While San Diego has become a big-money destination in recent years, the team has remained a hotspot for journeymen players as well.
If there’s one franchise that wants to outright forget the 2010’s, I’m sure the San Diego Padres are near the top of the list.
After two division titles in 2005 and 2006 resulted in fruitless postseason runs, the Padres began a lengthy playoff drought with a heartbreaking and controversial loss in a one-game playoff against the Colorado Rockies in 2007 – not sniffing the postseason again until 2020.
Throughout the 2010’s, the Padres were primarily an afterthought of a franchise, known for having limited offense in the pitcher-friendly Petco Park while struggling to break through in an NL West that ran through the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, the latter of whom won three World Series titles in the 2010’s.
While it has been the Dodgers to win three titles so far in the 2020’s, this decade has been much friendlier to the Padres – who have found some postseason success amid four trips to the playoffs, which includes a run to the NLCS in 2022.
Much of this can be attributed to a true core in place for the team, which includes a flamethrowing bullpen and a foundation of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts.
Of course, 2026 has not been a bed of roses for the Padres, who enter play on Aug. 3 with a 58-54 record, one game outside of an NL Wild Card spot as the team looks to make the postseason for a third straight year.
Although the Padres have found success from their core, they remain a team willing to take a flyer on players who have been around the block – with plenty of other former Padres finding their footing elsewhere in the league after making their debut in San Diego.
After a turbulent decade in Padres baseball, here’s a look at five players you probably forgot suited up for the Friars:
1. Andrés Muñoz, RP (2019, 22 games)
Now known as the long-term closer of the Seattle Mariners, Muñoz got his start with the other half of the Eddie Vedder Cup back in 2019, appearing in 22 games with the Padres after making his MLB debut in July of that year.
Then just 20 years old, Muñoz put up solid numbers during his limited time in San Diego, posting a 3.91 ERA with 11 walks and 30 strikeouts across 23 innings of work, recording his first career save in the process.
While injury kept Muñoz out of action in 2020, he was a component to a major trade with the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 31 of that year, when he was shipped up the West Coast alongside Ty France, Luis Torrens and Taylor Trammell in exchange for Austin Adams, Dan Altavilla and Austin Nola.
Though Muñoz hasn’t quite equaled his level of production in 2024 and 2025 so far this year, his career numbers with the Mariners remain impressive since his 2021 debut with the club. In 284 games, Muñoz has recorded 110 walks and 387 strikeouts with 96 saves in 277 innings of work.
Now 27 years old, Muñoz is a free agent following the 2026 season.
2. David Bednar, RP (2019-2020, 17 games)
A Pittsburgh native who made his name as a top-line closer for his hometown Pirates, David Bednar did not get his big league start in the Steel City. Rather that came back in 2019 in San Diego, where the stocky right-hander began his MLB career.
Bednar made his MLB debut with the Padres on Sept. 1, 2019, ultimately going on to appear in 13 games through the rest of the season to rather lackluster results. The righty posted a 6.55 ERA with five walks and 14 strikeouts in just 11 innings of work, which saw Bednar allow three home runs.
Sticking around in the organization for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, things didn’t go much better for Bednar during the 60-game sprint, either. Appearing in just four games, Bednar was tagged for six runs, five of which were earned, in 6.1 innings on the mound in 2020, posting a ghastly ERA of 7.11.
Luckily for Bednar, a change of scenery transformed the trajectory of his career, as he was shipped to his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-team trade that also involved the New York Mets and saw Joe Musgrove traded from Pittsburgh to his hometown Padres.
Bednar went on to make himself at home in Pittsburgh, becoming a two-time All-Star with the team in five seasons with the Pirates before being acquired by the New York Yankees at last year’s trade deadline.
3. Mitch Moreland, 1B (2020, 20 games)
A Texas Rangers mainstay who also made a name for himself in Boston as a 2018 World Series bench hero, Mitch Moreland jumped around a little bit in the twilight of his career – which included a brief tenure with the Padres during the bizarre 2020 season.
After spending all of 2017-19 with the Red Sox, Moreland began 2020 with the team as well before being shipped to the contending Padres in exchange for two minor league prospects, owing to a strong start for the year with Boston that saw Moreland post a 1.177 OPS across 22 games.
Unfortunately for the Padres, Moreland’s feverish start for the Red Sox in 2020 was the last time the veteran found lightning in a bottle in his big-league career, as the first baseman slumped to a .203/.247/.362/.609 slash line in 20 games with the Padres alongside just two home runs.
While Moreland did go 4-for-8 in the playoffs with the Padres that season, San Diego opted not to reunite with the veteran first baseman. Moreland went on to sign with the Oakland Athletics for 2021, posting 10 HR and 30 RBI across 81 games in what was his final MLB season.
4. Jake Arrieta, SP (2021, 4 games)
Remembered for his unforgettable peak from 2014-2016 with the Chicago Cubs, Jake Arrieta’s career came to a rather unceremonious end in 2021 with four very forgettable appearances for the Padres.
At first, the 2021 season was meant to be a feel-good year for Arrieta, who reunited with the Cubs after spending 2018-2020 with the Philadelphia Phillies. After a solid start to the season, Arrieta completely collapsed alongside the rest of his teammates during the summer, with the Cubs eventually parting ways with the former Cy Young Award winner in August 2021.
Despite an abysmal showing through 20 games that included a -2.1 WAR and a 6.88 ERA, the Padres were hopeful that a change of scenery to beautiful Southern California would help turn things around one last time for Arrieta in the final stretch of the season – a move that ultimately did not pay off.
Arrieta somehow fared even worse with the Padres, getting tagged for 16 runs, 15 of them earned, in just 12.1 innings on the mound across four starts. Arrieta posted five walks and nine strikeouts while also allowing three home runs, amounting to an abysmal 36 ERA+.
The right-hander was promptly released two days after yielding four earned runs in just 0.1 inning on Sept. 19, 2021, marking the end of his professional baseball career.
In addition to the Cubs, Phillies and Padres, Arrieta spent the beginning of his career with the Baltimore Orioles, appearing in games with the team from 2010 to 2013.
5. Brent Rooker, OF/DH (2022, 2 games)
While he has since emerged as a power-hitting mainstay of the Athletics lineup in recent years, the late-blooming Brent Rooker began his time in MLB as a journeyman, bouncing around three different clubs before settling with the A’s.
After spending parts of the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Rooker was shipped to the Padres at the start of the 2022 season alongside reliever Taylor Rogers in a trade that involved Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagán heading the other direction.
Spending most of his time in the minor leagues, Rooker made it into just two MLB games with the Padres in 2022, going 0-for-7 across back-to-back starts on July 9-10. Less than a month later, Rooker was traded to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Cam Gallagher, with Rooker closing out the season there.
Rooker was ultimately selected by the A’s off of waivers in November 2022, serving as a true diamond-in-the-rough find for a franchise that needed it. As for his time on the Padres, it goes down as an insignificant footnote and trivia question answer for a player who made his name elsewhere.
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