Pablo Reyes Signing Is First of a Familiar Trend for Padres This Offseason

When the San Diego Padres were building their bench for the 2025 season, they followed a very specific formula. With little money to invest (save for the deal to which they signed Nick Pivetta), the reserve group was comprised largely of minor-league signings that were selected to the active roster ahead of the start of the regular season. Sometimes it works. It's how the team was able to bring Gavin Sheets into the fold.

Other — and perhaps more frequent — times, it doesn't. None of Jason Heyward, Oscar González, Martín Maldonado, Tyler Wade, Yuli Gurriel, Connor Joe, or Jose Iglesias offered much in the way of contributions throughout the season. Almost all of those names were off the roster and out of the organization in short order. Only Iglesias made it all the way through, and that was on the strength of his versatility above all. In San Diego's case, it was an ineffectual way to fill out the roster.

Unfortunately for the Padres, it's likely how next year's depth will also be assembled. And we've already seen the start of it. 

The team signed Pablo Reyes to a minor-league deal last week. A utility veteran with time in seven separate seasons in Major League Baseball, Reyes' peak in volume came back in 2023. That season, he logged 185 plate appearances for the Milwaukee Brewers and was as close to checking in as a league average bat as he has in his entire career (95 wRC+). While he didn't offer anything in the way of power off the bench (.090 ISO), he struck out just 11.4 percent of the time, walked at a 7.6 percent rate, and added seven steals. He also hasn't remotely approached that output since. 

In the two subsequent seasons, Reyes has 98 combined plate appearances at the top level. He got into games on 21 occasions for the Boston Red Sox and made a single appearance for the New York Mets in 2024 (though he failed to make an appearance at the plate with the latter). He's now coming off a season in which he appeared in 25 games and notched 34 plate appearances with the New York Yankees. Even by the lower standard set forth by such a small sample of offensive work, the numbers are uninspiring. 

Reyes' strikeout rate in each of the last two years has approached 30 percent. His walk rate sits lower than it did in that decent '23 campaign, and there is almost zero power to speak of (.033 ISO). This is a player whose value is almost entirely wrapped up his ability to move around the field. In that sense, Reyes is, essentially, Jose Iglesias. But worse. 

There was a time when Reyes represented the super-utility type well. Second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield spots were at his disposal at each of the major league and Triple-A levels. That level of versatility, however, has started to diminish. His time on the outfield grass has waned as he's settled into a rotation between second, third, and short. Now, that's something that the Padres need given Iglesias' departure. But as lackluster as Iglesias' bat was, you'd like that extra bit of versatility in order to justify an even worse one in his stead. 

It's obviously possible that the team makes an additional investment or two that offers additional upside. And it's hard to get too worked up about a depth signing that occurs in November. What this does, however, is speak to the same trend we saw from the Padres last offseason continuing into this one. 

If there's an investment to be made, it's on the mound. The team is in need of significant help in the rotation and some additional depth in the bullpen. The limited financial resources at their disposal will likely be deployed there. The position group, meanwhile, will be supplemented with exactly this type of signing. Sometimes you get a Sheets. But considering the direction which Reyes' career has taken in recent years, you're looking like something much more akin to the much larger group of failed bench players that the team saw last year.