Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon has reportedly drawn interest from several teams as the trade deadline approaches, and it appears as though the Padres can be added to that list. The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, Ken Rosenthal, and Patrick Mooney write that the Friars “have Taillon on their radar,” as starting pitching remains a need in San Diego.
Joe Musgrove might be on the verge of starting a minor league rehab assignment this coming week, but he’ll need multiple ramp-up starts since he hasn’t pitched since May 26. Yu Darvish’s last MLB game was on May 29 and his last minor league rehab game was on June 19, and his return date remains uncertain given how the veteran is still on the Padres’ restricted list dealing with a personal family issue.
San Diego’s rotation has still posted solid numbers even without these two frontline pitchers, with the trio of Dylan Cease, Michael King, and Matt Waldron leading the way. Bolstering that group with a veteran like Taillon, however, would allow the Padres to bump the struggling Adam Mazur out of the starting mix. Should the Padres get Musgrove, Darvish, and a new addition joining up with Cease, King, and Waldron, they could perhaps adopt a six-man rotation to keep everyone fresh for the playoff drive, or this semi-surplus could resolve itself should other injuries emerge.
Taillon is far more than just a rental player, as he isn’t yet halfway through the four-year, $68MM contract he signed with Chicago during the 2022-23 offseason. Taillon receives $18MM in each season of the deal, so he has roughly $43MM remaining in owed salary — a number that won’t appeal to a Padres club that is trying to reset its Competitive Balance Tax status. After paying the tax in each of the previous three seasons, staying under the CBT line was a known goal for the Padres this season, and the team is projected (as per RosterResource) for a current tax number of roughly $224.8MM.
While this gives San Diego some wiggle room under the $237MM tax threshold, acquiring Taillon would alone absorb the rest of that CBT space, to say nothing or any other additions the Padres might might before the deadline. The Padres could look to sweeten the prospect return in order to get the Cubs to cover a larger chunk of Taillon’s remaining salary, or perhaps some kind of larger multi-player deal could be arranged involving a notable contract heading from San Diego to Chicago to help offset the Taillon contract. A.J. Preller and Jed Hoyer are no strangers to creative trades, and it is perhaps worth noting that the two clubs have been linked up on multiple trades over the last eight years — most notably the blockbuster that sent Darvish to San Diego during the 2020-21 offseason.
Speculatively speaking, it might be more likely that the Padres view Taillon as something of a backup plan, as one would imagine the Friars would first explore less-expensive options before considering adding another long-term pitching contract into the organization. A possible trade might also be a moot point if Taillon happens to have San Diego as one of the 10 teams on his no-trade list, as his contract contains some partial protection against a deal.
Winners of their last six games, the streaking Padres have moved into a wild card position, and are only percentage points behind the Mets for the top NL wild card spot. Since San Diego is only 6.5 games behind the Dodgers, the NL West title isn’t yet out of the question, but in any regard, the Padres are heating up at just the right time. Preller figures to be aggressive in buying at the deadline to fully cement his team as a contender after missing the playoffs in 2023, even if upgrading while staying under the CBT line presents an interesting secondary challenge.
Beyond pitching, the Padres might also need help behind the plate, as the New York’s Post Jon Heyman writes that catching could be a target area. Luis Campusano and Kyle Higashioka have handled the catching duties this season, with Campusano hitting .237/.280/.375 with six home runs over 239 plate appearances and Higashioka showing unexpected pop in hitting .226/.269/.540 with 12 homers in 145 PA.
That translates to a 127 wRC+ for Higashioka and an 89 wRC+ for Campusano, who has also posted subpar defensive metrics. Former top prospect Campusano was seemingly starting to break out in 2023, but this season’s tough results could at least result in the loss of more playing time, if the Padres opt for the hotter hand in Higashioka. Adding a new catcher would shake things up entirely, and Campusano could potentially see himself sent to Triple-A in that scenario since he still has a minor league option remaining.
