LOS ANGELES — Before 21-year-old Jackson Merrill took the league by storm and 31-year-old Jurickson Profar orchestrated the best season of his 11-year career, there was a position group littered with uncertainty.
When the Padres reported to Arizona this spring, no one knew who’d be joining Fernando Tatís Jr. in the outfield. After trading away Juan Soto and Trent Grisham in December, the only other outfielder on the 40-man roster was José Azocar , who would not make it through the 2024 season with the franchise.
Turns out, all it would take to assemble one of Major League Baseball’s most productive position groups was a $1 million free-agent flier and a top infield prospect.
Profar produced in a career year, finishing seventh in the majors in on-base percentage. Merrill mesmerized in his switch from shortstop to center field, leading all major-league rookies in FanGraphs wins above replacement. And Tatís starred, leading an unheralded outfield group that had suddenly transformed from unsettled to unstoppable.