The Padres can’t go into 2027 banking on everybody coming back healthy and calling that a rotation plan. That’s not a plan.
A.J. Preller needs arms he can reasonably expect to take the ball, which is why the trade market has to be part of the conversation.
There’s no shortage of ways to attack it, but the best routes come with risk. Here are four hypothetical deals that could give San Diego a path forward, with the understanding that these are starting points only and not claims that any of these teams have actually talked trade.
Drew Rasmussen is the cleanest fit on paper. The Rays could get catcher Ty Harvey and right-hander Tucker Musgrove in return, a package that gives them two developmental pieces while San Diego would be taking on Rasmussen’s salary to help grease the wheels.
He finished 2026 at 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP over 172 innings, piling up 174 strikeouts in 30 starts. That kind of season makes him a natural target for a club looking to stabilize the middle of its rotation.
The catch is that this only makes sense if Tampa Bay declines his $20 million option, and even then there’s no reason to assume the Rays would hand over a useful starter for cheap.
Reid Detmers is another name that belongs on the Padres’ board. A trade with the Angels sending shortstop Elliot Lascelles and left-hander Jagger Haynes to Los Angeles would be a meaningful price, but Detmers has already shown the kind of volume San Diego wants.
In 2026, he posted a 3.36 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and 211 strikeouts across 185 innings in 32 starts. That’s the kind of workload and swing-and-miss profile that makes you wonder what San Diego’s coaches could coax out of him, but the production is already real enough to matter.
José Soriano would be a separate case, though there’s a fair reason for Preller to check on him, too.
Nick Lodolo comes with a different kind of gamble. The proposed return to Cincinnati would send catcher Luis Campusano and right-hander Garrett Hawkins to the Reds, with Campusano offering a big-league catching option and some offensive punch after hitting .265/.363/.433 with eight home runs in 2026.
San Diego would be betting on a bounce-back from Lodolo after he put up a 4.97 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP with 83 strikeouts in 108 2/3 innings over 21 starts. That’s the kind of deal that makes sense if the Padres are willing to swap catching depth and a young arm for rotation help, especially with Lodolo’s recent line giving Preller some room to hold the line on value.
Emerson Hancock would be the practical play. Seattle could get right-handers Coleman Borthwick and Bryan Balzer, and Hancock would give San Diego a straightforward route to innings after a 2026 season that included a 3.57 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP, 126 strikeouts and 32 walks over 138 2/3 innings in 25 starts.
The obstacle is price. The Mariners have no shortage of pitching, but that doesn’t make Hancock expendable, and they’ll have every reason to demand a real return for a starter who already gets outs.
Preller can make the call, but this is the kind of pursuit that could get expensive fast.
That’s the bind for San Diego: finding rotation help at a price that still leaves enough talent and money to finish the roster.
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