Padres Sign Alex Verdugo to Minor-League Deal, Will Report to Camp

The Padres have signed veteran outfielder Alex Verdugo to a Minor League deal, and he will report to the team’s Minor League camp, which gets underway this week," MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell wrote after the signing was reported by Kevin Acee and posted on MLB Trade Rumors. Verdugo will join San Diego’s minor-league camp as a non-roster depth piece, not on the big-league spring roster.

The move, reported March 1, 2026, gives the Padres a left‑handed corner bat with big-league experience but limited 2025 production. Verdugo, who will turn 30 in May 2026, did not receive a big-league spring training invitation and is expected to push for opportunity from the Minors rather than step directly into Opening Day plans. "It’s a low‑risk depth addition for the Padres, who, barring injury, don’t have room on their big league roster for another corner outfielder," Cassavell noted.

Verdugo’s recent results explain the non-roster deal. In 56 games with the Atlanta Braves in 2025 he hit .239 with a .585 OPS, and his detailed 2025 slash was .239/.296/.289 with zero home runs and 12 RBIs, per theScore and other outlets. MLB Trade Rumors recounted that the Braves designated Verdugo for assignment and released him in July 2025 after a prolonged stretch of struggles, and he remained a free agent through the offseason until this signing.

His track record still carries weight. Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round in 2014, Verdugo rose to the top of that system and was the headliner of the package sent to Boston in the trade that brought Mookie Betts to Los Angeles prior to the 2020 season. Verdugo spent four seasons with the Red Sox and produced his best campaign in the shortened 2020 season, finishing 12th in AL MVP voting. He was traded to the New York Yankees before the 2024 season and started every postseason game that October as New York reached the World Series.

Across parts of nine MLB seasons Verdugo owns a .270/.326/.406 career slash with 70 career home runs, and outlets cite complementary career figures: ClutchPoints lists 70 homers, 328 RBIs and 23 stolen bases across a nine‑year career, while theScore records 856 career major-league games and a .732 career OPS (99 OPS+). Those numbers underline why teams continue to circle him despite recent decline.

MLB Trade Rumors also reported that the Padres had prior interest in Verdugo, including trade talks and an exploration of signing him last winter, and framed San Diego’s move as a continuation of that interest. For the moment San Diego’s projected outfield pecking order - Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Ramón Laureano with Bryce Johnson expected as the fourth outfielder - leaves little room for Verdugo unless injuries intervene.

The signing arrives amid other early camp developments in San Diego. Cassavell’s report noted the Padres have not offered a timetable for Hoeing’s return and that right‑hander Germán Márquez was hit for three runs on four hits in his first Cactus League inning during the Padres’ 9-1 loss to the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium before settling into a 1-2-3 second inning and finishing with two strikeouts and no walks in two frames.

If Verdugo can force the issue with hits in minor-league camp, the club believes he could climb into contention for a callup should San Diego be hit by injuries. As Cassavell put it, "If Verdugo can hit in the Minors, he could work his way into contention for a callup in the event of an injury.