Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller made an appearance on MLB Network Radio this weekend and discussed his thoughts about the roster with the deadline looming at the end of the month.
“Getting Darvish, King back would be huge,” Preller said, referring to injured starters Yu Darvish and Michael King. “The bullpen’s been strong. We’ve got a lot of different weapons in the ’pen. You could add to a strength. And on the offense side, it’s probably rounding out the depth of the lineup. I think, like you mentioned, the top of the lineup should be strong… You’ve got to be deep one through nine and I think probably adding a bat or two is something that we’re going to look at here in the next few weeks to try to help our team get to October.”
Wanting to add to the offense is an understandable focus, as San Diego has some clear holes. It’s been reported earlier in the year that the club is looking for upgrades at catcher and left field. Behind the plate, the club isn’t getting any offensive contributions from Elias Díaz nor Martín Maldonado. The team has a collective .206/.269/.325 line from the catching position. That translates to a wRC+ of 70, which is ahead of just the Guardians, Nationals and Giants.
The left field situation is a bit more complex. Jason Heyward had the position for a while but struggled and was released. Gavin Sheets has taken over and is having a great year offensively, currently sporting a .264/.325/.451 batting line and a 119 wRC+. However, he’s not an especially strong outfield defender, so the Friars could consider adding a left fielder to push Sheets back to the first base/designated hitter mix. That would take plate appearances away from Trenton Brooks, who is hitting .200/.231/.400 on the year.
How the Friars go about adding to those spots will be an interesting situation to watch. The club’s payroll has been an obvious concern in recent years, which led to the Juan Soto trade. In the most recent offseason, they primarily limited themselves to modest one-year deals. The one exception was Nick Pivetta’s four-year pact, which was backloaded to reduce the financial impact in 2025.
On top of that, the club has traded away a lot of prospects in recent years as they have attempted to keep the major league roster stacked with talent. Their farm system is highlighted by two really strong youngsters in Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas but all reporting has suggested the Padres are reluctant to part with either of those two.
Put it all together and it will be a tricky balance for Preller but he should have plenty of options, at least for the left field spot. The Friars are known to be interested in Jarren Duran, though that might be more of a long-shot possibility with the Sox hanging in the American League race and Duran controlled for three more seasons after this one. Guys like Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins, Jesús Sánchez, Andrew Benintendi, Mike Tauchman, Ramón Laureano and Adolis García are some of the other possibilities. Behind the plate, old friends Kyle Higashioka and Gary Sánchez could be available.
As for the bullpen, as Preller mentioned, it has been a strength. San Diego relievers have a collective 3.25 earned run average, which is third in the majors, trailing only the Giants and Astros. But even a club with a strong relief groups can add another arm or two, and injuries can always pop up and change the calculus, so Preller’s openness to adding there is understandable.
The rotation is perhaps a bit more in flux. Starting depth hasn’t been the club’s strong suit for a while and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them target upgrades there, though as Preller alluded to, their aggressiveness in this department might depend on how things unfold in the coming weeks.
Darvish has been out all year due to elbow inflammation but will come off the injured list today. He will jump into a rotation mix that also includes Pivetta, Dylan Cease and Randy Vásquez. King is out with a pinched nerve in his shoulder and his status is up in the air.
Having a playoff rotation of Cease, Pivetta, Darvish and King would be nice but it’s still unclear how realistic it is for the Padres to expect that. Vásquez has a 3.79 ERA on the year but fairly uninspiring peripherals. He still has an option remaining, so perhaps the Padres would consider grabbing one more starter and bumping him to the minors, though they would have to weigh that against other needs while also considering their payroll and the prospect cost of making such a move.
Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images
buy! buy!! buy!! spend! spend!! spend!!!
I’d like for them add to left field. I’m sure AJ has been working the phones 24/7. Now does he have what it takes, in terms of prospects, we shall see. But I’ve never doubted his ability to pull off a trade or two…
Left field… isn’t that where James Wood plays?
@LaFleur
Sure. On a losing team with a fired GM.
Yup. The Padres are the onky team in MLB history to trade away prospects that made it to the majors and have had an impact…
Yes indeed. Another great observation, LaLa…
Worst trade ever by the Padres.
They could have James Wood in LF, CJ Abrams @SS, McKenzie Gore in the rotation and Hassle III (OF) and RP/Closer Susanna in the minors and on the way or used the last 2 as trade bait for rotation or catcher.
