The San Diego Padres are still hunting for bullpen help as the trade deadline creeps closer, and one name sitting near the top of the board is Aroldis Chapman.
According to Padres insider Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the club is keeping tabs on a reliever market that is only now starting to take shape. Lin wrote, "The Padres, according to team sources, continue to eye a still-developing reliever market," and added, "Their list of possible targets includes baseball’s hardest-throwing left-hander over the past 16 seasons [Aroldis Chapman]."
That pursuit fits the way A.J. Preller has operated before. The Padres president of baseball operations has earned a reputation for swinging big, and with San Diego trying to stay in the playoff race, another late-inning arm would give the bullpen a major boost.
The need is real. The Padres have leaned hard on Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller this season, and that workload is starting to pile up.
Morejon is on pace for a career-high 82 innings, while Miller could finish above 60. San Diego has already asked a lot from both, and the front office appears to understand that the group can’t keep carrying that kind of burden without help.
Chapman would bring exactly the kind of firepower that makes the back end of a game feel closed before it even starts. He has been excellent for the Red Sox this season, posting a 2.19 ERA across 24.2 innings while striking out 32 batters. If he becomes available, he should sit near the top of the relief market.
For the Padres, the appeal is obvious: Chapman alongside Miller would give them a nasty late-game combination and a pair of arms opposing hitters would dread seeing in the same bullpen. San Diego could mix and match depending on the situation, and that kind of flexibility matters in October.
There’s also the longer-term piece. Chapman has a mutual option for $13 million heading into 2027, so this wouldn’t be just a rental-only swing in a vacuum.
Still, the Padres have bigger issues than one more bullpen weapon. Their offense has been one of the worst in baseball, and no amount of relief help can cover for a lineup that doesn’t score. San Diego wants to reach the playoffs and chase a World Series, but that kind of run will take more than one aggressive move.
And Chapman may not come cheap. The Red Sox are expected to ask for a lot, and the Padres’ limited farm system could make a deal tougher to pull off without affecting future moves. That’s the balancing act for Preller and company: chase the best reliever available, or spread the resources around and try to patch more than one hole.
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Of course, that is only the first hurdle. Any pursuit would have to clear the kind of hurdles that tend to slow down deadline dreams, from the pitchers contract situation to the salary attached to him, and San Diego would not be alone in the chase. Other National League teams are expected to circle as well, which is exactly the sort of competition that can turn a Preller-style idea into the summers next real test. [Read more 🡒]