PEORIA, Ariz. — A handful of roster decisions loom.

One of particular local interest could be determined late Friday night and will certainly be decided by Saturday morning.

Ty France, who played at San Diego State and began his career with the Padres, can opt out of his contract Saturday if he has not been assured he will be on the active roster at the start of the season.

That forces the Padres to choose, ostensibly, between France and Jose Miranda by Saturday. Both are corner infielders. Both have major league experience. Both have had excellent springs.

The difference may come down to the fact Miranda can be sent to the minor leagues without his consent.

The risk for the Padres is that adding France to the roster guarantees him $1.35 million. He could agree before the season that the Padres could option him at some point. But if he has another team willing to put him on its big-league roster, he would not have motivation to agree to such a stipulation.

The roster spot is open because infielder Sung-Mun Song will begin the season on the injured list after aggravating an oblique injury two weeks ago. Song is swinging in the cage and could get in a game before spring ends and join the team not long after the season starts.

France, who won a Gold Glove at first base and batted .257/.320/.360 for the Twins and Blue Jays in 2025, entered Friday tied for the team lead with 14 hits this spring. Miranda had 13 hits.

“The biggest thing was just coming into camp and showing that I was myself and healthy and playing my style of baseball,” said France, who was an All-Star with the Mariners in 2022. “I feel like I did a good job of that. So it’s out of my control now.”

Rotation equation

Starting pitcher Walker Buehler, who like France has more than six years of service time and can opt out today is he is not assured of being on the active roster, has made the team.

This was determined after he displayed a varied and effective pitch mix while allowing two runs on eight hits over 8⅔ innings in his past two Cactus League starts.

Buehler and Germán Márquez are expected to man the final two spots in the rotation to begin the season – after incumbent starters Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Randy Vásquez.

Buehler will be guaranteed $1.5 million in 2026 with the possibility to make as much as $4 million based on time on the active roster. Marquez signed a major league deal that guarantees him $1.75 million with the potential to make as much as $5 million.

Bench, bullpen

The other pending decisions revolve around one spot in the bullpen and one on the bench.

Indications from those familiar with the Padres’ deliberations are that outfielder Bryce Johnson is the favorite to make the team over Jase Bowen. Johnson hit .342 with a.383 on-base percentage for the Padres last season and is on the 40-man roster. Bowen signed as a minor-league free agent and excited the Padres this spring. They do expect he will be called up at some point.

With left-hander Yuki Matsui expected to begin the season on the injured list and Jason Adam trending toward being ready for opening day, there is almost certainly just one bullpen job available on the opening-day roster.

That competition appears to be down to Ron Marinaccio and Logan Gillaspie.

Gillaspie is a “bridge” relief option. And while the Padres have all but made it official that left-hander Kyle Hart will occupy that role to start the season, they might want extra protection early in the season as starting pitchers are ramping up. However, Marinaccio can also go multiple innings and is out of options, meaning he would have to be placed on waivers if he is not on the roster.

Notable

Griffin Canning, signed by the Padres in February, pitched one inning against Single-A players for the Mariners on Friday morning. It was his second time facing batters and first time doing so in a game setting since undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles in June. Canning is expected to be able to join the rotation by May.
The Padres are the only team among the 30 in MLB to have not named an opening-day starter. It is almost certainly Nick Pivetta, who was far and away their best pitcher in 2025.
First pitch for Sunday’s Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks has been pushed back to 6:10 p.m. PT due to the heat. The forecasted high for Sunday is 100 degrees, which would make it the coolest day since Tuesday. The Padres’ only day game in that span is Saturday.