The San Diego Padres were eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The Padres like every team will have key players hitting free agency.
When listing Padres players who would not be back in 2025, FanSided's Zachary Rotman predicted the team would let veteran outfielder David Peralta walk.
"Peralta turned 37 years old in August. It wouldn't be crazy to predict that he'd have another good year in 2025, especially if he DH'd against right-handed pitching, but this is the same player that the Padres were able to sign to a minor league deal earlier this season," wrote Rotman. "Letting him go after a solid stint in San Diego and pursuing a younger option with more upside makes a lot of sense."
The Padres signed Peralta in May and it worked out as well as they could've hoped. He became a key contributor for the team as they made their postseason push.
"The David Peralta experiment could not have gone much better for the Padres. The team signed him to a minor league deal in mid-May and brought him up to the majors days later," wrote Rotman. "He never went back down, and was a fixture in their lineup against right-handed pitching."
Peralta slashed .267/.335/.414 with eight home runs and 28 RBI in 91 games. He had his highest OPS+ since 2018. The Padres will have other priorities to sign, like Jurickson Profar. While Peralta was a good player it is unrealistic to expect him to have a repeat performance when he is turning 38 next year.
More MLB: 4-player Braves trade proposal swaps Orlando Arcia for 2-time All-Star
