Padres notes: Ramón Laureano returning, more silver for Manny Machado

The Padres’ outfield will be set to start 2026.

As expected, the Padres on Thursday exercised a modest $6.5 million team option on outfielder Ramón Laureano, ensuring that he’ll man left field alongside center fielder Jackson Merrill and right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.

The 31-year-old Laureano hit .269/.323/.489 with nine homers in 50 games after the trade from Baltimore to San Diego at the deadline. He provided an answer that had eluded the team all year in left field until breaking a finger in the last week of the season.

The loss of the right-handed-hitting Laureano just ahead of the playoffs was a significant blow to an offense that lagged in power all season. The Padres were ultimately eliminated in three games at Wrigley Field after hitting just .189/.243/.305 in the NL Wild Card Series.

Laureano tied a career high with 24 homers in 2025 while hitting .281/.342/.512 for an .852 OPS, second to only his Age 24 season with Oakland.

The decision on Laureano means that the team will be looking to move on without 10 departing free agents: pitchers Dylan Cease, Michael King, Robert Suarez, Nestor Cortes and Kyle Hart, infielders Luis Arraez, Ryan O’Hearn and Jose Iglesias and catchers Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado.

More silver

Manny Machado won a third Silver Slugger on Thursday, beating out the Giants’ Matt Chapman, the Dodgers’ Max Muncy and the Braves’ Austin Riley for the NL award for third base.

Machado paired 27 homers and 95 RBIs with a .795 OPS across 159 games this year, well more than any of the other third baseman finalists.

The 33-year-old Machado has won all three Silver Sluggers since joining the Padres. He hit 16 homers in 60 games in 2020 for his first in the pandemic-shortened season and hit 29 homers while winning a second Silver Slugger in 2024.

Padres’ Fall Stars

Two pitching prospects returning from Tommy John surgeries will represent the team in the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game: Right-handers Tucker Musgrove and Carson Montgomery, the Padres’ seventh- and 11th-round picks in 2023.

Musgrove, 23, has struck out eight against five walks while allowing three runs in 5⅓ innings in relief for Peoria. He had a 5.40 ERA in 20 innings at low Single-A Lake Elsinore after losing 2024 to an elbow reconstruction, lead the team to scrapping plans to develop him as a two-way player.

Montgomery, 23, has struck out seven against seven walks while allowing two runs over 10 ⅓ innings across four starts. He had Tommy John in 2024, rehabbed all this year and carried his rehab from the Arizona “bridge league” to the fall instructional league to the Arizona Fall League.

The Fall Stars Game will be played 5 p.m. Sunday at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz.