The Padres have an agreement in place with catcher Elias Díaz, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The MAS+ Agency client gets a one-year, $3.5MM deal with a mutual option for 2026, though it’s still pending a physical.
Díaz, 34, finished the 2024 season with the Padres. After being released by the Rockies, he landed a minors pact with the Friars and was added to the roster just before the calendar flipped from August to September. He joined Kyle Higashioka and Luis Campusano on the roster, though Campusano would be optioned a little more than a week later. Díaz hit .190/.292/.429 in 24 plate appearances. For the postseason, the Friars carried Higashioka and Díaz on the roster over Campusano, though Higashioka took the bulk of the work as Díaz received only one plate appearance.
Both Díaz and Higashioka became free agents at the end of the season, leaving the Friars with a clear hole behind the plate. Campusano, who is still on the roster, seemed to have a breakout season in 2023 when he hit .319/.356/.491, but his line had a steep drop last year, finishing at .227/.281/.361. Since his defensive metrics were also poor, he was considered to be below replacement level on the year.
That made the position a clear target area for the Friars this offseason. However, the club has been remarkably quiet this winter. Once completed, this will be their first free agent signing. Their only trade so far was acquiring right-hander Ron Marinaccio after he was designated for assignment by the White Sox.
That’s surely related to the club’s uncertain payroll situation. The Padres spent aggressively while Peter Seidler was owning the club but it turned out to not be sustainable. In September of 2023, it was reported that the club was “out of compliance with MLB regulations regarding their debt service ratio.” Seidler died in November of that year. The 2023-24 offseason saw the Padres look to cut their payroll, which led to Juan Soto getting traded to the Yankees.
This winter, it once seemed that the club would have to dial back projected spending some more, which led to plenty of rumors involving players like Dylan Cease, Luis Arráez, Michael King, Robert Suarez and others. Reporting in recent days has suggested the situation isn’t quite so dire, with the Friars not necessarily having to cut spending. However, with holes in left field, at catcher, in the rotation and perhaps at shortstop, trading one of those players might still be…
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