Padres' Jackson Merrill Has 'Never Felt a Connection With a City' Like San Diego

Apr 1, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) is congratulated after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres have been off to a red-hot start to the 2025 season, but have recently been without their superstar center fielder Jackson Merrill.

Merrill started off the month of April with a massive contract extension, inking a nine-year, $135 million deal, but has unfortunately spent the last week on the injured list due to tightness in his hamstrings.

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With murmurs of an extension this offseason, many around the league floated astronomical figures regarding how much money Merrill was in the market to take home. But at the end of the day, the connection Merrill felt to the city and the organization proved invaluable.

“I’m super, super excited to keep going to work, keep going to battle every day,” Merrill said after putting pen to paper. “The trust that’s in this room right now, I’ve never felt it before. I’ve never felt a connection with a city before like I feel here.”

Meant to be. pic.twitter.com/XWgmfM8kW0

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 2, 2025

Merrill knows his value, and knows that he is just 21 years old. Part of why he signed the deal he did was to get other major pieces to San Diego and surround himself with more talent.

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“I want to be here,” Merrill said last month. “I’m not going to try and screw them and take all their money. … If you sign a longer deal, you want Year 6, 7 to come around, and you’ve got these people that we can sign and get on the team and bring with me, rather than sign a big deal and feel like you can’t get anybody else.”

At the end of the day, Merrill is just lucky to be a part of the Padres organization and can't wait to live out the life of this contract extension.

“I couldn’t be more grateful,” Merrill said. “I’m just looking forward to keeping it going for the next nine years. This is exactly where I want to be.”

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For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.