So they should ask to have those guys back? You gotta give to get. That’s the nature of the business. We get a new batch of prospects coming in a few days, no sweat.
Yes, and Jurickson Profar.
They also lack cash to pay a new guy meaning they will need the other team to pay which will increase the value of any prospect they must give up.
Send us all a copy of the bank statement that you are looking at sig.
Wrong, they have the cash.
Seidler’s cash crunch widely reported by media. Why do you think Pods backloaded Pivetta’s deal so much? Also,remember Miami agreed to pay all Atraez’s salary last year. No way Pods assume more than a couple Million $ in cash obligation this year
Wonder why they didn’t buy a left fielder with it. Wonder why
they felt it necessary to back load Pivettas contract.
Interesting moves for a team with cash. The behaviour last free agency period sort of indicates the opposite.
When Dodgers do it, it’s called deferrals and it’s investment genius.
If another team: (1) makes a trade where they don’t have to take on salary; or (2) they backload a smallish contract, it’s because they don’t have any money.
Oh boy. What a world some fans live in.
Ha ha. It was just a defer Yes indeed. A world inside their head. A place where all evidence to the contrary is dismissed
Cmon folks. It’s so obvious that the Padres are at the limit of their budget. There is no shame in it. It’s a big budget. But they all have limits.
“Reported by the media”…don’t believe everything you read. Petco Park is sold out more times than not, now would ask tv deal make things easier…hell yeah! That said, thier biggest enemy is the luxury tax thresholds not that there is no money in the register.
The playbook for when the info doesn’t match your opinion.
Step 1.
Manipulate or misinterpret the data
Step 2.
Discredit the source.
Are they not, like other teams, trying to stay under certain tax restrictions?
Hasn’t John Siedler been appointed and approved as the principal of the Padres by MLB?
Has their payroll dropped dramatically since Peter’s passing?
Have they not maintained a strong attendance rate that easily placing them into he leagues top ten?
State your case, t3…
Petco Park is sold out just about every night even on weeknights.
Padres have great cashflow coming in and after the season 2-4 higher priced players are leaving so payroll will be going down and more money to fill out the roster.
Political parties have done it for years.
Yes. I guess so.
Yes.
No.
Probably. If you say so.
Here’s my one question.
Did they not behave like a team at the limit of their spending capacity last off season ?
Are you seriously asking me to believe you over the behavioural evidence and the reporting of just about every baseball writer that has commented on their financial situation ?
That is why the Padres are one of 5 teams to INCREASE payroll this offseason. They are hurting for cash so bad that they increased spending by $40 million this season. They are hurting so bad that they are nearly at the third tier of the CBT.
Do you really believe what some idiots wrote over what the Padres ownership and FO said and actually DID this year?
Greupner said that the Padres took a small hit in TV money in the first year, but that there was no decrease in TV revenue going into this season. He is the man that would know.
Your behavior is of a negative nelly…the facts are all there!
Longtimecoming
When Dodgers do it, it’s called deferrals
=========================
There is a clear difference between backloaded and deferred. Bogaerts is deferred and Pivetta is backloaded.
Xanders isn’t deferred, nor backloaded.
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Bogaerts was paid a $5 million signing bonus and is being paid $25 million per season for the length of his contract. None of his contract is deferred.
It’s absurd. Such an ingrained part of your culture.
Stick to the Big Bash League…much calmer and predictable.
Conny, they have money…
Preller in a world of trouble one he created himself
He has been for multiple seasons now but someone he makes it work…
Sheets is the LF and he is doing a good job. He is not a Gold Glover defensively, but with Merrill in CF he doesn’t need to be. In the 28 games since he was moved to LF pretty much full time, Sheets is hitting .303 with an .857 OPS in 113 PA. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Do you know what is broken? DH. Outside of Sheets and Arraez, Padres DH have hit .093 with a .329 OPS.
So much anti-Padres bias, I don’t get it. There are so many other teams to legitimately hate on for the way they do business, Padres ain’t one of them.
“We look out and see a deadline. Thank you.”
Sports…not according to Foppert. He uses a formula to calculate the Padres assests. MLBTR + a Magic 8 Ball…
Ha ha. I just read, take in the info and join the dots. You know, really simple 2 + 2 = 4 type stuff.
The level of butt hurt around being at the limit of a budget is truly fascinating.
You’re stating an opinion that isn’t even your own.
