The Padres are back in the middle of the deadline conversation, and that alone is enough to drag old memories back to the surface. With the club sitting 1.5 games out of a Wild Card spot and just two and a half games separating the No. 5 and No. 11 teams in the National League, there’s no margin left to waste. San Diego has won seven of its last 10, which puts it in position to buy, but the possibility still hangs out there that star closing pitcher Mason Miller could be moved before the deadline ends.
That kind of aggressiveness is familiar territory for A.J. Preller. The Padres have made a habit of swinging big on the trade market in recent years, and with Preller still running the front office, another major move feels very much on the table over the next few days.
But before the next deadline deal lands, it’s worth revisiting the one that still stands as San Diego’s worst. Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter pointed to a 2010 three-team trade that sent right-hander Corey Kluber to the Cleveland Guardians, then the Cleveland Indians, as the Padres’ biggest deadline mistake.
At the time, the move looked harmless enough. San Diego entered the deadline with the best record in the National League at 60-41 and was clearly buying for a postseason push. Kluber was just an unranked pitching prospect, and the Padres got an .827 OPS outfielder in return.
The problem was what happened next. The Padres got negative value from Ludwick, who posted a 78 OPS+ in 59 games with San Diego the rest of that season.
The team lost its division lead and missed the postseason entirely, failing to even grab a Wild Card berth. Ludwick remained with the club for another 101 games before being dealt at the 2011 deadline.
Kluber, meanwhile, took time to develop but eventually turned into exactly the kind of arm teams dream about keeping. By his first full season in 2013, the signs were there. Then came 2014, when he broke out in a huge way and won the Cy Young Award behind 18 wins, a 2.35 FIP, a 2.44 ERA and 8.1 bWAR.
He stayed elite in Cleveland for years after that, winning another Cy Young in 2017 and earning three All-Star selections. Over nine seasons with the club, Kluber went 98-58 with a 3.16 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, piling up 32.5 bWAR.
The trade itself saw the Padres send Kluber and Greenwood for Ludwick, who was below replacement level and spent less than a full season’s worth of time in San Diego. In hindsight, giving up a two-time Cy Young winner for 160 games of ordinary outfield production is a brutal outcome. At the time, though, Kluber’s rise was far from obvious.
In Other News...
Mason Miller Just Made Padres Deadline Tension Feel Very Real
The Padres are still feeling the pressure of a deadline that arrives with the club hovering just above the break-even point and three games left before the window closes. A loss to the Giants only sharpened the sense that this is a roster in motion, with the front office weighing ways to steady a rotation that has needed help and a bullpen that has been one of the teams clearer strengths.
Mason Miller only added to the intrigue by talking openly about the deadline and the rumors that inevitably follow a pitcher of his stature. His comments came with the kind of perspective that matters in late July, when San Diego is looking at starting pitching upgrades, possible bullpen movement and even outfield help, all while trying to decide how aggressive it wants to be without losing sight of the cost of doing business. [Read more 🡒]
Ethan Salas Promotion Could Be Hinting At A Bigger Padres Move
Ethan Salas climb to Triple-A El Paso after a strong run at Double-A San Antonio is the kind of development that usually says as much about the organizations bigger picture as it does about one prospects progress. For the Padres, it also lands at a time when the catching picture is crowded, with three backstops on the roster and a young player moving quickly enough to make the depth chart feel a little less settled than it did a week ago.
That is why Salas promotion has started to read like more than just a reward for performance. It has prompted some roster logic around what San Diego might be planning next, especially with Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano both in the conversation as possible pieces if the club decides to reshape its catching mix. Nothing is confirmed, and there are no official trade reports attached to either name, but the timing is enough to keep the speculation alive. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Cannot Afford Another Deadline Mistake With Rotation Help Desperate
The Padres keep circling the starting-pitching market, and Freddy Peralta has emerged as one of the more intriguing names for a club that badly needs help in the rotation. The Mets right-hander has the kind of track record that still gets attention around the league, even after a rough season has made the price tag and the risk harder to sort through.
Peraltas current numbers do not exactly scream certainty, but that has not stopped contenders from weighing the upside against the possibility of paying too much. San Diego is not alone in the chase, with Arizona also in the mix, and the real test for the Padres may be whether they can resist turning a thin market into another deadline overreach. [Read more 🡒]