The Padres have already answered the first question about Adrian Morejon. They’re keeping him.
That decision makes plenty of sense with the club surging and the bullpen carrying real weight in the stretch run. But if San Diego is going to treat Morejon as untouchable at Monday’s deadline, the next step has to be bigger than just riding out the season. It has to be a serious push to keep him beyond it.
For most of this month, Morejon looked like one of the clearest trade chips on the roster. The Padres were hovering around .500 and the postseason picture was slipping away, so moving him fit the moment.
Then the wins started coming. San Diego has taken eight of its last nine and climbed to within one game of the final NL Wild Card spot.
Morejon was right in the middle of that momentum Sunday, finishing off a four-out save against the Giants while Mason Miller was unavailable. He came in with the tying run on third, struck out Willy Adames and closed out the ninth. After that, manager Craig Stammen said he can’t envision a Padres bullpen without the left-hander.
And that’s the point. Keeping Morejon for a playoff chase is the right move.
The bullpen is the club’s biggest weapon, and breaking up the Morejon-Miller tandem with the Padres sitting one game out would send a brutal message inside the clubhouse. Those two can cover the final three innings of a tight game, and if San Diego gets into October, Morejon could matter just as much as any starter or hitter added at the deadline.
But there’s a catch. Morejon is scheduled to become a free agent.
Once the deadline passes, the Padres lose the chance to turn him into younger talent or use him to address another need. If they miss the playoffs and he walks anyway, they’ll have passed on his trade value for a push that went nowhere.
That can’t be the whole plan.
If the Padres believe Morejon’s present value is greater than what they could get back in a trade, then they should also be saying his future belongs in San Diego. Keeping him now only makes full sense if it leads to a real extension conversation.
Morejon has already made that easier. He said Sunday, “Everybody knows that I want to stay here,” according to MLB.com.
That kind of opening doesn’t come around often. Morejon is 27, throws harder than nearly every left-handed pitcher in baseball and has grown into a trusted late-inning arm.
He’s not a replaceable piece. The Padres spent years developing him, stayed patient through injuries and finally got the pitcher they believed they were signing in 2016.
So if they’re willing to hold onto him now because they value him that much, the logic has to carry through. Reliable late-inning left-handed pitching costs real money.
Morejon won’t come cheap. But San Diego has already shown where it stands.
Now it needs to back that up.
In Other News...
Padres Deadline Rumors Hint At One Real Need And One Huge Swing
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There is also a far more ambitious idea in the mix, one that would take a lot more maneuvering to pull off. Sherman reported Preller has at least considered Rafael Devers as a target, but the combination of Devers contract and the awkwardness of dealing with a division rival makes that path look far less straightforward than the pitching pursuit, which is why the deadline could end up revealing whether the Padres want a fix or a headline. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Bullpen Plans
With the playoff chase tightening and injuries forcing the rotation to lean on the relief corps, the Padres are making it clear they are not looking to weaken the bullpen for help elsewhere. Adrian Morejon has become an important part of that group, and San Diegos decision to hold onto him says plenty about how it views its late-season formula.
The Yankees reportedly had interest in prying Morejon away in a deal for Will Warren, a controllable starter, but the Padres passed. For a club trying to stay in position for October, that kind of move would have tested whether immediate bullpen stability matters more than longer-term rotation depth, and San Diego has chosen the former for now. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Face A Trade Deadline Call On One Bullpen Arm
The Padres already had one of the busier buzz cycles around the bullpen market, and Adrian Morejon has become a name worth watching as the trade deadline approaches. San Diego and the Yankees reportedly explored a deal that would have brought right-hander Will Warren to the Padres, a reflection of how clubs are weighing pitching depth against bigger roster needs as the deadline clock keeps ticking.
Nothing has been finalized, and the two sides are still free to keep talking before the deadline. Even so, the fact that Morejon is at the center of the discussion adds a layer of intrigue for San Diego, where every bullpen decision feels tied to the bigger question of how aggressive the front office wants to be in reshaping the roster for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]