Padres Sign Samad Taylor To Minors Contract

The Padres have signed infielder Samad Taylor to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Taylor was designated for assignment by the Mariners last week and elected free agency prior to signing this new deal.

Taylor, 27, was a tenth-round draft pick by Cleveland in 2016 and spent 2016-22 in the minors with them and the Blue Jays. He reached the Triple-A level in 2022, batting .258/.337/.426 with a 104 wRC+ in 280 plate appearances. He showed solid on-base ability with a 10.0% walk rate and also showed off his speed by stealing 23 bases. He also cut his strikeout rate down to 22.1% after sitting at 29.4% in Double-A in 2021. In August 2022, he was traded to the Royals alongside right-hander Max Castillo as part of the deal sending Whit Merrifield to Toronto.

After starting 2023 at Triple-A, Taylor was called up by the Royals in mid-June for his big-league debut. In a 69-PA cup of coffee, he batted .200/.279/.267 with a wRC+ of just 50, although he maintained his strong walk rate (10.1%) and speed (eight stolen bases). That stands as his most significant big-league playing time to date. Taylor was traded to the Mariners for a player to be named later in January 2024, but made just five big-league plate appearances that year and just nine in 2025.

He performed decently at Triple-A from 2024-25. Although he was 9% below average by wRC+ in 2024, he got on base at a 35.2% clip and remained a threat on the basepaths with 50 stolen bases in 136 games. In 2025, he maintained his on-base ability and speed while upping his slugging percentage to .461 and cutting his strikeout rate to 18.7%. That brought his 2025 batting line up to .296/.378/.461, which was 14% better than average by wRC+.

Taylor has less than a year of big-league service time and is out of minor-league options. For the Padres, there’s no harm in keeping him in Triple-A as a depth piece. The club has Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Jake Cronenworth entrenched at three infield spots. Newcomer Sung Mun Song is slated for time around the infield and potentially the outfield, though he could start the year on the injured list following an oblique injury. An infielder by trade, Taylor spent 1,136 innings in the outfield in the minors from 2023-25 and profiles as a utility depth piece.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images