Padres News: Friars Insider Blames ‘Big 4’ for Failed Season

A hefty price to pay for a sub-.500 record.

Signing Xander Bogaerts in free agency this offseason fresh off of their NLCS berth, expectations were never higher for the San Diego Padres in 2023. 

Offering a substantial contract to the former Red Sox shortstop alongside their already expensive core, one insider blamed his signing and the rest of the pricey roster as a reason why the Friars sit toward the bottom of the NL. Here's what Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune had to say about the team's failed "Big Four."

"The big failure was by the so-called Big Four of Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. The group that was meant to carry the team did not. ...

"The Padres committed $78 million this season to the Big Four (plus another $900 million or so over the next decade-plus to three of them) because they were expected to be what powered the engine. Instead, they kept the Padres from ever getting going."

via Kevin Acee, San Diego Tribune

It's an interesting take as the argument made by Acee is that the roster was significantly handicapped by the choice to bring in the expensive infielder on top of their already costly roster. 

As a result, constructing the roster in other areas such as the starting rotation or the bullpen was significantly hampered by such stars on payroll who simply haven't meshed together. 

While Soto, Tatis Jr., Machado and Bogaerts have been okay, they haven't been anywhere near the MVP candidate level talents they're being paid to be. 

Sitting fourth in the NL West and only hoping to play spoiler at this point in September, the Padres will go back to the drawing board next year, preparing for another important offseason with impending free agents Blake Snell and Josh Hader. 

Should the Padres choose to bring both back on equally expensive deals, the team is set to break a $300 million payroll and possibly the MLB record for most expensive team ever in 2024.