Padres Added Less Than $1.5 Million to Payroll Despite Wild Trade Deadline

Aug 2, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder Ramon Laureano (5) celebrates with right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) after scoring a run during the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres only added a drop in the bucket in terms of payroll at the trade deadline despite making several moves.

The Padres made four total deals on July 31st, adding Ramon Laureano, Ryan O'Hearn, Nestor Cortes, Mason Miller, Freddy Fermin, and J.P. Sears.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller took his usual, aggressive approach and made the roster better by sacrificing several key pieces of the farm system for immediate production.

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According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee, all of the trades only resulted in a total of $1.5 million getting added to the salary sheet — making it a low-cost deadline in terms of money.

"The Padres got the contracts of Laureano and O’Hearn paid down by the Orioles to at or near the MLB minimum," Acee wrote in an article.

"We already knew the Brewers did that with Cortes’ contract. So that means the Padres upped their payroll even less than we thought.

"With every player they acquired at the deadline making less than $300,000 over the season’s final two months and accounting for the salaries of Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek, the additional commitment amounts to less than $1.5 million."

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The Padres added quality depth at all of the team's needs. The bullpen got stronger with Miller joining, and Cortes serves as a solid back-end rotation piece.

More importantly, Fermin and Laureano help the team's two weakest positions — catcher and the outfield.

It was an aggressive and risky approach from Preller, but if San Diego holds the crown at the end of October, the moves will be worth it.

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