Padres sign Samad Taylor to minors contract

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

Taylor, 27, was a 10th-round draft pick of Cleveland in 2016 and spent 2016-2022 in the minors with them and the Blue Jays. He reached the Triple-A level in 2022 and hit .258/.337/.426 with a 104 wRC+ in 280 plate appearances. He showed solid on-base skills with a 10.0% walk rate and also showed off his speed by stealing 23 bases. He also lowered his strikeout rate to 22.1% after sitting at 29.4% in Double-A in 2021. In August 2022, he was traded to the Royals at right-hander. Max Castillo as part of shipping the deal Whit Merrifield to Toronto.

After joining Triple-A in 2023, Taylor was called up by the Royals in mid-June for his big league debut. In a 69 PA cup of coffee, he hit .200/.279/.267 with a wRC+ of just 50, though he maintained his strong walk rate (10.1%) and speed (eight stolen bases). That is his most important playing time in the big league so far. Taylor was traded to the Mariners for a player to be named later in January 2024, but played only five big league games that year and only nine in 2025.

He performed decently at Triple-A from 2024 to 2025. Although he was 9% below average in 2024 per wRC+, 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 skill and speed while increasing his slugging percentage to .461 and lowering his strikeout rate to 18.7%. That put his 2025 batting line at .296/.378/.461, which was 14% better than average per wRC+.

Taylor has less than a year of major league service and is out of minor league options. It wouldn’t hurt for the Padres to keep him in Triple-A as a depth piece. The club has Manny Machado, Xander BogaertsAnd Jake Cronenworth entrenched in three places in the infield. Newcomer Month is scheduled to see time in the infield and possibly the outfield as well, though he could start the year on the injured list after an oblique injury. An infielder by trade, Taylor spent 1,136 innings in the outfield in the minors from 2023 to 2025 and profiles as a good depth player.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images