Imagine trading for Juan Soto with C.J. Abrams, Gore, and Wood then dealing him a year later for substanally less then needing to add at the deadline again for what you traded for Soto?
Imagine having the best record in baseball with the games biggest future stars and the strike ends the season and your team moves out of town.
Just enjoy the trade haul and stop trolling. Hopefully you guys get a good gm and manager to take advantage of that haul
Imagine getting those guys but still being so bad you fire your GM.
What Chipper said and make sure Stephen S’s direct deposit gets made!
The vast majority of prospects don’t live up to the hype. They traded prospects (Abrams and Gore had some MLB time) for two and a half years of arbitration in one of the best players in the league. He helped get them to the NLCS and played well in that series. 2023 was a crap show with Sleepy Bob at the helm, despite that Soto had good numbers. They then flipped him for pitching to help in 2024-25 while reducing payroll.
Would it be nice to have Wood, Gore, Abrams, and the rest here now, sure. But both teams got what they wanted out of the trade. Padres got the impact bat that put them higher than they had been in almost 30 years and because of that now sell out nearly every game. Nats got a good young core that will be cheap for the next few years. They have been the exception as far as the number of traded prospects having big league success.
It also says a lot about Preller’s drafting and international work vs Rizzo’s.
Keep up the good fight Midway. I gave up trying to explain how non rotisserie baseball works to fans that just want to troll.
Non rotisserie baseball…
Is that like non rotisserie chicken?
I’ve never had a fantasy (or any or similar term) chicken before so, I can’t say.
Sleepy Bob doesn’t automatically make a team with Tatis, Soto, Machado and still decent Xander miss the playoffs. That team is the biggest disappointment of clubs who missed October in MLB history
Soto and Bell were big busts as hitters after the trade deadline in 2023.
Padres could have made the World Series in 2023 if Soso and Bell had produced after they were shipped to San Diego in the 2nd half of ‘2023.
Soso produced in 2024 but too little too late since the Padres had other players injured and not having their best years etc..
AJ Preller would have been better off long term by passing on the Soto deal since everyone with a pulse knew he would never sign in smaller market SD.Padres were never going to pay Soto 500M+ Anyone could realize those numbers would never work in SD. NYC or LA but not SD.
AMK, the Padres team had a POM at the end of August 2023, sent a delegation that included Machado to talk to Preller and the FO and basically took control of the team from Sleepy Bob. They nearly made the playoffs after that.
Sleepy Bob had a self described hands-off managerial style to the point that he didn’t even require the players to practice if they didn’t want to and by his own admission he left in game decisions to Christenson, Flaherty, and Niebla. You could tell because they almost never deviate from a lineup or a pitching plan during the 1st 2/3 of the season. He was rarely involved in the actual games after setting the lineup.
Soto had a 127 OPS+ for the Padres after the trade that year and hit .282 with a .844 OPS in the playoffs. It is understandable that you don’t remember the RF with a .222 BA, .621 OPS, and 78 OPS+ that he replaced. I would argue that the Padres don’t make the playoffs without him.
Bell was a complete waste of roster space. He was also a top 5 hitter in MLB before the trade as measured by OPS+ or wRC+. He was not just a throw in. It was not all those prospects for just Soto.
Without the trade for Soto, Preller would not have had what the Yankees wanted to get the Padres what he turned into Cease, King, Vasquez, and Higgy. The Padres would not have had the pitching to make the playoffs in 2024 without that trade. They are also not in a position to contend for a playoff spot this season with Cease, King, and Vasquez.
The only reason that Soto didn’t sign with the Padres long term is that Peter Seidler no longer had a pulse. Boras said that if Peter Seidler was still alive, they would have had an extension signed. That they were in the last stretch of negotiations when he very unexpectedly passed. Boras was there. You weren’t. Boras has a pulse.
@Longtimecoming I seem to recall you saying 2 years ago that Matt Carpenter would 100% decline his player option because he wanted out of SD.
Receipts please. I don’t believe ya.
Soto was terrible in the NLDS against the Dodgers, they lost in the NLCS against the Phillies and then they didn’t get back even half of what they gave up to get Soto when they traded him to NYY.
Oh. And a preemptive “STFU” to everyone who is about to say “The Soto trade got them 3/5ths of their rotation.”
@LFG
The Soto trade got them 3/5ths of their rotation.
Don’t kiss your mother with that mouth.
3/5ths. Yikes fellas.
