The Padres are staring at a trade deadline that could shape the rest of their season, and the list of needs is clear. San Diego wants starting pitching help, and it also needs more offense. With the club still just 3.5 games out of the final National League wild-card spot, the front office may have enough reason to buy despite a rough stretch over the past few weeks.
One possible path runs through Anaheim. The Angels recently fired general manager Perry Minasian, and that move could open the door to a summer sell-off. CBS Sports writer Mike Axisa has tied the Padres to three Angels players: pitchers Reid Detmers and José Soriano, plus outfielder Jo Adell.
Detmers stands out as a possible answer for the rotation. The left-hander has rebounded from a poor 2025 season and has posted a 4.39 ERA across 19 starts.
He has also worked 108.1 innings, which would be a real help for a Padres bullpen that has already been asked to carry a heavy load. Detmers is making $2.5 million this season and has two years of control remaining before free agency, though that kind of profile could also push the Angels to ask for a strong return.
Soriano brings a different kind of appeal. He opened the season in dominant fashion, giving up just one run over his first 37.2 innings, and he owns a 3.49 ERA in 20 starts overall.
The right-hander is 27 and has two more years of club control, which makes him especially interesting for a team looking not just for help now, but for a possible anchor moving forward. Of the two starters, Soriano may be the one the Angels try hardest to maximize in a deal.
Adell would address a different need. The Padres could use another bat and another outfielder, and the Angels slugger fits that bill.
After blasting 37 home runs a year ago, he has followed with a solid season, hitting .245 with 13 home runs, 53 RBIs and an OPS of .686. He is also a strong defender and has one more season of team control, giving San Diego another controllable piece if it decides to make a move.
In Other News...
Padres Just Made An Outfield Move Fans Saw Coming
The Padres kept working to shore up their outfield depth this week, making another low-risk addition in Dustin Harris. The 26-year-old has already surfaced with Triple-A El Paso, giving San Diego a fresh name to monitor at a position that has been thinned out by injuries and left the club searching for more coverage behind the big league group.
Harris arrives with a track record that helps explain the interest, having put together a solid minor league resume and a strong season at the plate. For the Padres, the move is less about splash and more about necessity, with the organization trying to protect itself against further attrition while keeping one more capable outfielder in the pipeline if the depth chart gets tested again. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Fans Are All Saying The Same Thing After This Ump Show
A routine-looking Padres-Blue Jays game turned into a familiar kind of frustration for San Diego when umpire Jen Pawol drew plenty of attention for the wrong reasons. A disputed called strike set the tone, and the conversation only grew louder as the game wore on, with fans once again zeroing in on the quality of major league umpiring and Pawols place near the bottom of the leagues accuracy rankings this season.
The Padres also had to deal with the fallout on their own bench, where hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. was ejected after arguing over a challenge-related sequence tied to one of Pawols calls. Later, another controversial ruling went against Toronto and helped San Diego on the scoreboard, but by then the bigger story had already become the same one that seems to follow too many games these days: the strike zone and the umpire behind it. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Cant Keep Ignoring The Lineup Decision Luis Campusano Is Forcing
Luis Campusano has spent the summer making the Padres catcher situation harder to ignore. With Freddy Fermin out, Campusano has taken over behind the plate and kept forcing his way into the conversation with his bat, giving San Diego a much-needed offensive spark at a time when the club is hovering around .500 and trying to stay relevant in both the NL West and Wild Card races.
The bigger question now is what the Padres do when the catching picture gets crowded again. Campusanos production has been too loud to treat as a temporary fill-in, and the case for keeping his bat in the lineup does not stop at one position. San Diego may have to get creative to keep finding him at-bats, because the alternative is letting one of its most productive hitters sit too often. [Read more 🡒]