A.J. Preller sacrificed elite prospects to overhaul a thin rotation, landing arms like Robbie Ray and Casey Mize to fuel a desperate push toward the postseason.
For fans of the San Diego Padres, the 2026 trade deadline was fairly tame when taking in the context of years past. 2022 saw superstar Juan Soto arrive at Petco Park in one of the biggest blockbuster trades in sports history. Last year brought possibly the best closer in baseball to the Padres in exchange for one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
This year, however, there was no blockbuster of sorts. Still, the Padres were buyers at the deadline, landing two new starting pitchers to help bolster one of the weakest areas of the roster.
As of Tuesday morning, the Padres hold a record of 58-55 and are just out of position of a postseason position. With that fact and A.J. Preller calling the shots in the Padres’ front office, was this deadline ever going to play out any differently?
Preller’s history of aggressive moves has made him at fault for some failed trades, heroes of others, and somewhere in between on most. Where will this year’s deadline moves fit on that spectrum? First, let’s recap every trade San Diego made yesterday.
Reliever Swap With The Pittsburgh Pirates
Starting with the least exciting of the three deals, the Padres dealt minor league right-hander Andrew Moore for fellow minor league right-hander Hunter Stratton. Having yet to make his major league debut, Moore has posted a 3.46 ERA in 39 innings in the minors this season. In return, the Padres get the 29-year-old Stratton, who has pitched in 62 major league games with a career 3.88 ERA.
Robbie Ray → San Diego
The first big move came for San Diego in the form of acquiring left-handed starter Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants. Dealing for the 3.08 ERA southpaw came at a price, however, as the Padres traded away RHP pitching prospect Miguel Mendez along with shortstop prospect Joniel Hernandez. Mendez and Hernandez immediately slot in as the Giants’ No. 14 and No. 21 prospects, respectively.
Mize → San Diego
There was one more buzzer-beater at the deadline that would send even more highly-touted prospects out of San Diego when the Padres traded for Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize and third baseman Gage Workman. San Diego gave up left-handed pitching prospects Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf in the deal to add Mize’s 158 ERA+ and 2.58 FIP.
The Grade
San Diego entered the deadline with a clear need for starting pitching help, and they came out on the other side with two of the best in the game. Both Ray and Mize will be free agents after this season, however, making the long-term value not great for the Padres.
Despite the potential short-sighted view, if the goal is to make the postseason, this move gets you a lot closer to that goal. By September, a Padres rotation could have Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove, Michael King, and now Ray and Mize. Assuming there are no issues with health, that is a deadly rotation.
Preller has a history of sending away some of his top prospects in favor of proven MLB guys, and it doesn’t always pan out when looking at the numbers. The Padres are trading years of MLB service in exchange for what could be only two or three months of these guys, but these players could end up being the missing pieces that carry the club into a deep postseason run.
San Diego has made four of their nine postseason berths since 2020 because of Preller and his strategies, so it’s hard to say what he’s doing is the wrong move. No matter how much it hurts to lose some of your top prospects in an already weak farm system, if it gives you that edge come October, there would be zero regrets.
For that, I give the Padres a B+ grade for their moves at this year’s deadline.
