2024-07-31 14:30:02
SAN DIEGO — The Padres spent the Trade Deadline building one of the best bullpens in baseball — the type of bullpen they believe will dominate deep into October. If they have enough in the rotation to get them there.
San Diego swung three deals on Deadline Day, including the headliner — a six-player trade with Miami that netted All-Star left-hander Tanner Scott. The Padres also received right-hander Bryan Hoeing in the deal, sending four prospects to the Marlins — a package headlined by left-hander Robby Snelling, their No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 44 overall.
TRADE DETAILS
Padres get: LHP Tanner Scott, RHP Bryan Hoeing
Marlins get: LHP Robby Snelling (Padres No. 2 prospect), RHP Adam Mazur (No. 4), INF/OF Graham Pauley (No. 5), INF Jay Beshears (No. 24)
In the Padres’ two other deals, they fortified their rotation depth by acquiring lefty Martín Pérez from Pittsburgh and added some Triple-A outfield help in a trade that sent righty reliever Enyel De Los Santos to the Yankees.
TRADE DETAILS
Padres get: LHP Martín Pérez
Pirates get: LHP Ronaldys Jimenez (Dominican Summer League)
TRADE DETAILS
Padres get: OF Brandon Lockridge (Triple-A)
Yankees get: RHP Enyel De Los Santos, RHP Thomas Balboni Jr. (Single-A)
With a relatively complete offense already, it should come as little surprise that pitching served as the Padres’ primary focus ahead of the Deadline. They also landed righty reliever Jason Adam in a four-player trade with Tampa Bay on Sunday. Meanwhile, Scott, who will become a free agent after the season, has posted a 1.18 ERA in 44 appearances this year.
“We should be able to slam the door shut and put us in a really good position to win a lot of ballgames,” said Adam, who joined the team on Tuesday.
Of course, the Padres chose to skew their pitching acquisitions heavily toward the bullpen, leaving their rotation thin and full of question marks. Speaking after Tuesday’s Deadline had passed, general manager A.J. Preller said he weighed both needs about evenly, but couldn’t pass up the caliber of arms he’d be adding to his ‘pen.
“There are a lot of ways you can go about building championship teams and rosters and pitching staffs,” Preller said. “Historically, you just need some guys that can get outs with big-time hitters. If that’s as a starter for seven innings, that’s extremely valuable. … But having a group that hopefully shortens the game, we’ve seen some teams win championships that way.”
The deal vaults the Padres toward best-bullpen-in-baseball territory. Scott and Adam will be featured alongside All-Star closer Robert Suarez and breakout setup man Jeremiah Estrada. Manager Mike Shildt noted that Suarez would remain in the closer role — with quite a trio of set-up options.
In three days, San Diego has turned perhaps its biggest weakness — the depth of the ‘pen — into a serious strength. (The type of strength that often plays well in October, too.) Along with the four big names, the Padres also feature lefties Adrian Morejon and Yuki Matsui — and potentially the righty Hoeing, depending on how they use him.
“Those are huge additions to our bullpen,” Shildt said. “It makes us really strong, shortens the game quite a bit. Great job by the front office and A.J.”
Of course, the cost was plenty steep. Snelling remains a tantalizing prospect, though his struggles this season indicate he’d probably fallen well below his No. 44 overall prospect ranking. Mazur and Pauley are close to being big league contributors (Mazur had recently filled in as the team’s No. 5 starter), and Beshears had begun to prove himself at High-A Fort Wayne this season.
It’s a hefty package of prospects for a return headlined by a reliever with only a few months of team control remaining. But it’s certainly not out of line with organizational tendencies.
“One thing we’ve never been scared of is: We’re going to trade players,” Preller said. “We’re going to trade players that are going to show up in the big leagues. … But if we get what we’re looking to do and it works for us both this year and over the next three to five years, we’re content with that.”
Indeed, while the Padres sacrificed six of their top 12 prospects to acquire Scott and Adam, they held onto catcher Ethan Salas and Leodalis De Vries — ranked as the overall top prospects in each of the last two international classes. While the depth of the farm system has clearly taken a hit, Preller was determined to hold onto his high-end talent.
In the end, that likely cost him any chance at an ace-caliber starter like Tarik Skubal or Garrett Crochet — neither of whom were dealt ahead of Tuesday’s Deadline. Now, the Padres must piece together two months — and, they hope, a postseason — from a rotation that has been dominant lately, but also thin.
There are major questions surrounding Joe Musgrove (on the IL with right elbow inflammation) and Yu Darvish (on the restricted list). Matt Waldron and Michael King have already surpassed their career highs in innings.
On that front, the addition of Pérez helps to an extent. The 13-year veteran certainly raises the floor. But Pérez was not acquired as a serious option for postseason starts, having posted a 5.20 ERA in 16 starts.
The Padres will also incorporate Hoeing into their pitching mix, though it’s unclear exactly how. Hoeing has a 2.70 ERA in 16 appearances this season — two starts. He could serve as a starter/reliever hybrid.
The Padres are banking on having enough healthy arms for their rotation to hold up.
Then, they’re banking on their lockdown bullpen to carry them the rest of the way.
