San Diego Padres Make Strategic Move by Signing Pitcher to $1 Million Contract, Exciting Fans About Offseason Depth.NL
When the San Diego Padres declined pitcher Kyle Hart’s option for 2026, it was clear they did not want the left-handed pitcher back next year at a cost of $5 million.
The Padres got Hart back anyway — at a discount.
Monday, the Padres announced they re-signed Hart to a one-year deal with a club option for 2027. The new deal will pay Hart a base salary of $1 million in 2026, and $2.5 million in 2027, not including several escalators that could increase both the buyout amount and the option amount.
Hart’s contract also includes a $200,000 buyout.
That’s quite a bit less than the $5 million option, and even less than the $1.5 million base salary Hart received with the Padres in 2025. Throw in a $500,000 buyout, and the Padres are set to pay Hart half of the $2 million he was owed in 2025.
That’s not bad for a pitcher who posted a 1.186 WHIP across 43 innings in 20 games (six starts) last season.
Hart’s .246 BABIP, 7.3 percent walk rate and 20.7 percent strikeout rate were undone by a ghastly penchant for home runs. He allowed nine in 43 innings.
The Padres were willing to bet $1 million that Hart’s Triple-A home run rate (he allowed only six longballs in 63.2 innings at Triple-A El Paso in the more hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League) was a better indicator of his 2026 potential.
Hart, 32, returned to MLB last year after spending the 2024 season in Korea with the NC Dinos. He went 13-3 with a 2.69 ERA in his lone season overseas, putting his name on the free agent map after a vagabond career.
From 2022-23, Hart played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners organizations, splitting his time between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. In his only prior major league experience, a four-game callup with Boston in 2020, he allowed 21 runs (19 earned) in 11 innings.
Although Hart was not spectacular in his return to the U.S., he did enough to earn another contract from a Padres team that enters the offseason starved for pitching help.
In light of Yu Darvish’s season-ending elbow surgery, the Padres have few experienced starters in their organization. Their rotation could have a very new look in 2026 — especially if Michael King and Dylan Cease reject their qualifying offers as expected.
The Padres can re-sign both pitchers as free agents. If both leave, the Padres will have to replace three-fifths of their starting rotation. Hart offers a relatively inexpensive fallback option — someone who can provide a pleasant surprise in a bounceback year, or a familiar source of replacement-level innings if not.
