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Padres Place Jackson Merrill On 10-Day Injured List

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TODAY: Infielder Will Wagner was called up from Triple-A to take Merrill’s spot on the active roster, the Padres announced.

AUGUST 23: The Padres announced this evening that they’ve placed outfielder Jackson Merrill on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle sprain. The move was retroactive to August 20th, and no corresponding move to replace Merrill on the roster will be announced until tomorrow.

Merrill, 22, already hasn’t appeared in a game since August 17th due to his ailing ankle and now won’t be back for at least the 29th. It’s been a frustrating sophomore season for the outfielder, as he’s been limited to just 91 games between his current ankle injury, an early-season hamstring strain, and an IL stint for concussion-like symptoms back in June. Even when Merrill has been healthy enough to take the field for the Padres, he’s not quite looked like himself. The youngster’s rookie year saw him hit .292/.326/.500 (130 wRC+) with 61 extra-base hits (including 24 homers) and 16 steals in 19 chances.

That was enough to get him plenty of accolades: he finished second only to Paul Skenes in NL Rookie of the Year voting and nabbed an All-Star appearance, a Silver Slugger award, and a ninth-place finish in NL MVP voting. That banner year created plenty of optimism that Merrill would anchor the middle of San Diego’s lineup for years to come, and those hopes were further bolstered when he signed a nine-year extension with the organization earlier this year. Unfortunately, his numbers simply haven’t kept pace with last year. He’s slashed just .261/.317/.413 (105 wRC+) in 386 trips to the plate with 31 extra-base hits (including nine homers) and just one steal in three attempts.

That’s perfectly solid production, of course. It’s just a far cry from what Merrill did last year, and for a Padres clubbed locked in a tight NL West race with the Dodgers a healthy and effective Merrill would be a game changer. Perhaps that’s what has convinced the Padres to finally bite the bullet and place their center fielder on the shelf; giving him some additional time off to rest his ailing ankle could help him heal up for the September stretch run and into the postseason. If a healthy Merrill could play closer to his .357 xwOBA, which is in the same league as stars like Alex Bregman and Byron Buxton, then sitting him down for another week in order to get him healthy would be well worth doing.

Deadline addition Ramon Laureano has been handling center field in Merrill’s absence. That’s left an outfield corner open for Gavin Sheets, while Ryan O’Hearn has settled into a first base and DH role alongside Luis Arraez. With Laureano and O’Hearn in the mix following last month’s deadline, the Padres’ lineup is much better-equipped to handle Merrill’s absence than it was earlier in the year with players like Jason Heyward and Oscar Mercado in the outfield mix. With a fairly solid outfield mix even without Merrill on the roster, it’s unclear what direction the Padres will go for tomorrow’s corresponding transaction. Speculatively speaking, an infielder like Mason McCoy or Will Wagner could make some sense given that both Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth have missed a game recently with day-to-day injuries.

MLB, ESPN Nearing Deal Involving MLB.TV And In-Market Rights For Five Clubs

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Major League Baseball and ESPN are seemingly going to continue their relationship but with a new shape. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that the league and the network have an agreement in place which would give ESPN the right to sell all out-of-market games digitally. These rights have previously been sold by the league to consumers as the MLB.TV package. Under the agreement, ESPN will also acquire the in-market rights for the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Padres, Rockies and Twins. ESPN would also have an exclusive weekly game similar to Sunday Night Baseball, but on a different night of the week. The deal is not yet finalized but could be signed in September. It’s unclear how much ESPN would pay the league for this package but Marchand says it will be “substantial”.

MLB and ESPN have an existing contract but it is about to expire. The deal previously ran through 2028 but both sides agreed to opt out after the 2025 season. Under that deal, ESPN still has the rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Those rights are open for 2026 and beyond. A week ago, Marchand reported that those rights would likely be split up and sold to multiple companies, with Netflix being the favorite for the Derby while NBC/Peacock and Apple TV+ are each trying to get the other components. He echoes that framing in today’s reporting.

The new developments today are potentially seismic. MLB.TV has existed in essentially the same format since 2002. Baseball fans purchase the product through the league and get access to every MLB game, with some exceptions for local blackouts and other games guaranteed to be exclusives for certain broadcasters. If this deal goes through, it’s not exactly clear how it would impact existing MLB.TV consumers but Marchand writes they would likely have to get an ESPN subscription on top of an MLB.TV subscription. It’s unclear how this would impact those who purchase MLB.TV through cable or other linear subscription.

