SAN DIEGO-- Sign one of the most exciting, young players in baseball to a nine-year extension. Check.
Complete a perfect 7-0 homestand to start the season and have that player hit a two-run home run to seal that victory. Check.
It was one heck of a good day and homestand for Jackson Merrill and the San Diego Padres. Hours after signing a nine-year, $135 million contract, the 21-year-old smashed a two-run homer in a four-run, fourth inning, leading the Padres to a 5-2 victory. Dylan Cease earned his first victory of the year, allowing one run on four hits, striking out seven, and Fernando Tatís stole home as San Diego continued their historic start.
Jackson Merrill is a San Diego Padre. pic.twitter.com/TlkvZYArjW
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 2, 2025
For Merrill, the perfect homestand was just icing on the cake of a life-changing day for him and his family.
"This is exactly where I want to be," said Merrill at a pre-game press conference, flanked by manager Mike Shildt and president of baseball ops AJ Preller. "I've never imagined myself with any other team, even when you guys came and talked to me about the draft. My mind was Padres and Padres only, so you know I'm thankful for you guys. I'm super, super excited to keep going to work, keep going to battle every day, you know the trust in this room right now, I've never felt it before, never felt a connection with a city that I feel here."
Merrill, who turned down extension talks before even making his major-league debut, was asked why the timing now felt right.
"I think even hearing an opportunity to sign with the San Diego Padres is enough for me, but I also feel like there comes a line where you know your worth, you know your value. Listen, I know there's contracts out there that are beyond absurd. They're super amounts of money but having a relationship with a real human being and a real team like I have here, you can't beat that. You can't just sign for 700 million dollars and wants things to be perfect."
Even before the Padres drafted him 27th overall in the 2021 draft, Merrill says he knew San Diego was the place he wanted to be.
"The Padres were the first team that ever reached out to me, ever scouted me," said Merrill. "They believed in me from day one. They wanted me. It feels good to be wanted. I always felt they had a certain trust in me. A.J's always been there by my side, just rooting me on, being my biggest supporter. I think from that first instance talking to him, I wanted to be here forever."
"Winning, and just winning only. There's so much in the contract there with money and all that but my goal is to win. It's always been to win and to dominate with my boys on the field and I'm just happy I get to do it for a long amount of time now."
Merrill reinforced that mantra following the Friars' 5-2 win over the Guardians.
"7-0, that's the only thing that matters. That's my honest opinion. 7-0. If we didn't win that game today, I would have been pissed."
Notable: Luís Arráez had his first multi-hit game after starting the season 0-for-16...Merrill has at least one hit in every game to start the season...Padres have their first off-day on Thursday before starting a three-game series vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field...Padres and Dodgers are both off to 7-0 starts to the season, the fifth time two teams have started with seven straight wins.