Since Ethan Salas is one of baseball’s top prospects, the Padres already have a “catcher of the future” in the wings for a couple of seasons down the road, giving them some leverage to eventually move on from Campusano if he can’t get back on track. Of course, there is danger in shuffling the catching position at midseason, and some teams shy away from deadline catching trades since it can be difficult on a catcher to join a new team and learn a new pitching staff’s tendencies on the fly.
Speaking of prospects, it remains to be seen how willing the Padres are to trade significantly from a minor league pipeline that has already been heavily mined for trades in recent years. The Athletic’s Dennis Lin opines that shortstop prospect Leodalis De Vries might not be entirely untouchable in trade talks but is at least close to such status, as “the Padres will not consider moving him for anything less than controllable, star-level talent.”
The 17-year-old De Vries was an international signing just this past January, inked to a hefty $4.2MM bonus. De Vries has already started to deliver on his potential by hitting .242/.362/.450 with nine homers and 11 steals (in 12 attempts) over his first 276 professional plate appearances, all at the A-level. Xander Bogaerts told Lin that he was very impressed by De Vries’ talent and maturity when the two were briefly teammates during Bogaerts’ minor league rehab assignment this season, further enhancing De Vries’ status as a possible future cornerstone in the Padres’ lineup. It is fair to assume plenty of other teams have taken notice and asked about De Vries in trade talks, giving Preller another big chip to possibly consider dangling for the right return by July 30.
Obviously you have to give something up to get something but man trading De Vries would take some serious balls lol would not want to be the guy held accountable for that when in 4-5 years he is a potential superstar
As a Padre fan having watched all of the games this year but a few due to insane blackout geographic restrictions (I don’t get TV from the 2 cities that are 200 miles away that I’m blacked out from due to being “in market”), I respectfully disagree and hope that SD does not mess with the backstop position at deadline. The off-season will require another 1 year gem – any other ex Yankees out there looking for a rebound year?
The schedule favors SD a lot the rest of the way. If Joe can come back and be a 3 inning opener on the few days a 5th is needed that would be huge and make acquiring that frontline guy unnecessary.
The rotation is set for 2025 even so controllable pitcher isn’t worth the prospects at this point.
They do need a reliable 4/5 rental guy – maybe a 3 middle of the pack prospects guy – just in case Joe or Yu don’t make it back. No 2021 repeat please!
If either Joe or Yu return – they can be BP pieces themselves or can shift a king or Vásquez to BP to address rest for them due to innings concerns. Solves the need for a late BP arm.
Getting 1 of the 2 back can bring a lot of creativity in solving multiple needs.
Oh, and that Tatis guy should be back in 2-3 weeks.
I don’t see anyway they move king to the pen even to lesson his work load. I could see them going to a 6 man rotation for a bit to do so. Vasquez is definitely an option to move to the pen.
I do like the idea of the padres adding another starter as well as trading for Tanner Scott.
Fedde, Quantrill, Flaherty or Tallion are all good options. I don’t see the padres trading for Crochet unless his insane price drops. Especially with his new extension demands. Though if they did trade for him and went to a 6 man rotation that would lighten the load on him and king.
None. Zero. No chance they trade for Crochet who wants a contract extension as a condition of pitching in playoffs. He’s also pitched more innings than ever before already, and even more than King, will need to be shackled later in season. As LT said, the 2025 rotation is set, they just need a #5 type rental SP so they can wish Mazur good luck on his trip back to El Paso.
And why push Vasquez to BP? He’s been a very competent #4, and will be fine as #5 or #6 moving forward.
What the Pads really need most though is another stud RP arm.
Brew, I agree on Vásquez being in good shape as a 4/5 (maybe more over last few games).
I was just thinking as a way to address his work load too, for Sept and beyond if SD acquired a SP and either Yu or Joe returned. A 6 man is one thing but a 7 isn’t likely with all of the rest days coming. Of course in October, it’s a 3 maybe 4 man rotation.
Personally, I like the idea of Joe coming back as an opener / BP guy to avoid waiting 3-4 weeks while he “ramps up”. Let him open at mlb and build up to 3-4 innings over a couple of starts, random inning here and there in 7 or 8th.
Depending on who is acquired, would Joe even be in a playoff rotation? Even more so if Yu returns?
