3 former Royals could be headed in different directions with the Padres this winter

It won't be long until San Diego's perennial offseason roster retooling, an always-interesting affair with President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller at the controls, gets underway. The trade and free agent markets open after the World Series and Preller is sure to be as active as ever.

Where that leaves three former Kansas City Royals, all of whom closed out the campaign last week when the Cubs bounced the Friars out of the playoffs, remains to be seen.

But don't be surprised if those ex-Royals — Freddy Fermin, Ryan O'Hearn, and Martín Maldonado — head in different directions. One is bound to return to San Diego for another season, another could test the free agent waters, and retirement might summon the other.

Former Royals catcher Freddy Fermin should return

Of the trio of players who used to call Kauffman Stadium home, Fermin, a more-than-serviceable backup to Salvador Perez during the former's four-season KC tenure, made a positive impact when he became a Padre by way of the July trade deadline swap that took him West and brought pitchers Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert to Kansas City where both — especially Kolek — flourished as key new components of manager Matt Quatraro's injury-plagued starting rotation.

Fermin slashed only .244/.278/.389 after the trade, but in 42 games — 25 fewer than he'd played for the Royals — he drove in two more runs than he had in KC, hit just one less homer, and threw out would-be base stealers at an above-league-average rate. Then, starting behind the plate in every game of the National League Wildcard Series against Chicago, he hit .364 with an identical OBP and .909 OPS.

San Diego isn't likely to cut Fermin loose this winter, especially considering he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2029 season. Arbitration-eligible again this offseason, he should be worth every penny of the raise the Padres will give him to avoid arbitration, or the one they'll have to give him via the process if he and the club don't settle. Fermin made $781,750 this season, but even the fact he'll break into the millions for 2026 shouldn't dissuade Preller from bringing him back.

Former Royals castoff Ryan O'Hearn could become a free agent

Less likely to stay in San Diego is O'Hearn, who's become a formidable DH, first baseman, and occasional outfielder since disappointingly failing to measure up to an excellent 2018 rookie season in Kansas City and getting traded to Baltimore before the 2023 campaign began.

O'Hearn slashed an impressive .277/.342/.454, belted 42 homers, and became an All-Star in the two-plus post-trade seasons he spent with the Orioles before the club dealt him to San Diego in July.

He homered only four times, and his wRC+ dropped considerably (from 118 with Baltimore to 87 with San Diego) in 50 games for the Padres, but was otherwise respectable with a fine .350 OBP and .276 average. He went only 2-for-11 in the NLWCS.

Whether O'Hearn returns to San Diego depends on how much money the club is willing to spend on the free-agent-to-be. That may not be enough to keep him — as Tremayne Person recently pointed out at Friars on Base, what O'Hearn may command on the free agent market may be more than San Diego wants to pay him, and the team may already have a less expensive but effective internal alternative.

Is retirement close for former Royals catcher Martín Maldonado?

Perhaps, if not probably.

Maldonado, who for part of the 2019 season bailed out the Royals while Salvador Perez missed the entire campaign recovering from Tommy John Surgery, just completed his 15th major league season and will turn 40 during the 2026 campaign.

He's appeared behind the plate in the vast majority of his 1,194 big league games. He hasn't played regularly since seeing action in 116 games for the 2023 White Sox and, after hitting .204 in 64 games for the Padres this year, spent much of this season's second half assigned to the Arizona Complex League

That Maldonado was on San Diego's NLWCS roster probably had more to do with the club's need to temporarily supplement its backup catching corps in the face of injury and inexperience than it did with anything else.

Simply put, much more of Maldonado's career lies behind him rather than ahead of him. He's eligible for free agency when the World Series ends, but there may not be much, if any, demand for him on this winter's major league market. Many players have opted for retirement in similar circumstances.

Time will tell if Maldonado joins them.