PHOENIX – The Padres will receive nearly $8 million as part of Saturday’s trade that sent two-time batting champion Luis Arez from Miami, which San Diego is solely responsible for the major-league minimum wage, a team official confirmed.
Reliever Woo-Suk Goh, who is in the first year of a two-year, $4.5 million contract, and Dillon Head, Jacob Marcey and Nathan Martorella have been linked with the Marlins in exchange for Arez, who is owed $8,491,398 for the remaining $149. His $10.6 million contract dates this season. The Marlins are sending 7,898,602 Padres to the swap; So San Diego covers Arez’s salary of $592,796, or the minimum wage of $740,000.
The Associated Press first reported details of the trade’s financial considerations, which could give the Padres significant financial flexibility. FanGraphs projects San Diego’s luxury-tax bill after Saturday’s trade, about $12 million below the $237 million tax threshold. After suffering an increasing number of fines over the past three seasons, the Padres will choose to exceed the standard this year.
Arrez, 27, is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. He lost salary arbitration to the Marlins in February and was awarded $10.6 million in salary instead of the $12 million he requested.
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In the year The Padres haven’t taken a player to salary arbitration since hiring AJ Preller as general manager in 2014. Arez won the 2022 American League with the Minnesota Twins, captured the 2023 National League crown with the Marlins and is hitting .299. Slow start this season. Maybe it’s because of the big increase this winter. With just nine players under contract next year, the Padres are projected to have a luxury tax bill of $186 million in 2025, with the tax rate increasing to $241 million.
Regardless of the rest of 2024, the Padres could avoid paying significant sums in 2025 by trading Arrez to another team in the offseason. They may also be motivated to retain him as part of an infield that could lose a key member later this year. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim could become a free agent after the upcoming World Series.
In the meantime, San Diego appears to have retained a valuable measure of financial flexibility with the help of the Marlins. The Padres will likely use their remaining resources to bolster their roster before the July trade deadline. The team entered Saturday with a 4.19 ERA and the rotation featured several question marks outside of No. 1 starter Dylan Chase.
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(Photo: Sam Navarro / USA Today)