Ascendant Jackson Merrill is a crucial link between Padres’ present and future

PEORIA, Ariz. — Greater than a yr earlier than he boarded his first abroad flight and landed within the majors final season, Jackson Merrill discovered himself confronted with the enterprise of baseball. The San Diego Padres had drafted him two summers earlier, and already, forward of his debut in Excessive A, they needed to debate the thought of a contract extension.

Merrill, the Padres believed, was no unusual 19-year-old. Workforce officers lauded his expertise and gushed about his make-up. They forecasted a swift ascent via the farm system and an early impression after his arrival. They pictured Merrill entrenching himself up the center at Petco Park for years to come back.

In 2024, as Merrill stormed the massive leagues, nearly all of these hopes became actuality. In the meantime, a long-term deal remained aspirational.

“We’ve had (conversations) at different moments over the last few years, even dating back to when he was in the minor leagues. He understands that we value him a lot and want him here for a long time,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller stated not too long ago. “Those were some of the concepts from the past. We were just like, ‘Was there a creative way to do something before he broke into the big leagues? And even last year, when he was breaking into the big leagues?’ Ultimately, we never got to anything concrete.”

Contemplating what Merrill achieved in his first season — a range to the All-Star Sport, a seamless transition from shortstop to heart subject and a Silver Slugger award — the Padres may need missed the boat on a historic discount. Maybe they will take consolation in Merrill’s ongoing affinity for San Diego, at the same time as he acknowledges the apparent: Not signing an extension earlier than he debuted was the precise alternative.

“I’d say so myself, yeah,” Merrill stated final week on the Padres’ spring coaching complicated in Arizona. “But I’d still rather just be here right now and forever.”

Weeks earlier than his twenty second birthday, Merrill represents an important hyperlink between the current and the long run. In 2024, no participant swung the Padres’ fortunes as dramatically because the then-rookie. Now, forward of a season that would decide the franchise’s trajectory, Merrill seems poised to make one other leap.

“It’ll be a good challenge to have some recognition going into the year,” Merrill stated. “It’s good for me to go in there and be like, ‘Hey, screw the recognition. Screw what everybody thinks. I don’t care if they think I’m good. I want to prove that I’m better than I was last year.’ ”

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All final summer season, because the numbers and highlights piled up, Merrill insisted he didn’t care in regards to the Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr race. He maintained his focus was on serving to his group, not chasing particular person accolades. In hindsight, the 2 pursuits weren’t mutually unique.

Main League Baseball’s Prospect Promotion Incentive encourages golf equipment to name up their greatest prospects as quickly as potential. As a result of Merrill broke camp final spring with the Padres, debuting towards the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul, he would have earned an early draft decide for San Diego by profitable the NL’s high rookie award.

“I told (Preller), ‘I want to win this for the pick,’ ” Merrill stated. “You get an extra draft pick (after) the first round. It’s just huge for the organization.”

Merrill wound up second within the voting by the Baseball Writers’ Affiliation of America. He completed with essentially the most wins above substitute — 5.3, based on FanGraphs — by a rookie of the yr runner-up since Kenny Lofton in 1992. Nonetheless, it was not sufficient to safe an additional draft decide. The Pittsburgh Pirates additionally didn’t obtain a decide after ready till Could to advertise eventual award winner Paul Skenes.

“He should have won it,” veteran infielder Xander Bogaerts stated of Merrill. “He played every day and helped us make it into the playoffs. He was a huge factor in making it. He played that well. Sometimes it’s a tough year to be in that race.”

Wanting again now, Merrill says he nonetheless principally doesn’t care.

“NL Rookie of the Year is sick. Don’t get me wrong. I have no hatred against the award, no hatred against anything that comes with it,” he stated. “I’m proud of the people who won it. I was proud of Paul. He had a great year. I’m not tripping about it.”

However he does care — no less than a bit of.

“It’s just like a little chip on the shoulder, you know?” stated Merrill, who typically was the youngest and smallest participant on his childhood groups.

After pushing to make the roster final spring whereas studying a brand new place, Merrill entered camp final month figuring out that the center-field job and a premium spot within the lineup had been his. He has refined his preparation, valuing high quality as a lot as amount.

But, teammates and coaches say he has proven no dip in need or dedication. This spring, like he did a yr in the past, Merrill beat nearly everybody to the Padres’ complicated every morning. He usually was the one big-league common nonetheless within the dugout on the finish of Cactus League video games, even ones he’d exited innings earlier.

“He’s always hungry,” Bogaerts stated. “He’s always that guy.”

Added outfielder Jason Heyward: “I just feel like the way he plays the game, the way he goes about his business, in his mind he’s always in the office. Just what can I do to get better? What can I do to be the best version of myself?”

Merrill doesn’t have particular statistical objectives as he enters Yr 2. “Never,” he stated. “I hate doing that.” He says he prefers to compete with a distinct sort of consciousness.

“I have no other motivation besides my teammates. I don’t care about personal stuff,” Merrill stated. “But your teammates, they come in and give their f—ing heart every day. I want to do the same thing.