ESPN recently launched a streaming service, allowing anyone to pay $29.99 per month to access the network’s wares, whether or not they subscribe to cable or satellite. The network has recently been building out their portfolio, signing a number of deals with the NFL and WWE.

It now seems they hope to add a number of MLB components to their menu. It’s unclear exactly how MLB.TV customers would be impacted financially. Marchand reports that the basic MLB.TV sticker price should stay the same or could even drop. Paying the ESPN subscription fee as well would lead to customers paying more, though they would also gain access to other ESPN offerings outside of the baseball world. That new arrangement would naturally be a plus for some but a minus for others.

In addition to the MLB.TV plan, it seems ESPN will be gaining local rights for five clubs. Due to cable cutting, the regional sports network (RSN) model has been slowly eroding in recent years. The five aforementioned clubs have all seen their local broadcast deals collapse in recent years, which has led the league to step in and take over. Fans of those clubs have been able to purchase streaming rights, without blackouts, directly from the league. It seems likely these customers will be able to continue in a somewhat similar fashion, though Marchand suggests they would likely have to get an ESPN subscription and then pay an added fee for the specific team they want to access.

In addition to the MLB.TV rights and the local rigths of those five clubs, ESPN will also be getting the rights for some exclusive games to be broadcast nationally. It seems this will basically function the same way as Sunday Night Baseball, though on a different day of the week. It appears the details in this arena are still being worked out, as it’s unclear which day of the week is being targeted. Apple already has the rights to a game every Friday while Roku has an early game every Sunday. Marchand adds that MLB Network could also be part of the deal but that’s more up in the air.

Whatever deal is signed would be fairly temporary. Various different reporters have frequently suggested the league doesn’t want to sign anything that goes beyond 2028. They already have a number of deals expiring after that season. It seems commissioner Rob Manfred is hoping to market a large package, or packages, of rights to multiple broadcasters ahead of the 2029 season. All recent broadcast deals have been relatively short, with nothing going beyond 2028. Marchand reports that is expected to be the case with this ESPN deal as well.

These ongoing broadcast shuffles could hang over the upcoming labor strife. It is widely expected that there will be a lockout after the 2026 season. A prolonged stoppage could lead to games being cancelled in the 2027 season. Manfred and the owners would have to be cognizant of playing chicken with the players and how that could impact these broadcast negotiations. MLB is currently experiencing an uptick in popularity, with measures such as the pitch clock credited with increased attendance and TV ratings. That kind of momentum would help the league sell future broadcast rights but a lockout extending into the summer of 2027 could undermine that.

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images

Padres Release Luis Patino

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The Padres have released right-hander Luis Patino, according to the MadFriars website.  Patino was playing on a minor league contract signed back in January, and he’d posted a 2.63 ERA over 27 1/3 combined innings at the A-ball and Double-A levels this season, without any big league playing time.

Patino last pitched in the majors in 2023, as elbow problems during the spring of 2024 resulted in a Tommy John surgery at the very end of April.  The Padres non-tendered Patino last winter and then re-signed him to the minors deal, which cleared some space off San Diego’s 40-man roster and also saved the team some money in the form of Patino’s projected $800K arbitration salary.

The right-hander made it back to game action almost exactly one year to the day after his TJ procedure, as his first rehab game with A-level Lake Elsinore took place on May 4.  Besides a somewhat elevated walk rate, Patino was posting decent numbers during his time in the minors before injury problems surfaced again, as he has been on the Double-A injured list since late June due to elbow soreness.

This latest setback was apparently enough for the Padres to move on from Patino entirely, and it remains to be seen if the 25-year-old could be facing another surgery.  Whatever the situation, Patino is now facing yet another crossroads in a pro career that began as a top-100 prospect during his first stint in San Diego’s farm system.

Patino has a 5.02 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, and 11.4% walk rate over 136 1/3 innings in the majors, starting 23 of his 45 career games.  After making his MLB debut in the form of 17 1/3 innings with the Padres in 2020, Patino was part of the four-player package sent to the Rays in the Blake Snell trade that offseason.  Patino spent parts of the next three seasons with the Rays before being traded to the White Sox in August 2023, and the Padres brought him back to their organization via waiver claim in December 2023.

