The Padres overhauled much of the roster as they navigated payroll constraints last winter. The outfield was more stripped down than retooled, as San Diego traded and to both offload Sotos ma sive arbitration salary and addre s a pitching staff that lost four Yoan Moncada Jersey po sible starters to free agency. While San Diego subsequently poked around the free agent and trade markets for outfield help, the payroll limitations led them to enter camp with two question marks alongside Within a couple weeks of exhibition play, it became clear the Padres were going to turn left and center field to and , respectively. San Diego signed Profar for a barely more than the league minimum in mid-February. Merrill was a 20-year-old shortstop prospect who had never played above Double-A nor logged any game reps in center field before Spring Training. That outfield alignment at least carried ample risk. At worst, it might be the difference between making and mi sing the postseason for a fringe Wild Card contender. Through two months, San Diegos outfield has instead been its biggest strength. Tatis isnt the same player he was before injuries and a failed PED test wiped out his 2022 season, but hes an above-average regular. Merrill is hitting at a league average level and playing plus defense at his new position, remarkable work for a player le s than three years removed from high school. Yet its Profar who has been by far the biggest contributor. He has not only been San Diegos best player, hes one of the top performers in the National League. Profar is hitting .323/.421/.495 acro s 233 plate appearances. He has hit eight home runs, one shy of the total he managed in 125 games between the Rockies and San Diego last year. Profar is drawing walks at a personal-high 13.3% clip while keeping his strikeout rate at a customarily low 14.2% mark. Hes hitting the ball harder than he has at any point in his career. This seasons 41% hard contact percentage is almost 10 points higher than last years middling 31.7% rate. Therell very likely be some amount of regre sion in the next few months. Profar isnt going to keep pace with the likes of Soto, and all season. His career has been defined by wild swings in performance. Profar was a slightly above-average hitter in 2018, 20 and 22. His performance in the intervening odd seasons was at or below replacement level. Yet this years production is unprecedented even for an extremely high-variance player. Before this year, Profars career-best OPS over any 59-game span was an .876 mark he managed in the second half of 2018 while a member of the Rangers (h/t to the Baseball Reference ). This seasons .916 is 40 points higher. Profar has already more than made good on San Diegos $1MM investment. Even if his bat were to completely crater in the next few months, bringing him back would be a win for the Padres. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller has long valued Profar more than the rest of the league (and most outside observers) would. He made a surprising three-year, $21MM bet on the former top prospect during the 2020-21 offseason. San Diego brought him back last fall after Profar played his way off a Rockies team on its way to 103 lo ses. They didnt bring in another left fielder to push Profar to the bench this spring. Thats largely because of financial constraints, of course, but San Diego also balked at what proved to be a $3MM price point for while spending similar salaries on , and . Preller certainly wouldnt have anticipated Profar being the teams best hitter, but its probably fair to say he had higher expectations for his left fielder than almost anyone else did. San Diego heads into the weekend with a 30-29 record that has them in the third Wild Card spot in the National League. Theyre still a borderline contender whose season could go a number of ways in the next few months. It would likely take a major collapse for them to sell at the trade deadline, so Profar should play the entire season in San Diego. Hell return to free agency next offseason going into his age-32 campaign. Profar has not previously received a qualifying offer, so he would be eligible for the QO if the Padres hang onto him all year. While it seems unlikely the Padres would put a one-year offer worth more than $20MM on the table, its not entirely out of the question depending on well Profar hits in the second half. If he hits the market unencumbered by draft compensation, he could land the biggest guarantee of his career. Hes at least trending toward a two-year deal and would have an argument for a three-year pact in the ($45MM) or ($42MM with an opt-out) range if his bat doesnt wilt down the stretch. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports. Andrew Benintendi Jersey