How Much Did the Padres Pay Seth Lugo in Contract Incentives in 2023?

He was worth every penny paid out this season.

2023 went about as poorly as it could have for the San Diego Padres. After a promising offseason, the team entered the season as one of the favorites to win the World Series. But they never could live up to the hype, and San Diego ultimately fell short of reaching the postseason.

It was a frustrating year all around for this team, but they did see some strong performances from multiple players. One of those players was veteran pitcher Seth Lugo, who joined the team during the winter with the chance to be a starter. 

Over his career, Lugo had mainly been used out of the bullpen, but the Padres promised him a chance to start. He used that chance to put together a good year for them, and now he should be getting a much bigger payday this offseason.

Lugo put up a 8-7 record, with a 3.57 ERA over 26 starts this season. He also added in 140 strikeouts over 146.1 innings of work.

Due to him reaching the 26 starts, Lugo was paid an additional $1,250,000, bringing his total salary to $8.75 million for the 2023 season. Paying him under $9 million for the year was a steal for the level of production that the veteran put up this year.

He has a player option for 2024 that is worth $7.5 million, and he is all but expected to opt out of that. Lugo earned himself a much larger contract on the open market for next season, and he will get paid by somebody.

It remains to be seen if he will return to San Diego, but Lugo seemed to thrive pitching for them. He admitted recently that he didn't start using analytics until he came to town, and that seemed to really help things for him.

If Lugo does indeed return to the Padres next season, he will give them some stability and continuity in their starting rotation. He has been in the league for a while now, and he knows what it takes to have success over the course of the long season.