Padres Radio Host Takes Shot at Diamondbacks Pitcher for Spurning San Diego

San Diego Padres radio host Darren Smith took a shot at Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly for spurning the Friars in free agency.

On Friar Territory, Smith made his pointed remarks toward Kelly.

"Listen, I don't want to sound like a judgmental a-hole, but I will," Smith said.

"If you choose to live in the desert in the summer instead of living in San Diego just to save a couple of million bucks, good for you. He's a lifelong Diamondback, but for a stretch of time, where he got traded to the Texas Rangers last year.

"Can I just say though to Merrill Kelly, I hope that you sir are an influence in your community. And what I mean by that is, I hope you set an example for lots of other people from Arizona that they don't come here in the summer either. If you don't want to come here in the summer, than you should tell your fellow Arizonans not to come to San Diego in the summer."

"If you choose to live in the desert in the summer instead of living in San Diego just to save a couple of million bucks, good for you."@DSmithShow discusses Merrill Kelly saying that California taxes played into his decision to not sign with the Padres. pic.twitter.com/ppjmGJDDfb
— Friar Territory (@FriarTerritory) March 3, 2026

The Padres offered Kelly a three-year deal worth upwards of $50 million, according to reports. The right-hander rejected the offer because of the tax implications in California.

"They take too much money," Kelly said of California on Foul Territory. "The taxes over there are unbelievable."

"There was a team out in California, I think everyone can pretty much figure out who that was, there was a three-year offer guaranteed on the table," he said. "I don't think it's any secret how much money you get taken out of your pocket when you go to California.

"There was a lot of factors that went into the three-year deal, it was definitely enticing. It definitely made the decision a lot harder to come back here, but once Arizona got to the number that they did, it made a lot more sense to come back here."

Before the Padres re-signed Michael King to a three-year, $75 million deal, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller made a competitive offer for Kelly, but the right-hander opted to go back to Arizona.

The Padres rotation remains incomplete with Opening Day quickly approaching and Kelly would have made a great addition. San Diego currently has four starters in Nick Pivetta, Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Randy Vásquez.

It's unclear who will win the fifth spot this spring, but Kelly's rejection evidently hurt the Padres' rotation depth ahead of 2026.

Perhaps, Preller can make one more trade for another arm.

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