Jackson Merrill likely to pursue $8,000,000 while Scott Boras might demand $10,000,000 for Jurickson Profar, says Padres insider on 2025 payroll

The San Diego Padres came up short of their goal of winning the World Series, which leaves them in an interesting spot moving forward. They shed payroll last offseason and got better, a rarity in the MLB, but now they have to pay some of their players as they look toward their 2025 payroll. Key players like Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar will need to be paid, and they're not the only ones.

Lee Hacksaw Hamilton, a Padres insider, said that the Padres are in an interesting position with their payroll. The expensive roster in 2023 didn't win as much, but the cheaper 2024 version was one of baseball's best teams.

Hamilton said on the Lee Hacksaw Hamilton YouTube channel (2:40 - 3:24):

"The sticky wicket is Profar. You got him on a value contract at $1.5 million plus bonuses... He just hired Scott Boras. Are you going to pay him and bump him from $1.5 to $10 million?"

He also added that Merrill, who he referred to as "the kid", won't play on a rookie salary next season and could look for $8 million after a potential Rookie of the Year season.

Hamilton believes the fact that Boras is now representing Profar makes things difficult. Profar wants to be in San Diego and the Padres want him back, but the agent complicates things as he might demand $10 million.

---

Padres payroll in unique situation moving forward

By moving on from Juan Soto, the San Diego Padres added young, controllable players and shed payroll. The trade for Dylan Cease functioned in a similar way since Cease has not yet hit free agency. Eventually, all those controllable players, as well as some that are eligible for contracts now, will shake up how the Padres are constructed.

The Padres have an interesting payroll situation on their hands. (Imagn)

Michael King, Luis Arraez, Cease, Kyle Higashioka, Jurickson Profar, and others only have one year on their contract remaining. Some of these players will cost a pretty penny, like aces Cease and King. It's all going to make life difficult for the Padres, who adopted a spend-less mindset in 2024.

It worked to near perfection in 2024, earning them a playoff spot and a brief divisional-round lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they now have more questions than answers moving forward.