Poll: Can The Padres Hold Onto The NL West?

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It’s been a big week for baseball in California. After the Padres swept the Giants and the Angels swept the Dodgers, a new leader stood atop the NL West. The Padres had claimed sole possession of first, while the Dodgers slipped into second, one game back of San Diego. The playoff odds will tell you that the Dodgers remain the favorites, but they’re losing momentum. According to FanGraphs, the Dodgers had an 83.8% chance to win their division on Opening Day, while the Padres’ odds were a mere 3.8%. As recently as three weeks ago, L.A.’s odds reached 96.6%, while San Diego’s sat at 1.5%. Yet, the Padres have since won 14 of their last 18 games, while the Dodgers are 8-10 in the same span. Accordingly, FanGraphs now has L.A.’s odds just below two-thirds (63.8%) and San Diego’s just above one-third (36.1%). You can think of it this way: These odds mean the Padres are now about as likely to win the NL West as the White Sox (.364 winning percentage) are to win on any given day. It’s still not likely, but it’s more than possible. The White Sox, as bad as they are, have still won 44 games.

This big week of California baseball will continue into the weekend, as the Dodgers host the Padres for a three-game set at Chavez Ravine. With a series win, the Dodgers would secure the season series tiebreaker, which could prove critical in a close division race. A sweep would give them sole possession of first place once again. Conversely, for the Padres, a series win would keep their chances of winning the tiebreaker alive, while a sweep would give them a four-game cushion over their rivals. With a four-game lead, the Padres would control their own destiny for the 38 games remaining in the regular season; they only have three more against the Dodgers after this weekend.

The Dodgers are lined up to send Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow to the mound. While the team continues to be plagued by injuries – most recently to Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Hyeseong Kim, Tommy Edman, and Brock Stewart – the starting rotation is much stronger with Kershaw, Snell, and Glasnow, as well as Emmet Sheehan and Shohei Ohtani, all healthy at the same time, alongside 2025 All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto. While the Dodgers have seen their playoff odds plummet over the past three weeks, their starting rotation leads the majors in strikeout rate and SIERA in that time. They also rank second in groundball rate and xERA and third in fWAR. All this to say, the Dodgers’ starters, should they stay healthy, will be a strength for this team down the stretch.

As for the Padres, their pitching plans for the weekend became more complicated when Michael King was scratched with knee inflammation, heading back to the IL after only one start. He had just returned from a thoracic nerve issue that kept him out for more than two months. San Diego’s rotation, now more than ever, has a lot of question marks behind Dylan Cease and Nick Pivetta. Yu Darvish has been inconsistent since he made his season debut in July; the former ace is almost 39, and he’s missed a lot of time with injuries in the past few years. Deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes has only made two starts since returning from a four-month IL stint, and he’s yet to make it out of the fifth inning. It’s hard to know what the Padres can expect from him as well. The recently recalled Randy Vásquez is a great backup plan for King – he’s a much more established sixth starter than most teams can boast – but his 5.98 xERA and 5.85 SIERA are huge red flags underlying his 3.93 ERA in 22 starts this season.

Thankfully for the Padres, they have the best bullpen in the league backing up their starting staff. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller bolstered a group that already included Robert Suarez, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, and Jeremiah Estrada with flamethrower Mason Miller in a blockbuster deadline trade. The Padres’ bullpen leads the majors with 37 wins, 40 saves, a 2.97 ERA, and 6.7 fWAR, and keep in mind, Miller has only been a part of it for a couple of weeks. As for the Dodgers, they might have a great bullpen if it weren’t missing Scott, Yates, Stewart, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech, and Brusdar Graterol. It would be an exaggeration to call their arm barn a weakness, but one has to imagine that Dave Roberts is a lot less confident than Mike Shildt when it comes time to take his starter out of a game.