“I say it all the time: If you come in prepared for the game and you lose, screw it. You were prepared, you were ready to go. If you’re coming to the game prepared to kick somebody’s ass, you’re like, ‘Hell yeah, it feels good. Let’s do it again.’ ”

In a single sense, he’ll get one other crack ultimately season. As a pre-arbitration participant, Merrill stays eligible for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He has exhausted his alternatives to change into the NL Rookie of the Yr however nonetheless can earn an additional draft decide for the Padres by ending within the high three in NL MVP voting.

It doesn’t really feel purely aspirational. Final season, he completed ninth.

“The great ones, when they have success, they can’t get enough of it,” Padres supervisor Mike Shildt stated. “And for Jackson, he’s a hungry, competitive athlete who also enjoys the process of playing.”

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In December 2023, when Milwaukee Brewers outfield prospect Jackson Chourio agreed to an eight-year, $82 million contract, the importance of the transfer registered with Merrill. How may it not? Apart from a reputation, Merrill and Chourio share a number of notable issues: age, place and the potential to be a perennial All-Star.

“That was before he even played a major-league game, though,” Merrill stated. “I got to see that. I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s great, but maybe (I should) prove it first, then let’s go get that deal or something.’ ”

That deal might not occur anytime quickly. Merrill has put himself on monitor for a a lot bigger payday. The Athletic’s Tim Britton not too long ago projected an extension within the neighborhood of 15 years and $375 million. The Padres, already carrying a number of nine-figure contracts, won’t be capable to afford him — no less than not at that value vary.

On account of these current commitments, no group in baseball seems to have a wider hole between ground and ceiling. Key regulars Dylan Stop, Michael King, Luis Arraez and Robert Suarez may assist the Padres, coming off a 93-win season, to a second consecutive playoff look. And, as pending free brokers, they could possibly be prime commerce candidates this summer season.

Relying on how the primary half unfolds, a midseason reset could possibly be as seemingly as one other run at toppling the Dodgers in October. The Padres would possibly possess sufficient firepower to aim what they nearly pulled off final fall, however additionally they are coming off a second consecutive offseason of austerity. Relative restraint is anticipated to proceed. This month, John Seidler ascended to the submit of management particular person whereas a lawsuit contesting management of the franchise stays pending.

Amid all of it, Merrill has stated San Diego is the place he’d wish to spend his profession.

“I want to be here long term,” Merrill stated. “I don’t care about the — I care about the money, for sure. I know my value and my worth. I’m not oblivious. I want to be here. (But) I’m not going to try and screw them and take all their money.

“I’m 21. If you sign a longer deal, you want Years 6, 7 to come around, and you’ve got these people who we can sign and get on the team and bring with me, rather than sign a big deal and feel like you can’t get anybody else. And it’s tight. We don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future … but you’ve just got to be patient and see how it plays out.”

In the intervening time, his precedence is shoring up the lone weak spot from an in any other case unassailable rookie marketing campaign. Merrill swung final season at 34.4 % of the pitches he noticed exterior the strike zone. His stroll price was slightly below 5 %. The Padres’ new No. 3 hitter is aware of, after residing decrease within the lineup in 2024, he can stand to be extra selective batting between established stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado.

He isn’t anxious that he failed to attract a single stroll within the Cactus League. The method is extra essential than exhibition outcomes, and hitting coach Victor Rodriguez says the Padres have been happy with Merrill’s swing selections.

“My game has always been bat-to-ball, so I’m not going to change that,” Merrill stated. “At the same time, though, there’s a way to make it better. I know the areas I do damage in. I know the areas I don’t.”

And he is aware of there’s loads he doesn’t but know. He received’t flip 22 till April 19.

“I have a lot to learn,” he stated.

Greater than a decade in the past, certainly one of Merrill’s new teammates discovered himself in the same place. Heyward, who joined the Padres final month, entered the 2010 season as a 20-year-old outfield prospect for the Atlanta Braves. He completed it as an All-Star, a runner-up for NL Rookie of the Yr, and a postseason-tested participant.

His profession is a reminder that speedy success doesn’t assure even larger prosperity. However Heyward, who stays a one-time All-Star, has received a World Sequence and competed in 9 different postseasons. Most gamers would gladly commerce their careers for his. The Padres, hoping for a mixture of helpful expertise and cheap manufacturing, signed him simply earlier than spring coaching.

Since then, Heyward has gone from being a distant admirer of Merrill’s to figuring out what makes him tick.

“We can say we think someone’s this or someone’s that. I think that was something I dealt with a lot, especially in the beginning,” Heyward, 35, stated. “The expectation was high, and that’s a good thing. … But now with some expectations, how do we handle that? How do we keep the main thing the main thing? I think he has a chip on his shoulder about being himself, which is a very nice way to go about it.

“You get a taste of being in the postseason; you want to do that again. You want to go as far as you possibly can. That was always my mentality. It’s helped solve a lot of things. Just focus on winning.”

As a brand new season dawns and uncertainty clouds the horizon, the Padres will depend on that stage of focus from their youngest participant.

(Prime photograph: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Pictures)