If they won’t do this with Joe and if they do acquire a SP, it just seems like Vásquez is the odd man out? I’m not suggesting it be permanent going forward.
I like him as a 5 in 2025. Of course, looking more and more like Yu is the 5 in 2025! I can live with that!
I think even if they want to use Musgrove as an opener while he builds up he will still likely need at least 2 rehab outings to make sure he is healthy.
As far as Musgrove starting a game in the playoffs that will likely determine on how well he pitches upon his return. I think the padres have to approach the deadline as if they will get nearly nothing from Musgrove or Darvish this year. If one or both return then that’s a bonus and can figure out where to slot everyone. Both have top 3 in a rotation stuff when healthy and performing to their capabilities. First though they have to make the playoffs and that’s why you go get another starter as well as at least one other reliever.
The timing of the Musgrove rehab really muddles things. His bone spur will need to be dealt with off-season, so what we’re all hoping for is that they can control the pain sufficiently to get him back for a couple months of effective service. Big question mark on him, and of course Yu. I don’t think there’s any question they will add a SP, I just don’t see a scenario where they spend big (in prospects) to get a controllable guy that returns in 2025 or longer. Maybe? With Snelling and Lesko taking more time, they might see 2025 as no-no Cease, King, Waldron (what a steal he’s been), Vasquez, and some combination of Musgrove/Yu/and a new offseason addition. That’s a nice rotation to have set in place and it could be a 6-man rotation (which I favor) depending on return of Yu..
I don’t think they need to move Vasquez the BP, but they will need another experienced SP to get to the playoffs, and also hold down #4 SP if in a 7 game series in the playoffs. That could be Joe, but no one can say.
The problem I see with Musgrove as opener/BP, at least right now, is that the BP is so bad at giving length. They really need to add to the BP. Aside from Suarez, Estrada, Morejon and maybe Matsui (though I don’t trust him), they are in bad shape.
Finally LT, I guess my worries about this scary 9 game road trip were for naught! 6-1 so far with King on the mound today. They are a strange resilient bunch. Profar is giving us one of those crazy breakout years, like Steve Finley/Ken Caminiti 1996. Amazing to watch.
The only teams that has the prospects and the money to get crochet are the Mets and dodgers, but David Stearns shys away for good reason on those types of situations
The dodgers have spots in the rotation and bullpen for crochet and have the money to ink an extension if they have to
That’s just not even close to being true…plenty of teams can afford crochet both money and prospect wise/
Brew, your concerns for the road trip were valid at the time. SD has just found a groove.
On Waldron – yeah where are this AJ lost the Clevinger trade guys now? Like most trades, you just have to give them time. Ala Gore has sure regressed.
Gore can’t find the plate if you gave him a map and a compass. His past delivery issues have snuck up and are biting his rear right now. The Nats/Soto swap seems more palatable now, especially with King, Vasquez and Higgy ruling the roost rn. Knock on wood! Go Pads
Dude. Quantrill is as good as Waldron now, but better than him prior to this year. Cantillo is one of their top 10 prospects. Arias is on their roster. Naylor is an all star. Clevinger and Greg Allen are washing cars.
Brew, Agree with everything you said. A rental starter and a RP. Jack Flaherty and Carlos Estevez?
Would be nice. Except everyone seems to want Flaherty!
Quantrill is in Colorado now and not nearly as good as Waldron now and projection is not even close.
Arias still can’t hit his weight (ok, barely). I’m a huge fan because he was the first prospect I met and got an autograph from in 2018 ST but he can’t hit – yet anyway.
But they got Waldron and crept for injury, fair pitching from Clev when healthy.
Cantillo is a great prospect – maybe he makes and maybe he doesn’t. You can’t count on him and you can’t count him out.
I’m not saying this is what happened here, but it bears repeating- if you keep everyone, where do they all fit on the 40 Man?
Some roster “casualties” were cast-off thanks to real and perceived upgrades. Would you rather have Arias kicking around… or Xander? Cantillo… or Snell? AJ balanced the 40 to be more competitive the last few seasons, and some worked better, sure… but “where does everybody fit on the 40” remains a viable question.