It should also be said that Miller and Cortes were far from Preller’s only trade deadline pickups. While Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers didn’t add much – Stewart and outfielder Alex Call were their biggest acquisitions – Preller may have won the deadline. At the very least, he won the deadline in the NL West, according to two-thirds of respondents in a recent MLBTR poll. At 5:01 PM CT on July 31, the newest Padres included Miller, Cortes, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, JP Sears, Freddy Fermin, and Will Wagner. The Dodgers were still three games up on the Padres at that point, but the Padres were a whole new team, with a deeper bullpen, a stronger rotation, a better catcher, and a more powerful offense against righties and lefties alike. Equally important was their decision to hold onto all of their key contributors who had come up in pre-deadline trade rumors, including Cease and Suarez.

The Dodgers have the better odds, according to both FanGraphs and PECOTA. They also have the better run differential, the higher FanGraphs WAR, and the reputation as the team to beat. After all, they’re the reigning World Series champions. They’ve won the NL West 11 times in the past 12 seasons. Meanwhile, the Padres haven’t won the West in almost 20 years. They haven’t won a pennant since the ’90s. They’ve never won it all. Yet, they’re playing like the better team right now, and they have the one-game lead to prove it. The question is: Can they hold on?

Will the Padres finally usurp the Dodgers in the NL West? Will the Dodgers’ dynasty live on another year? Or could a dark horse in the division pull off a remarkable comeback? Have your say in the poll below!

Padres Place Michael King On Injured List

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August 15: King spoke to reporters, including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, about his injury today. He says an MRI showed no structural damage and he hopes to return when first eligible.

August 14: The Padres announced that right-hander Michael King has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to left knee inflammation, retroactive to August 11th. Right-hander Randy Vásquez has been recalled in the corresponding move.

The Friars haven’t yet provided any information about King’s injury or how long they expect him to be out of action. His IL placement is a notable development regardless. The Padres just passed the Dodgers to take a one-game lead in the National League West. The two clubs open a three-game series against each other in Los Angeles tomorrow with the division lead on the line. King was scheduled to take the ball in the first game but that will no longer be the case. Perhaps Vásquez will take the ball instead. Dylan Cease, scheduled to start Saturday, could start Friday instead and still be on regular rest.

For King, it continues what has already been an injury-marred season. He landed on the IL in late May due to shoulder inflammation. That injury once seemed fairly innocuous, as King woke up feeling some discomfort after sleeping on his shoulder awkwardly. It was later revealed that he was battling an issue with his thoracic nerve. It took him over two months to return to the big league club.

Once he was healthy enough to get back on the mound, his return to the majors was swift. He made just one rehab start, which was on August 3rd. He tossed 61 pitches over 3 1/3 innings for Triple-A El Paso, allowing six earned runs. The Padres nonetheless activated him from the IL to start Saturday’s big league game. It took him 57 pitches to get through two innings against the Red Sox, allowing two earned runs in the process.

Evidently, some knee inflammation popped up between that start and today. There’s nothing to indicate King is in for an extended absence but it’s still not a great development for the club. King had a tremendous breakout with San Diego last year. He tossed 173 2/3 innings with a 2.95 earned run average, 27.7% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate. His rate stats were fairly similar this year before landing on the IL.

Ideally, the Padres would have that kind of production in their rotation, not only in the regular season but also in the playoffs. Perhaps King can get back on track in a few weeks but this is surely a setback they didn’t want.

They now go into the next few weeks with a rotation consisting of Cease, Yu Darvish, Nestor Cortes, Nick Pivetta and perhaps Vásquez. Guys like JP Sears, Matt Waldron and Kyle Hart are on optional assignment. Pivetta’s having a great year but Cease has a 4.86 ERA over his past ten starts. Darvish and Cortes have both been on the IL for most of the season. Having King back to his 2024 self would have made the group much stronger but he’s back on the shelf. Tomorrow’s game in Los Angeles is the first of 13 in a row without an off-day.

It’s also not a good development for King personally, as he’s an impending free agent. After his tremendous 2024 campaign and in the early parts of this year, he was trending towards being one of the top free agent starters of the 2025-26 offseason, with a good shot at a nine-figure deal. His monthslong summer absence put a cloud of uncertainty around him and put a big dent in his earning power.

