The Padres have played their way back into the conversation, and that changes everything for A.J. Preller.
After a rough six-week slide pushed San Diego more than five games out of the wild card picture, the possibility of a sell-off was real. But the club’s post-All-Star break surge has put the Padres in a very different spot. With another win Friday night, they’re just one game behind the final playoff spot, and Preller looks far more likely to push for help than to back away from the deadline.
Starting pitching is the obvious place to attack. San Diego’s rotation needs help, and with so many teams hunting arms, Preller figures to be involved on a wide range of targets.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan ranked the top 100 trade candidates and matched several starters with the Padres. Four names stand out as fits that could matter now and later.
The most impactful options may be in Anaheim. The Angels seem ready to move major pieces, and that could put right-hander José Soriano and left-hander Reid Detmers on the market.
Both would immediately change the look of San Diego’s thin rotation, though they’d also come at a steep price. Soriano, 27, is 9-6 with a 3.29 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 127 strikeouts against 57 walks across 22 starts and 123 innings, good for 2.7 WAR.
Detmers’ 3-7 record and 4.04 ERA don’t jump off the page, but the strikeout work does: a 1.10 WHIP, 145 strikeouts, 38 walks and a ninth-place ranking in MLB in punchouts over 22 starts and 125 innings.
Detroit’s Casey Mize is another arm worth watching, especially if the Padres want a lower-cost rental. The attention in Detroit is on Tarik Skubal, but Mize has put together a strong season of his own.
The 29-year-old is 4-6 with a 2.70 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 85 strikeouts to 19 walks in 16 starts spanning 86.2 innings. It has been a career year, even if it’s also been interrupted by a groin injury that cost him six total weeks across two IL stints.
Washington’s Foster Griffin is a different kind of trade chip altogether, but he’s on the list too. The left-hander has emerged out of nowhere after three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball, where he rebuilt himself into a dominant starter.
The Nationals signed him to a one-year, $5.5 million deal, and he’s rewarded them with an All-Star season. Griffin is 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 116 strikeouts to 30 walks over 22 starts and 129.1 innings.
In Other News...
Padres Deadline Rumors Hint At One Real Need And One Huge Swing
The Padres deadline search is already starting to look like a two-track operation, with A.J. Preller reportedly weighing both a rotation upgrade and a much bigger offensive swing. Joel Shermans reporting linked San Diego to Mets right-hander Kodai Senga, a name that makes sense if the club decides the pitching market is where it can do the most practical business, especially with New York in a sellers position.
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 🡒]