Let’s not compare to juicers
If he’s not a pitchman for DeVry University in the near future, all is lost.
His last name sounds like Dracula trying to say “the fries.”
All that is known about De Vries at this point is he has tools. 17 and at A ball is a nice start, but a far distance from the majors. What team is looking 4-5 years down the road if they are rebuilding? I’d be pithed if my team started a rebuild figuring 5 years til a main cog even arrived. The purpose of a trade should be to speed up the rebuild.
DeVries is the type of talent you could see in the majors as 20-21. So more like 3 or 4 years. Most teams that are doing a full rebuild take at least that long. Even longer for them to become truly competitive. You don’t take less talent back because a guy maybe up in 2 years when rebuilding.
At 19. De Vries is that kind of talent.
White Sox are just starting another rebuild. I don’t really trust them to develop a position player, but the timeline fits well and he’d be a worthy centerpiece for Crochet.
Also, would be kinda like the Tatis trade, but reversed. If the Padres trade De Vries now. They’ll regret it in 4 years.
Ken –
If he develops like a Tatis, regret in 2 years!
Vries got off to a slow start but is hitting .342/.455/.752 in the month of July with 8 homers at 17 years old.
Switch hitting shortstop that is going to be a stud. He is about as untouchable of a prospect as they come.
I’d be shocked if the padres moved him.
Roster resource has the padres 12m under the tax. That doesn’t count the money they are currently saving while darvish is on the restricted list. The padres will add another 7-8m under the tax if Darvish doesn’t return (almost 3m for each month he misses and it’s been nearly a month now).
So the padres could be anywhere from 12-20m under the tax. Tallion is owed about 6m still this year. So they can easily fit him under the tax and still add some pen pieces. I’m not buying them getting another catcher unless they trade campusano at the deadline. Perhaps they trade campusano for Tallion.
Higgy’s numbers look good but he has been even better the last 2 months. He made an adjustment in his stance and has been crushing balls.
“that is going to be a stud.” He’s certainly off to a good start, but a prospect is just a prospect. He’s proven he has tools, he hasn’t proven he’ll be a quality major leaguer yet. Padres won’t be eager to trade him, but I think they’ll be willing to for a difference-making acquisition.
First you can say that about any minor leaguer. None of them are sure things until they are. So it’s just my opinion.
While they may trade him for a true difference maker. Outside of Skubal I don’t really see that difference maker out there. Some may say crochet but he comes with real issues. One his lack of innings, two his new contract demands, three his injury history. While he fits the padres needs those issues will likely stop a team from trading away too much for him. I mean the athletic had the padres trading Salas, snelling and Vries for him…that is never ever happening.
Some of Crochet’s numbers, like FIP, K/9, and fWAR, are even better than Skubal’s. Small sample size is valid, but he has the advanced metrics to back up his performance, so if anything, he’s been unlucky so far having an ERA as high as he does. Most of his injury history was a TJS that cost him nearly 2 seasons. He’s on an innings limit, but won’t be next year. If your only concern is this year, there’s a small, but decent quality rental market.
I will say that the contract demand thing is weird and off-putting. But from what I’ve read, he wants the extension if the team wants him to be a reliever again this year. I’m not sure he has the same requirement if they keep him a starter on limited innings. Too bad he can’t just sign an extension now with the Sox with some opt out that triggers in two years if they don’t trade him.
He said he only wants to be a starter, including the rest of the year. He wants a new deal because he will pitch so many innings especially if he starts in the playoffs that it increases his risk of injury and wants some financial security. Which I totally understand but does cloudy what a team would get if they traded for him.
Nobody is trading for crochet this deadline without wanting to use him this year. Otherwise they would just wait until the offseason. Of course a team would only get two potential playoff runs with him instead of three which lowers his value some.
He maybe as good or even better than Skubal but Skubal doesn’t come with the three risks I listed. Plus as you stated has a little longer track record.
Lastly one of the reason crochet is also so desired is because he makes no money. The contract extension talks would like me a he wants more than what the next two season in arb will get him. Who knows if he wants to buy out some free agent years. We know the Sox had extension talks with him and they went no where. Which leads me to believe he wants a decent some.