Getting back to the majors could have been the first step towards putting him back on track. Almost two months of solid regular season work followed by a few good postseason starts could have erased the memory of that shoulder injury. That could still happen to some degree, but the window is now narrower.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Padres Release Mike Brosseau

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The Padres released infielder Mike Brosseau from his minor league contract on Friday, as initially reported by the Mad Friars website.  Brousseau inked his deal with San Diego back in December, but didn’t receive any time on the active roster during his stint in the organization.

With only a .222/.308/.358 slash line over 344 plate appearances with Triple-A El Paso, Brosseau didn’t do much to force the issue for a call-up.  Even with the Padres hurting for bench depth for much of the season, it would seem that Brosseau simply didn’t hit enough to get himself on the team’s radar.  It perhaps didn’t help that Brosseau has played almost exclusively as a third baseman in El Paso, and the Padres naturally had no needs at that position due to Manny Machado’s presence.

Brosseau hit .242/.313/.428 over 647 plate appearances with the Rays and Brewers from 2019-23.  He posted particularly big numbers during the shortened 2020 season for Tampa Bay’s pennant-winning club, and also hit well in 2019 and 2022.  However, Brosseau’s numbers tailed off during the 2023 season, and the Brewers released him midway through the season so Brosseau could sign with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.  That brief stint in Japan was followed up by minor league contracts with the Royals and Mets during the 2024 season, before Brosseau signed on with the Padres this past offseason.

Though most of his 2025 has been spent at the hot corner, Brosseau has plenty of experience at a first and second baseman, plus he has played as a shortstop and at both corner infield slots in the past.  Teams could have interest in adding Brosseau for the remainder of the 2025 campaign either as a depth option, or just to fill out any Triple-A roster vacancy left open by prospect trades at the deadline.

Padres To Activate Michael King On Saturday

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Michael King will make his return from the injured list on Saturday, the Padres informed reporters (including Dennis Lin of The Athletic). San Diego will activate him from the 60-day IL to go opposite Lucas Giolito in the second game of their weekend series against Boston. The Friars already have an opening on the 40-man roster, so unless they make another move tomorrow, they’ll only need to make an active roster move involving a pitcher.

King’s return was expected when the Padres optioned JP Sears on Tuesday. That allowed San Diego to play with a nine-man bullpen for a few days. They’ll drop back to eight when King rejoins Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and Nestor Cortes in the rotation. The righty reached 61 pitches across 3 1/3 innings in his only Triple-A rehab start. It’s likely manager Mike Shildt will keep him around 75 pitches in his first MLB appearance in almost three months.

The injury began innocuously enough. King was scratched from a scheduled start on May 24 after telling the coaching staff that he felt he slept uncomfortably on his shoulder. He went on the 15-day IL a day later with what the team called inflammation. They later announced that he was battling an issue with his thoracic nerve that was sapping the strength in his shoulder. It ended up costing him two and a half months, though the team stressed that there weren’t any structural concerns.

King’s fastball averaged 92.7 MPH during his Triple-A start. That’s a tick below his MLB season average. That’s probably to be expected after an extended layoff. If King gets back to his pre-injury form, he’ll arguably be San Diego’s best starter. The 30-year-old had turned in a 2.59 earned run average through his first 10 starts. He struck out 28.4% of opposing hitters against a 7.6% walk rate. It was an even better performance than last year’s excellent first season in San Diego: 173 2/3 innings of 2.93 ERA ball with a 27.7% strikeout percentage.

The Padres welcome King back at a time when they occupy the second Wild Card spot in the National League. They’re one game above the Mets and 4.5 clear of the Reds, the top team that is not in playoff position. San Diego trails the Dodgers by just two games in the NL West.

King’s performance down the stretch will also have a significant impact on the upcoming free agent market. He’ll decline his end of a $15MM mutual option, reject a qualifying offer, and hit free agency for the first time. There’s an argument that he’s the second-best starter in the class behind Framber Valdez. That’s dependent on him showing no ill effects from the injury down the stretch and into the postseason.

MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Padres Release Martín Maldonado, Outright Tyler Wade

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The Padres announced that catcher Martín Maldonado has been released and infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade has been sent outright to Triple-A El Paso. Both players were designated for assignment last week in the wake of the Friars making multiple additions ahead of the trade deadline.

Maldonado has carved out a big league career longer than a decade as a glove-first backstop. However, his previously-excellent glovework has declined as he has pushed into his late 30s. Given his poor offense, his value to a big league club has mostly been reduced to intangibles, such as his clubhouse presence and handling of a pitching staff.

