Report: Padres open to trading Bogaerts, Cronenworth
Two of the San Diego Padres' most expensive players are apparently available.
The Padres are open to moving both Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth in trades, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
San Diego wants to move off a "significant" portion of the money owed to both players, according to Acee. However, that might be difficult: Bogaerts is owed $225 million over the next nine seasons, while Cronenworth is due $71 million through 2030. The Padres might also have to add prospects into a package to offload the salaries, according to Acee.
Also complicating matters is the fact that both players own some level of no-trade protection. Bogaerts holds a full no-trade clause, while Cronenworth can block deals to eight teams.
Bogaerts, 32, is entering the third season of an 11-year contract. The five-time Silver Slugger winner has hit .276/.332/.415 with just 30 homers since joining the Padres. He was moved to second base last year amid declining defensive numbers at shortstop but will shift back to his natural position in 2025 following Ha-Seong Kim's departure.
Cronenworth, meanwhile, hit .241/.324/.390 with 17 homers and 83 RBIs over 155 games for the Padres in 2024 and split time between first and second defensively.
San Diego's $204 million payroll currently ranks ninth in the majors, per FanGraphs. However, the team's offseason has been dominated by an ownership dispute that seems to have hampered its ability to spend. The Padres have handed out just three big-league free-agent deals this offseason, all of them for one year.
The club was among the finalists to sign Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, but he spurned the Padres in favor of the rival Dodgers. San Diego's also lost Kim, Jurickson Profar, and Tanner Scott in free agency this winter.
Other Padres stars, including pitchers Dylan Cease and Michael King, three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, and closer Robert Suarez, have had their names surface in trade rumors this offseason. King is no longer available in trade talks, sources told Acee, while a Cease deal is also unlikely.
Suarez, an All-Star who tallied 36 saves in 2024, is the likeliest trade candidate because of the Padres' bullpen depth, according to Acee.
The Padres went 93-69 in 2024 to finish second in the NL West before losing to the Dodgers in the NLDS.