Taillon is under contract for 2 more years, so Padres hit for the CBT would be the AAV of what he is owed this season and the next 2. About $43 million total and an AAV of $14.33 million. With the 2025 rotation already set, I highly doubt the Padres are even considering Taillon. Flaherty and even Snell might be options, but not Taillon.
Padres will not be trading for Crochet. They need rotation help for a few months this season and next season is already set with 6 guys, Cease, King, Waldron, Vasquez, Musgrove, and Darvish, already on that staff. Anyone even mentioning the Padres regarding Crochet is not really paying attention.
Nothing, plus that doesn’t even include the money they are saving while darvish isn’t being paid. The padres are in pretty good shape to add and stay under the tax.
Preller is going to steal Jack Flaherty from the Dodgers for a package that includes Lesko. The Tigers have Kelly if you need a good catcher to split time and good controllable BP arms too so perhaps some one stop shopping is in order. Get the Tigers to eat salary and up the prospect package if salary is a concern. They can afford it.
If Lesko wasn’t on the table for Cease with two full years of control left, I doubt he’ll be traded for Flaherty with two months of control.
Yeah I don’t see the padres trading him for a rental. Despite the so called sellers market we haven’t seen any high prospects trades yet. Mostly prospects from the 10-20 range in their systems. Perhaps we will see some moved in the 5-10 range unless it’s for a controllable player.
Flaherty is certainly the best rental pitcher and could fetch a back-end top 100 prospect. But yeah, I don’t see any other rental pitcher getting as high a return.
That was at the start of the season though.You have to wonder how much Lesko’s star has dimmed this season with his inflated ERA and all those walks. Lesko’s had a rough season.
Yeah Lesko has a very high floor and a very low ceiling atm. Which means the padres probably won’t sell low on him.
He has. Very. But the stuff is there. Changeup is plus-plus. Needs lots of adjustments to repeat his delivery … something to work on during the off-season at that new pitching lab.
But, still he’d be a guy to move for the right deal.
Preller has traded so many prospects but despite that I have a hard time remembering him trading low on one like he would be with Lesko right now. I
I agree. I think he is a keeper. I can still dream that the Tigers get him though 😉 Cheers to you guys and best of luck in the playoffs!
@Motor. I still haven’t fully recovered from the 1984 WS blitz from our home boy Alan Trammell, but your well wishes are much-appreciated. Good luck to your stripes in ’25 and beyond.
Lesko for a rental ain’t happenin’ Bummer, sorry bud! Cheers amigo
An entire article about the Pads SP rotation and needs and no mention of the very solid year Vasquez has had as their #4.
The continued rumors about DeVries being available are silly. He already looks spectacular, even more so than Salas, and they won’t deal him when his trade value is at an all time low.
Lesko’s trade value is likely at an all time low, Vries’s stock is shooting through the roof. My guess is a year from now he will be a top 10 prospect in baseball and will likely be in the top 50 on most boards soon. Saw Keith law has him at 39 with his latest update.
Hey Simm. Sounds like you’ve been following de Vries over the past month as I have. He’s been blowing up the league at Elsinore and I really want to get over there to catch a game.
Yes I think he’ll be top 10 MLB eventually, if not soon. And imagine his trade value then? But I hope he’s the Pads SS of the future, from what I’m hearing his arm isn’t quite as strong as they had predicted but he’s 17 and that could change with physical maturity. On the flip side, his throwing accuracy has been surprisingly good given that was a downgraded metric of his going into camp.
Yeah who knows if he sticks at short or not. My guess is he will be given every opportunity to do so. His bat should play even if they move him to left field.
The padres are known for having a millions shortstops but they actually have a real question mark at who will play short next year. My guess is they will extend Kim. His price won’t be all that high with the season he is having.
Yep. The SS next year hasn’t been discussed openly but it’s the elephant in the room. If they don’t extend Kim, things get really interesting eh?
For sure, the only real solution is moving Xander back imo. Moving either Tatis or Merrill back to short just opens up another hole.
