Welcome to our series grading every member of the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster. The roster being evaluated is current as of Oct. 18, prior to the end of the World Series. Because of that, it will include players who will be free agents once the postseason concludes. Each player will be graded on their performance in the 2026 season, including the playoffs. That performance will be weighted based on how much time the player spent with the team (availability is the best ability).
Bargain Hunting for a DH
After a phenomenal rookie year in 2018, Miguel Andujar never quite found his place in the league. From 2019-23, his OPS was only above .700 once. Because of that, Andujar was tossed around from the New York Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Oakland Athletics to the Cincinnati Reds. He entered free agency ahead of the 2026 season and couldn’t have picked a better time to do so. Andujar had just finished the 2025 season with a .318/.352/.470 slash line across 94 games. San Diego signed him as a big bat off the bench, and it turned out splendidly.
Overall Grade: B-
The lower grade is purely due to his time spent on the injured list. Andujar missed most of June with a hamstring strain before missing all of August and September due to a fracture in his right wrist. Those injuries held him down, but Andujar still managed to produce for San Diego. The slugger slashed .259/.303/.423 with five homers and 27 extra-base hits.
That production all came in just 74 games. Notably, Andujar doubled three times in two separate games in 2026. Only he and Cleveland Guardians star José Ramírez were able to complete the feat this season. Despite his lack of games played, Andujar was still able to produce in important situations for San Diego. He would be a welcome addition for the 2027 bench mix, if the price is right.
Andujar’s underlying metrics make his 2026 campaign quite interesting. His expected batting average (.264) was five points above his actual, but his expected slugging percentage (.376) was a full 47 points below his actual. That would suggest that Andujar was slightly unfortunate on balls put in play but quite lucky with taking extra bases. Whether he can continue that production in 2027 is a truly impossible question to ascertain after this season.