The Padres have moved on from Nick Schnell, releasing the former first-round pick during the All-Star break after a full season at Triple-A El Paso.
Schnell’s release showed up this week in the club’s transaction log on MiLB.com. He had spent the entire 2026 season with the Chihuahuas after signing a minor league deal with San Diego last December.
The 26-year-old made a real push to crack the Padres’ Opening Day roster in spring training, putting together a strong showing before getting cut. In 38 at-bats, he hit .237 with four home runs and an OPS of .968, but he never got the call to the majors once the season began.
At Triple-A, Schnell put together a solid but unspectacular first half. In 59 games, he hit .239/.320/.479 with 12 home runs, 38 RBIs and an .798 OPS. Even as the Padres cycled through several Triple-A options, Schnell never got his shot.
That leaves him still searching for his MLB debut, and now he’ll have to chase it with another organization.
Schnell’s path has been a long one. The Rays took him in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft, and he spent 2019 and 2020 as a top 30 prospect in Tampa Bay’s system before slipping out of the rankings as his development stalled.
He remained at Single-A through the 2022 season, reached High-A in 2023, and didn’t get to Triple-A until 2024. That year brought limited action and a rough showing, and he became a free agent at the end of the season.
The Nationals gave him another shot on a minor league deal in 2025, and he split time between Double-A and Triple-A while finishing with a .799 OPS.
This year was his first full season at Triple-A, and it ended without the big league breakthrough he was hoping for. Schnell has played all three outfield spots and first base in the minors, and at 26, he still has time to land somewhere else and keep chasing that first MLB opportunity.
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Padres Fans May Hate This Bullpen Trade Idea
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For Padres fans, the part that stings is less the concept than the price. Mason Miller has been one of the most dominant relievers in the game this year, with a 0.89 ERA, 25 saves and 75 strikeouts in 40.2 innings, and he is still under team control for the next couple of years. That combination of immediate impact and future value is exactly why any trade discussion around him would be so hard to stomach in San Diego, even if the chatter remains firmly in the hypothetical stage. [Read more 🡒]