They can move Xander back and cronenworth back to second and Arraez at first or perhaps get another guy to play first.
That’s why I think they will eventually extend/resign Kim.
Yes that’s the natural solution if they don’t keep Kim, the team gets slower and the overall defense takes a hit at SS and 1B (if Arraez sticks there). Another off season question: LF.
Yep. With Profar’s recent break-out vis-a-vis his career statistics, what happens in 2025? He’ll be 32 years old next Spring. Does Preller try to extend him at what, $7M? $17? More/less, and for how long. I’m certain his agent will try to get him at least a four year gig based on 2024 performance.
Will he regress in 2025? Does he merit the risk of a high dollar, four year contract?
Honestly, lol, I have no idea.
Salt – probably all of the above!
He will try for 4 years at 10-12 (maybe more);
AJ will try to extend him (hopefully not at those amounts);
He will surely regress based on getting older and his overall history.
All said, unless something better comes along, SD and Profar are good for each other and they both seem to realize that.
How about a deal similar to the prior one – 3 x 7 with player opt outs?
Most fans hated that one back then but maybe after 2024, not so much!
Tirso is finally looking like an option for LF though.
Cubs shouldn’t be trading Jameson. They will need him in 2025. Hendricks is done. Counting on Assad, Brown, Wesneski, Wicks, and Killian to cover the rest of the innings behind Steele and Iminaga is foolish. Since after the all star break last year Taillon has been a solid number 3 with mostly quality starts.
I guess but if they can get something that helps them next year then they should listen. They can always sign one of the pitching free agents to replace him. 18m would go a long ways to finding a replacement.
Cubs should not trade anyone and go into 2025 with the same crappy team as this year… per most Cub fans.
When Preller eventually gets fired going to leave SD with nothing but outrageous contracts on aging players and a barren farm system. They will be last place for a decade. It’s sad was rooting for them.
Preller likely will not be fired this year. Considering the padres slashed 90m in payroll and are very competitive he will likely get another year even if they miss the playoffs.
I wasn’t a Preller fan previously but he absolutely killed it this past off-season.
Plus while preller has traded away the farm about 3 different times he always find new high end prospects. So I’m not concerned at all about him beefing up the farm system. Heck even that god awful clevinger trade doesn’t look so bad with Waldron performing the way he has.
The Nola trade still sucks because of losing Munoz.
People blame him for these long term contracts but a lot of that had to do with Peter Seidler and his desire to keep these players and win while he was still alive. People give to much blame on Gm’s when signing big money contracts when they are almost always owner driven.
Not just off season, AJP has killed it early in the season too (Cease, Arraez, etc..), my only criticism of his moves relates to some of the BP pick ups off the scrap heap. Hopefully that’s resolved this weekend.
To be fair Peralta and DLS were both much better the last year or two then they have been this year. Matsui was Leah’s a bit of a risk but he has actually been decent.
I’ve been surprised how poorly DLS has been (11 HRs, yikes). Peralta looked good initially but then really lost his command in in high leverage situations (before being injured of course). Kolek, Cosgrove and Austin Davis have not looked good at all. They need to find some diamonds in the rough (other than Estrada). Maybe Gillaspie? I don’t think they do this at TDL though. At TDL, my hope is that they add a very good RP – a closer type or near-closer who can help anchor 7th or 8th innings. To bring more stability to BP innings 7-9 every night, not just every other night.
He has had his share of scrap heap finds. That is the thing with scrap heap searching – bound to be more misses than hits or they wouldn’t be on the heap!
Estrada,
Pierce Johnson, Kirby Yates – was Bad Hand an AJ pick up? Even Suarez coming back over?
Over AJ’s tenure, and before, the Pads have been masterful at building some of the best BPs in MLB. Today we saw Kolek and Gillaspie. Fortunately Pads had a big lead they couldn’t blow!
Are you a new baseball fan? This is like the third or fourth time Preller has “decimated” the farm system, only to rebuild into one of the best farm systems in the sport in only a couple years, without going on a rebuild. He is one of the best at building a farm system. His major flaw is his patience.
