The Padres have moved on from two more arms in the organization, with right-handers Triston McKenzie and C.J. Widger both released over the weekend, according to the club’s transaction log on MiLB.com.
McKenzie’s exit came first, as the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas officially let him go. Widger was released the next day by High-A Fort Wayne.
McKenzie, 28, had been with San Diego since signing a minor league deal in December. The former top prospect spent the previous six seasons in the majors with Cleveland, the organization that selected him in the first round of the 2015 draft.
Over parts of six big league seasons with the Guardians, McKenzie went 21-29 in 88 appearances, 80 of them starts. He posted a 4.07 ERA and struck out 462 batters across 442 innings.
His most recent major league work in 2025 was rough, with an 11.12 ERA in four relief outings.
San Diego gave him a look in major league spring training, where he was in the mix for an Opening Day rotation spot. That opportunity faded quickly. McKenzie was tagged for a 9.95 ERA over 6.1 innings in Cactus League action and was sent to minor league camp before opening the year in Triple-A.
The results in El Paso were even tougher. In 14 appearances, including three starts, he put up a 15.98 ERA over 16.1 innings.
He struck out 22 but walked 40. After he allowed two runs while recording one out in a July 1 outing, the Padres ended the experiment and returned him to free agency.
Widger’s path through the organization was a little more winding. The 27-year-old was in his second stint with San Diego, which originally signed him after the 2024 season before losing him a month later in the Rule 5 draft to the Giants. The Padres brought him back in August 2025 on a minor league deal after San Francisco let him go.
He finished the 2025 season in High-A with a 7.20 ERA over 10 innings, then spent all of 2026 back in High-A and again struggled. In 22 innings, he posted a 6.95 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 20 walks.
Widger was drafted by the Rangers in the 10th round of the 2021 MLB Draft and has not pitched above High-A in any of the four organizations he’s been part of: the Padres, Giants, Rangers and Seattle Mariners.
In Other News...
Padres Deadline Fears Just Shifted In A Way Fans Know Too Well
The Padres slide in the National League West has pushed them out of the wild-card picture, and now the front office is staring at a deadline that feels more complicated than it did a few weeks ago. Rather than locking into one lane, the club is reportedly weighing both buying and selling scenarios, a sign of just how much the standings have changed the conversation around this roster.
Walker Buehler sits at the center of that uncertainty, which is where the tension really starts to build for San Diego. His season has been uneven, and the questions around his value are now tangled up with what the Padres decide to do next, whether they try to keep chasing or turn the deadline into an opportunity to recoup something before the market moves on. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Fans May Need To Brace For A Real Deadline Reset
If the Padres decide this month is less about chasing the race and more about reshaping the roster, the conversation gets bigger than a routine deadline shuffle. San Diego has enough recognizable pieces to at least entertain the idea of a reset, and the appeal would not be in nibbling around the edges. It would be in turning veterans and established bullpen arms into future value, then using the rest of the season to sort out what the next version of the club should look like.
Mason Miller stands out as the kind of arm that can change the conversation quickly, while Adrin Morejns role as a trusted lefty only adds to the appeal of moving a pitcher with real leverage value. Jake Cronenworth is also part of the calculus, even with his bat stuck in a rough stretch, because clubs always weigh track record against current production. The real question for San Diego is whether it settles for modest returns or pushes for the kind of deal that actually changes the direction of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Turn To Another Arm As Pitching Desperation Deepens
The Padres are reaching deeper into their pitching depth chart again, this time bringing Jhony Brito back into the mix as the club tries to navigate a staff hit hard by injuries. Brito has been working his way back from elbow surgery and has not appeared in the majors since 2024, but his recent rehab work has at least put him back on the radar as San Diego looks for any healthy arm it can trust.
Britos path back has been encouraging enough to earn him another look, with the right-hander performing well in rehab outings at Triple-A El Paso and Double-A San Antonio. For now, the bigger issue is simply getting him available, because the Padres injured list keeps growing and the need for pitching help keeps getting more urgent by the day. [Read more 🡒]