San Diego Padres best and worst FA signing over the last decade

The San Diego Padres have given out some money over the past few years, but what is the best and worst contract they have had over the span of the last decade.

The San Diego Padres aren’t a big market team like the New York Yankees, so they can’t just go spend money all of the time but that doesn’t mean that the Friars didn’t give out big contracts over the last decade.

They have given out $631.82 million but it led to zero playoff games.

So, here is the worst contract the Padres gave out during the last decade:

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Padres fans might look at this and ask why I am putting this contract as the worst one they’ve given out over the last decade, but it is pretty clear.

The Padres gave Eric Hosmer a $144 million contract in free agency when he was already entering his 7th season in the league and had already been through his true prime years with the Kansas City Royals.

A.J. Preller and Ron Fowler along with Peter Seidler were banking on Hosmer being the 2017 Eric Hosmer, but as a smaller market team the Padres can’t afford to have Eric Hosmer’s contract become a burden to them like Wil Myers‘ contract is right now.

The Padres might have even bid on themselves because the Royals were never going to give him that amount of money while the Red Sox pivoted to J.D. Martinez once the price exceeded their price tag.

I am not so sure that the Padres really had to give Hosmer $144 million, and they could’ve instead saved that money to allocate to other areas of need like starting pitching.

Hosmer has hit .259 in his first two seasons with the San Diego Padres.

Now let’s get to the best contract of the decade, and it is for a reason you wouldn’t expect:

James Shields is a fan favorite among Padres fans. Why? Not because he pitched to a 4.00 ERA in nearly 45 starts with them. Not because giving up a home run to Bartolo Colon. But because Shields ended up being traded to the Chicago White Sox for a teenage shortstop named Fernando Tatis Jr.

Tatis is now one of the most electrifying players in the game and would have won the Rookie of the Year if he was healthy the entire 2019 season.

If it weren’t for the Padres signing James Shields in an effort to immediately contend in 2015 (which didn’t work out the way the club planned), then Padres fans might not have gotten Manny Machado, and they certainly wouldn’t be in the spot they are in terms of their readiness to contend starting in 2020.