And Kt411, I might retort that the perceived “lack of patience” was all Seidler and his bidding. All in all, and I try to stay as impartial as possible, but Preller is crushing it here. The only way I could be happier with our present situation(s) is if we hoist the Piece of Metal soon. Cheers!
That’s a good point. I do remember reading about how Seidler was the one that spearheaded the Bogaerts deal, when media pundits and fans alike were bashing Preller for the length and amount of the deal, as a recent example.
John Heyman is an idiot – there is no way the Padres are in the market for a catcher
He predicted the padres would acquire Diaz. I actually would have said there is a chance of this before higgy started raking. Now I see it as a long shot.
That was my thought as well. Higgy has been one of the best catchers in baseball over the past 2 months. Campy is starting to look good at the plate after a slow start. No concerns at C for Pads. They will add offseason though with loss of Higgy
Or just resign higgy. But yeah they will need to do something there
Maybe he’ll take a 1 year deal. I think they want Salas in 2026
Campy looked spectacular in Cease’s no-no… he’s definitely improving his game. He’s still young(!!!), but aging well.
I can see one stop shopping with the Tigers. Flaherty, Andrew Chafin, and Mark Canha for Adam Mazur, Graham Pauley, Ryan Bergert, Homer Bush Jr, and Brandon Valenzuela. Could also substitute or add in Eguy Rosario or Johnny Brito as need be.
That definitely helps all the padres needs. Would be wild to have that big of a deal from one team. My guess is the tigers would want one of snelling or Lesko with the padres giving up less quantity
Cubs rotation in 2025 is Steele, Shota, Cade Horton, Ben Brown, Jameson Taillon. Next up Assad, Wicks, Wesneski, Smyly. Ok with trading Taillon and Neris to spend money on upgrade at catcher like Jensen. Maybe a stopgap 3B until Shaw or Cam is ready. Open to trading Morel otherwise he is DH only, keep Hoerner and Swanson, Cubs won’t get enough in return. Outfield has depth with Seiya, Happ, Alcantara, Canario, Tauchman, PCA. Would keep Leiter and Alzolay as setup pitchers and sign new closer in offseason.
I think Padres should be targeting Lorenzen and other similar pitchers. Tallion is fine, but 2.5/$45M is a lot for a rental of a 3/4 type while also eating up a ton of CBT when the Padres have some expiring contracts and extensions to think about next year. Otherwise they should go big on SP with Snell or Skubal (the latter being the only guy I would want to see De Vries dealt for). They could also try and go the 2015 Royals route and build a gnarly bullpen, but the Padres don’t have a lot of bullets left on the farm at this point and it’s been a pretty lousy year for the farm talent overall. There’s no need to do anything about the catching situation; Higgy is exceeding expectations with the bat, and while Campusano’s having another frustrating year, he’s still performing well enough.
As for BP arms, Brebbia strikes me as an excellent target. Seems like a similar situation to Barlow last year where a guy has strong peeipherals and a poor ERA. T.J. McFarland would also be a good option if Peralta is not expected back this year.
Alternatively
Michael Lorenzen as a rental
Carson Kelly or Danny Jansen as a rental
Add a pen arm or 2
The Padres lost Soto, Snell, Hader, Lugo, Wacha, and Nick Martinez from last year, cut 90M in payroll, lost Tatis, Bogaerts, Darvish, and Musgrove for large chunks of the season, yet have a better team this year than last.
And people still want to fire Preller?
Yeah, you can hate on preller but he has done an excellent job this year. All that and traded away one top 100 prospect. That was Thorpe who he got for Soto.
That Soto trade to the Yankees has been one of his best trades ever. This team would be horrible without that trade.
King has been great, higgy has been very good (great the last two months), Vasquez has been a life saver in the 4th spot. Plus Thorpe being the main piece for Cease. Brito was spotty and we didn’t get much from him yet but what a huge trade all while lowering payroll. Plus everyone one of them are back next year except higgy.
Arraez trade was also a great one for the padres.
Solano was a fantastic pickup. Estrada the waiver wire pickup was great.
