With An Eye On Improving Defense At Second Base, Here Is Who The Padres Should Pursue

[Steve Drumwright]

Editor's Note: Brendan Donovan was traded shortly before we could hit publish. The other candidates presented in the piece still follow as logical fits, and we wanted to preserve the "why" behind such a trade rather than the "who".

Original article as follows.

---

The San Diego Padres were pretty bad defensively at second base in 2025. Only the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies, the two worst teams in MLB last year, were worse.

At minus-15 defensive runs saved, per the Fielding Bible, the Friars barely outpaced those two cellar dwellars. Second base was also the worst position for the Padres, who ranked 14th in DRS with +28. The middle-infield defense was poor overall, with shortstop the next-worst position on the team at minus-8 (Xander Bogaerts was minus-4).

While Friars fans love Jake Cronenworth, he was the worst offender on the entire team at minus-8 at second base. Among every player in MLB who played second, even for just a few innings, Cronenworth ranked 178th.

Which is why second base needs a defensive upgrade. Even improving by 10 DRS at second would have put the Friars at No. 9 in team defense last year. The book is out on Sung Mun Song, signed this offseason out of the Korea Baseball Organization and who will get time at second base during spring training, with the job perhaps his to lose. Song was a third baseman in the KBO while also seeing action at second base, so the position is familiar to him.

But what if there was a better option out there? There isn't much in terms of free agency, so any worthy upgrade is going to come from president of baseball operations A.J. Preller hitting the phones of other teams.

Three names are out there worth considering: Brendan Donovan, Nico Hoerner and Isaac Paredes. All three have been the subject of trade chatter this offseason. Donovan because the St. Louis Cardinals are rebuilding and he is the last significant piece remaining; Hoerner's name has been bandied about since he is entering his final year of club control by the Chicago Cubs and is a two-time Gold Glove winner and there is an infield squeeze following the signing of third baseman Alex Bregman; while Paredes' path to playing time with the Houston Astros has been squeezed with Carlos Correa back on the roster at third base and Jose Altuve focusing back on second base.

Paredes would probably be the easiest to acquire due to the lack of playing time and his salary ($8.75 million or $9.95 million, pending his arbitration hearing). But Paredes, who is under club control through 2027, hasn't played second base since 2023 and even then it was for just 14 games, putting up a minus-2 DRS. Certainly not ideal.

Hoerner would be a superb addition simply from a defensive point of view, having won two of the last three NL Gold Gloves at the position. But he also brings some reliable offense to the table. Last year, he had a .297/.345/.394 slash line with seven homers, 69 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. That resulted in a career-best 4.8 fWAR. While Hoerner is in a walk year in 2026 and making $12 million, he would command a good return that the Padres' depleted farm system would struggle to satisfy.

That leaves Donovan. Like Paredes, Donovan comes with two years of control remaining. He also makes less than the other two as he is set to earn $5.8 million in 2026. Donovan is average at best defensively, having posted a minus-5 DRS over the last three seasons. Still, he has been a consistent offensive performer in his four MLB seasons, with a career slash line of .282/.361/.411 with 40 homers and 202 RBIs.

Donovan would need a quality return in a trade, which is again where the Padres might fall short. With the top levels of their system lacking prospects who are MLB-ready or will be by the end of the year, the Friars could put together a package of lower-level prospects. The question is whether or not the Cardinals would accept such a deal for one of the marquee names still on the trade block.

Unless there is a trade, the Padres are looking at a complicated platoon of Cronenworth and Song at second base, with the former likely the favorite to start come Opening Day.

View full article