and the Padres lineup still features the three-time batting champ.

Trade or Extend Dylan Cease ($13.7 million projection)

A similar approach for Arraez can be applied to Cease. Starting pitching is extremely expensive in the current market climate. Cease is projected to make just under $14 million in 2025. That is an absolute steal for a pitcher of his quality, as many pitchers who aren’t as good are getting north of $20 million this offseason. It would really hurt to trade away Cease when the Padres already need extra starting pitchers to make up for the absence of Joe Musgrove in 2025. Granted, his workhorse mentality and coming off of a strong season would merit a strong return. Perhaps Preller could work his magic and acquire multiple MLB-ready pieces in exchange for Cease.

Just like with Arraez, the dream scenario is to keep Cease and lower payroll, too. Is it about time the Padres enter the world of deferred contracts, like their rivals up north? Perhaps the Padres and Cease can agree to a deal that would lower his payroll hit in 2025 in exchange for deferred money or a back-loaded deal for the Padres to sort out later.

The window for the Padres to compete for a World Series is right now. It’s in 2025. They can’t afford to squander another season of the primes of players like Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. The time to strike is now. If the Padres are set on staying thrifty while also improving the roster, they may need to get creative, such as back-loaded extensions or big trades.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.