Outside of a couple of pen guys not being as good as expected preller has hit on almost everything the last 7 months or so.
There is a chance as well that Musgrove, darvish and tatis (who nearly for sure will) return this year.
No doubt. In the end, one year of Soto brought in Cease, King, Vasquez (3/5 of our rotation), along with Brito and Higashioka, most of them for multiple years.
Plus, I thought the Preller meddling was supposed to be the source of all chaos and dysfunction. This year, the team is a picture of harmony.
Proof positive that we shouldn’t believe everything we hear out of “the media”… AJ and Schildt seem like natural blood brothers. I still insist that BoMel was the major “backstage” issue last year, and from what I see this year I feel even more correct. Who really knows?!? Go Pads
Preller and Shildt are baseball rats. One can imagine those two talking about the team into the wee hours.
Plus, Shildt has daily meetings with the team reviewing the pros and cons of the previous game and discussing the game ahead. Everyone’s on the same page.
With Melvin, no one was on the same page. That’s why we had all the crazy stories.
I was yelling about Sleppy Bob and his “hands-off managing” being the biggest problem the Padres faced last season.
The Giants struggles this year have made me even more convinced that he was the problem.
@ Simm. Cut and paste this summary to the next (inevitable) commentor who gripes about AJP. I wasn’t too thrilled about the 2nd Soto trade, not knowing at the time they needed to cut payroll as much as they did, but wow what a nice haul it’s been. Amazingly, we’re nearly getting Soto like production from our LFer at 3% the cost. Better defense there too. i.e., Profar alone could win AJ GM of the year award, if there was such a thing.
10 years what has he won? A DS and 1 game in a NLCS? Calm down with he’s “hit” on this guy and this guy can they make a WC then perform in a postseason before giving him flowers
Padres catchers are top 10 in MLB in OPS+ and wRC+ and heating up. Look at their stats in June and July. There is no need for catching help. As usual, Heyman is wrong.
It is truly sad how far the Athletic and Dennis Lin have fallen since being purchased by the NYT. It’s nothing but clickbait now. De Vries is leading the Storm in HR and OPS+ and is top ten in A ball in both. There is more of a chance that the Padres would trade Cease than De Vries,
Trade prospects for CBT breaker Taillon, trade generational talent de Vries, trade prospects for a catcher they don’t need. This article is from Mars.
Snellzilla since returning from IL.
4 starts.
24 IP.
30 SO.
7 BB.
0.75 ERA.
He will cost just $5 million towards the CBT in 2024 for the team that trades for him now.
He WILL opt out since the $30 million guarantee he has now for 2025 will be easy to top in FA. Even a 2-year deal at $20 million AAV beats it by 50%.
He will be CHEAP in prospect cost because he is a 2-month rental.
Go get him Padres.
His recent (and typical) bounceback makes him very viable. As with Profar comments above, Snell and SD were a good fit for each other. Had Pete lived, I think he would have been a Padre.
Rather grab him than Taillon or spending big to get a Skubal / Crochet (prospects I mean). As a LH he is a better grab than most of the other mid/back end guys that might be available without taking a top 5 prospect.
Would be a great candidate for extension even – maybe.
6 innings, 15 Ks yesterday. I know a lot of Giants fans (half my extended family) want SD to pick him up as a weapon to take down LA. There is a hidden collaboration you know….
Brew – going for the sweep today (never would have thought I’d type that!) in Baltimore. Even without it, SD is the hottest team in mlb post AS break – (not that either!)
All without getting much from Manny and nothing from Tatis, Musgrove or Darvish – never, ever would have thought I’d type that!
Maybe stars are aligning!
5.5 back of LA and LA has a losable game today.
What would a 2 game sweep of LA in SD do to propel the team?
And now add an arm or 2 for the stretch run.
FYI – Bergert has to be added to 40 to avoid Rule 5. DFA either Enyel or Wandy and bring him up to the pen – that next spot start and then pen?
Fun times.
CBT is calculated by AAV and Taillon is under contract for 2 more seasons after 2024. The AAV in the trade would be the $43 million total he is owed divided by 3 or a $14.33 million to the CBT each season.