The Padres needed help behind the plate coming into 2025 but had a tight budget. They signed a couple of veterans to cheap deals, adding Elias Díaz for $3.5MM and Maldonado on a minor league deal. Maldonado made the Opening Day roster to form the catching duo with Díaz, but those two have been rough this year. Maldonado hit .204/.245/.327 while Díaz slashed .201/.266/.304.

The Friars have clearly needed help behind the plate and addressed that need at the deadline by acquiring Freddy Fermin from the Royals, which pushed Maldonado off the roster. Maldonado has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. The Padres have skipped that formality and simply released him. He could perhaps come back on a minor league deal or find one with another organization. He also turns 39 years old in a few days, so it’s possible he considers retirement, though that’s entirely speculative.

Wade, 30, is a glove-first utility guy. He has hit just .206/.309/.252 this year and .216/.294/.284 in his career but can be a useful bench player since he can steal bases and provide defensive versatility. He has played every position on the diamond except for catcher and first base.

This is the second time he’s been outrighted by the Padres this year. The first came after he didn’t break camp with the club out of spring training. He could have elected free agency while retaining his $900K salary but decided to stick with the organization. He was selected back to the roster just over a week later and stuck on the roster until last week.

He now has the right to elect free agency again. Since he stuck with the Padres last time, he might do so again. On the other hand, the position player group is far stronger now. The Padres added Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano and Fermin ahead of the deadline. They also grabbed Will Wagner from the Blue Jays and have him on optional assignment, alongside Mason McCoy and Tirso Ornelas. Perhaps the path back to the big leagues has become too steep and Wade will elect free agency to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The NL West?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. So far, the Phillies and Reds have each come out on top in their respective divisions. Today, we’ll be rounding out the National League with a review of the NL West. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are, predictably, one of the best teams in the National League this year. They aren’t quite as overwhelming as some expected them to be, however, and that left them with some work to do ahead of the stretch run. Despite the holes in the club’s roster, however, L.A.’s deadline was a surprisingly quiet one where they did as much selling as they did buying. Dustin May was shipped to Boston for a pair of prospects headlined by 2024 first-rounder James Tibbs, and they downgraded from Hunter Feduccia to Ben Rortvedt for the club’s third catcher in order to bring in rookie reliever Paul Gervase and A-ball prospect Adam Serwinowski.

In terms of buy-side moves, they swapped depth outfielder James Outman to the Twins in order to bring Brock Stewart back home to the Dodgers’ pen. They followed that up by replacing Outman on the depth chart with a right-handed complement to Michael Conforto in the form of Alex Call. L.A.’s moves were strong ones on paper. They gave up very little meaningful talent in order to make a couple of legitimate improvements to their bullpen and bench mix, and it’s easy to see them emerging as the clear winners of the two sell-side trades they did make. Still, this summer could wind up feeling like a missed opportunity for the Dodgers given the lack of impact talent acquired—especially if they wind up getting chased down in the NL West by their rival 100 miles to the south.

San Diego Padres

No front office executive in the league operates quite like Padres GM A.J. Preller, and that frenetic aggressiveness was on full display on the day of this year’s trade deadline. San Diego completed five trades in the final seven hours before the deadline. The first one was the biggest, as they swapped a massive package headlined by consensus top-5 prospect Leo De Vries to the Athletics in exchange for superstar closer Mason Miller and lefty starter JP Sears.

They didn’t stop there, however. Outfielder Brandon Lockridge was surrendered to land Nestor Cortes from the Brewers (alongside prospect Jorge Quintana), and Preller immediately replaced Lockridge in the outfield by picking up both Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn from the Orioles. The acquisitions of Sears and Cortes created enough starting pitching depth that the Friars could move Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert to add Freddy Fermin behind the plate, and for good measure San Diego rounded out its deadline by upgrading the infield with a controllable young talent in Will Wagner.

It was a massive flurry of moves that should substantially improve the Padres in the near-term, but the cost was heavy. Prospects of De Vries’ caliber rarely get moved for a reason. Even aside from the risk that they’ve traded the league’s next superstar, they also surrendered some important depth in Kolek and Bergert, not to mention a huge chunk of their 2024 draft class. Preller’s win-now aggression allowed his club to improve its odds of winning the World Series this year more than any other team. But was the cost too great?

