The San Diego Padres made their deadline moves with a clear idea in mind: patch the rotation, push for October, and keep the season alive. On paper, they did exactly that. In reality, the return was far messier than anyone expected.
At the time of the Aug. 3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 5-1 defeat that dropped San Diego to 58-55, the Padres were staring at a season that felt dangerously close to slipping away. They still had 48 games left, but the pressure was mounting. From there, they ripped off a 32-16 run to close the year, a stretch that looked like vindication for the front office’s deadline gamble.
The two biggest additions were supposed to change everything. The Padres were in desperate need of pitching help, and the arrivals of Robbie Ray and Casey Mize looked like exactly the kind of move that could steady the staff and strengthen a club with a wild-card berth in sight. Instead of a simple upgrade, the deadline became a high-risk bet that delivered mixed results at best.
San Diego landed Ray from the San Francisco Giants in a deal that sent right-handed pitching prospect Miguel Mendez, the No. 4 prospect in the organization, and shortstop Joniel Hernandez, ranked No. 9, the other way. Ray had been effective before the trade, posting a 3.08 ERA in 22 appearances for San Francisco. After arriving in San Diego, though, he struggled to a 5.02 ERA in nine starts.
His postseason was rough, too. Ray opened the NLDS for the Padres but lasted only 2.2 innings while allowing two earned runs. He later returned in relief when the team was on the brink of elimination in Game 4 and gave up another earned run in one inning of work on three days’ rest.
Preller did not stop there. Right before the deadline, the Padres swung another trade, sending top left-handed pitching prospects Kash Mayfield, the No. 2 prospect in the organization, and Jackson Wolf, ranked No. 27, to the Detroit Tigers for Mize and third baseman Gage Workman.
Mize was coming off an All-Star season and had been effective again, posting a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts before the trade. But once he got to San Diego, the wheels came off.
He recorded a 7.46 ERA in 10 outings and finished with a bWAR of negative-1.3. His season ended before the postseason anyway, as a right ankle sprain sent him to the injured list near the end of September.
Workman’s contribution was modest. He hit .216 in 32 Triple-A games for the Padres and appeared twice in the majors, where he picked up one hit and three RBIs.
Both pitchers were on expiring contracts and will enter free agency this offseason. The trades made sense in the moment, but the level of decline from Ray and Mize was not something San Diego could reasonably have planned for. The Padres’ starting pitching remains unsettled heading into the offseason, and when the next season finally arrives, Ray and Mize are not expected to be part of the roster.
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That uncertainty matters because the Padres were already weighing ways to add another left-handed option to the bench, and the market offers a few names with more proven availability and production. Nathaniel Lowe and Cedric Mullins are among the free agents who could fit that need, giving San Diego a possible alternative if Sheets status leaves too much doubt in a roster spot that was supposed to be straightforward. [Read more 🡒]