Spring training for the Padres begins in a little more than two weeks, and many in the organization believe the current roster is the one the club will have going into the season.

Offseason acquisitions such as Tommy Pham, Drew Pomeranz and others, plus the continued development of young players such as Chris Paddack are among the reasons the team’s decision makers believe they will be significantly better than last year’s 70-win team.

The current payroll commitment of around $140 million is what the team projected for 2020, a season in which a transition from development to contention is expected.

But several inside the organization maintained at the beginning of the offseason that General Manager A.J. Preller would find a way to get that number as high as he could. He never stops pushing, and ownership has shown ($144 million to Eric Hosmer, $300 million to Manny Machado) it can be talked into spending money.


And Preller is, indeed, continuing to try to hedge his bets, and the Padres stand on the verge of essentially going all in with Mookie Betts.

If only the Boston Red Sox would raise.

The Padres acquiring Betts is something multiple people in the organization continued over the past couple days to predict as only marginally possible. That feeling is due in part to the belief the Red Sox are unwilling to chip in more for Wil Myers and the fact the Dodgers, with their substantial payroll capabilities and stable of high-level prospects, are also among multiple teams talking to the Red Sox about Betts.

Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks between the teams, said the Padres are willing to send two young major leaguers and at least one prospect to Boston along with Myers in exchange for Betts, the 2018 American League MVP.


But in order for the Padres to assume the $27 million salary due Betts on what would essentially be a one-year rental, the team wants the Red Sox to come up significantly in the portion of Myers’ contract they are willing to pay.

Myers is owed $61 million over the next three seasons, and the Red Sox are offering to assume about half that. Sources said the Padres would prefer to eat only about a quarter of the money owed Myers in order to take on Betts’ salary.

The Padres, the sources said, are willing to include outfielder Manuel Margot or Josh Naylor and starting pitcher Cal Quantrill or Joey Lucchesi in the deal.

Myers led the Padres with a 4.4 combined WAR (wins above replacement) in 2017 and ’18 but last season endured significant slumps and finished with a .239/.321/418 batting line and -0.3 WAR.


Betts posted a 33.8 WAR over the past four seasons, second in the major leagues to Mike Trout’s 35.5 in that span. Betts played mostly right field in Boston but spent about a quarter of his time in center field, where the Padres likely would play him.

Without the concession by the Red Sox to pay more of Myers’ salary, the Padres’ reluctance to take on the money due Betts, when he almost certainly would leave San Diego as a free agent after 2020, is due in large part to timing. There is not a consensus in the organization that he alone is enough to make them a contender, given the number of questions remaining in the lineup and starting rotation.

Preller has professed his belief the Padres will be improved even without additions, given the maturation of Paddack and others plus the expected resurgence of Machado in his second season and the presence of starting pitchers Dinelson Lamet and Garrett Richards after their limited work last season coming off Tommy John surgery.

However, Preller’s oft-stated belief is that a true contender does all it can to limit the questions it has going into a season. So he continues to push.