San Francisco Giants

Despite a strong start to the season and the aggressive decision to swing a deal with the Red Sox for Rafael Devers back in June, the Giants have mostly fallen out of the postseason race and now have a 58-57 record. That led the club to pivot towards selling at the deadline, and they brought back an impressive haul of talent in doing so. A trade of pending free agent Tyler Rogers to the Mets brought back a trio of well-regarded talents nearing or already in the big leagues: Triple-A outfielder Drew Gilbert, rookie starter Blade Tidwell, and young MLB reliever Jose Butto. They also landed A-ball starter Yunior Marte for rental outfielder Mike Yastrzemski despite his down 2025 campaign.

Impressive as those deals were, the package they received for Camilo Doval was somewhat light. That deal was led by catching/infield prospect Jesus Rodriguez and Double-A starter Trystan Vrieling. The return for Rogers and Yastrzemski was phenomenal, as the Giants acquired their #12, #13, and #25 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) along with Butto for aging veterans on expiring contracts. Parting with Doval for two-plus seasons in exchange for a package headlined by the club’s #16 prospect, according to Pipeline, puts a bit of a damper on the club’s deadline, but it was still a strong infusion of talent to the upper levels of San Francisco’s minor league system and should result in better days for the Giants in the future.

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks teetered on the edge of buying and selling for most of July but kicked off trade season by dealing Josh Naylor to the Mariners and never looked back. The club executed four trades that brought back players in return and a fifth that saw them deal Shelby Miller to the Brewers in exchange for Milwaukee taking on a portion of Jordan Montgomery’s contract. Big league ready talent and pitching prospects were the focus for Arizona this summer, and they mostly accomplished that goal of bolstering those parts of the organization. Eugenio Suarez brought back a potential first baseman of the future in Tyler Locklear as well as rookie reliever Juan Burgos. Randal Grichuk and Naylor also both brought back rookie relief arms in Andrew Hoffmann and Brandyn Garcia, giving the club a number of big league ready relief arms who can help fill out the bullpen next year.

Between the trades of Suarez, Naylor, and Merrill Kelly, the Diamondbacks also picked up five pitching prospects who have yet to make their big league debut. Kohl Drake (#7 in Arizona’s system at MLB Pipeline) leads that group, which also includes Mitch Bratt (#10), David Hagaman (#14), Ashton Izzi (#15), and Hunter Cranton (#23). Locklear (#6) and Garcia (#20) also rank within the top 30, meaning that nearly a quarter of the club’s top 30 prospects were acquired at this deadline. As solid as those moves were, some view the return for Suarez as too light, and there’s reason to question why the team held onto Zac Gallen rather than bringing back additional prospects and salary relief by letting him go. Even without Gallen moving, however, the Diamondbacks breathed new life into their farm system and saved a considerable amount of money that can be repurposed for the 2026 campaign come the offseason.

Colorado Rockies

Perhaps the most notable thing about Colorado’s deadline this year is that they did anything at all, given their years of relative inaction and refusal to part with veteran talents. The club made just three trades this summer, but the deals they did make were notable ones. Ryan McMahon and Jake Bird were traded to the Yankees for lefty Griffin Herring (#5 in the Rockies’ system at MLB Pipeline), second baseman Roc Riggio (#11), righty Josh Grosz (#19), and lefty Ben Shields (#27).

Their third deal was a smaller one, as the club dealt struggling reliever Tyler Kinley to the Braves in exchange for Double-A reliever Austin Smith. It wasn’t the flashiest deadline for Colorado, but the return in exchange for McMahon was strong and the activity should help prop up one of the weakest farm systems in the majors as the Rockies toil through the worst season in franchise history.

With the exception of the Dodgers, the NL West was busier than usual this summer. San Diego did enough buying for the entire division, while the Giants, Diamondbacks, and Rockies each made some savvy sell-side moves. L.A. stands out from the crowd for their quiet approach to the deadline as they did some light buying to address areas of need and also managed to sneak in some light selling to take advantage of areas of depth. Which team did the best of this quintet? Have your say in the poll below:

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