Padres' AJ Preller Pumps the Brakes on Ethan Salas Being Starting Catcher in 2027

The San Diego Padres' 2026 season is officially in the rearview mirror. The Padres now shift their focus to 2027, where their goal is simple: win the first World Series in franchise history.

The Padres need to make tons of improvements this offseason to make that happen, as they potentially have 17 free agents. While San Diego will look to upgrade its roster through outside additions, internal development will be just as important, too, especially when it comes to catcher Ethan Salas.

Salas got his first taste of postseason baseball in October and, at just 20 years old, still has plenty of adjustments to make as he continues his development.

All signs point to Salas being the catcher of the present and future, but president of baseball operations AJ Preller isn't ready to crown him the starter just yet.

In his end-of-season press conference, Preller would only go as far to say that Salas would be in the mix to be the starting catcher next year.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to be guaranteed anything,” Preller said. “For Ethan, for example, it’s going to be a competition-type situation for him. He showed he can compete at the big league level.”

Salas will compete with fellow catchers Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano, assuming neither are traded.

Fermin and Campusano are arbitration-eligible. Both are under contract with the Padres, but due for a raise.

From a team setting, the Padres couldn't be in a better position at the catcher spot. They have a surplus of major league talent at catcher, with three reliable players at the position.

“It’s a good position to be in,” Preller said. “Obviously catching is a really hard spot to solve and we have a lot of good players in that spot. We’ve put some resources into it. … You need to have a deep group of catchers. We’ll go into the offseason that way, let [manager] Craig [Stammen] and the group figure out when we get into next year how that sorts out in terms of playing time and all of that. It’s setting up as a healthy competition for everybody.”

Salas played in 16 regular-season games, hitting .256 with a .737 OPS, two home runs and five RBIs in 39 at-bats.

In eight postseason at-bats, he hit .125 with one RBI and a .325 OPS.

The pitchers raved about his work with the pitching staff. He'll now have a full offseason to prepare for what should be a breakout rookie season.