The veteran outfielder signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Orioles last winter and was flipped to the Padres at the summer deadline, and he performed well enough for San Diego to exercise his $6.5 million club option for 2026. Overall last season, Laureano tied or set career highs in home runs (24) and RBI (76) while posting a .281/.342/.512 slash line with seven stolen bases and 72 runs in 132 contests. He posted similar numbers during his first full MLB campaign in 2019, but he scuffled the next few years before getting back on track in 2024, and he followed that up with a full resurgence last season. The performance doesn't appear to be a fluke either, as his 49.1 percent hard-hit rate and 13.8 percent barrel rate were in the 84th and 85th percentile, respectively, for qualified batters. Laureano has also had a lot of swing-and-miss in his stroke throughout his career, but he improved significantly in that area with a career-best 24.4 percent strikeout rate. A .274 xBA and .503 xSLG are only slightly worse than his actual figures, so Laureano is positioned for another strong season in 2026. The real notable risk for fantasy managers is that Laureano has yet to illustrate much year-to-year consistency throughout his MLB career. Read Past Outlooks