LaFleur
Imagine trading for Juan Soto with C.J. Abrams, Gore, and Wood
==========================
Or, conversely, imagine pulling off one of the great heists in the history of the game, obtaining three players at minimum wage, with a bWAR of 11.0, and having the other 23 players contribute a total of 0.3?
23 players with a total of 0.3 bWAR.
Imagine not understanding that the Padres trade for both Soto and Bell who were both in top 5 hitters in MLB at the time of the trade? Imagine not understanding that the Padres got Cease, King, Vasquez, Brito, and Higgy because they traded Soto to the Yankees 1.3 seasons later.
So far the Padres have received 18.7 bWAR from that trade, made to the NLCS with Soto, 3 of their 5 starting pitchers this year came as a result of trades involving Soto, and it looks like will be playing in their 3rd playoffs since the trade this season. Those playoff appearances have added millions to already huge coffers.
The Nationals have received 15.6 WAR, are still in last place, and its not looking like that will change within the next 2 or 3 seasons.
As a Padres fan I am now very grateful that Preller made those trades. At the time I hated him giving up all those prospects, but it has worked out well.
Taylor Ward is under contract this year and next, hits for power, plays an OK left field, and typically carries a solid OBP. His OBP is lower than usual this year but he’s been picking up some more walks lately.
I’m curious what the price would be, I’d like to see the reds get him
He’s a great guy, as well. I’ve talked to him. He’s signed a ball for my son at Spring Training.
I’ll root for him in a Reds uniform. His bat would play really nicely in that ballpark.
LAA is delusional in their front office moves, I doubt Ward gets traded
Arte Moreno made big mistake not trading Ohtani at ’23 trade deadline.
Angels would be much stronger with the 4-5 top young players/prospects offered by a few teams.
They’re working on an extension right now. Heard Arte is going full Dick Monfort. 5 years for Ward, full NTC. I kid. I kid.
They should look to move arraez plant sheets at first and get a left fielder dh and catcher. IMO arraez is a liability at first base isn’t hitting enough to have him there he is no Wally Joyner or mark grace also seems to have a low baseball iq always making a bonehead out on the bases. Might be easier said than done but this team needs more slug. Have 2 spots in order giving zero. And arraez underwhelming.
No
Arraez is not a liability at first. You clearly have not watched him play and are only parroting what other’s have wrote. I definitely trust Arraez more than Sheets at first.
Next year when Arreaz is batting champ again and the team batting average is hurting them, will you want to trade for him again?
And realistically, who wants a subpar defender who only hits singles? And is having a down year? What return do you think you’ll get? If you’re thinking more than a mid range prospect you’re lying to yourself.
Sean Murphy and Profar.
Two bad contracts.
No to Profar.
Murphy I have posted about the Padres making a bid for him.
Cost could be prohibitive.
Why because PED’s? They don’t have a problem with things like that Tatis approves
How about Jonah Heim? Better than what we have. Switch hitter. Probably a mid to lower top 20 prospect.
Corey Lee with WSox.
A player
Would come cheap
See if the Indians will send them Steven Kwan to play LF. Good offensive output and a decent defender.
That’s going to cost prospects. I’m not sure San Diego has enough to satisfy what Cleveland would want.
@Acoss1331
Yankees always seem to have some trade deadline activities and they generally don’t have a great farm system.
Padres farm system is under rated by casual observers,.
Even with all the deals the Padres have made, they always find new, promising young players that other teams want.
Many are not even rated yet by the baseball services and jump onto and up the boards in a year or two.
This team has been sub 500 since starting 14-3. I just don’t think this years group is worth the same investment last year’s was. But who knows, maybe they can go on a tigers like heater after the break and prove me wrong.
Jarren Duran might thrive in San Diego since apparently the rigors of playing in Boston seems to be too much for him mentally.
Benintendi makes sense for the Padres as well, but only if they can the White Sox to eat the majority of his salary
Jerry isn’t going to eat that salary whole. San Diego would have to kick in some salary relief.
Why the doooshy post? Duran has gone quite far in life. You, not so much.
My post is basically his own words. It’s not like I’m making it up. Lots of players can’t handle playing in the big eastern markets, there’s no shame in it
They can’t put Brooks out there every day and expect winning. Unfortunately they lack clutch. They leave too many people on base up and down the lineup. I don’t know if you can trade for clutch but that would be what I want.
My Porsche has a Doppelkupplungsgetriebe. Basically, it’s a double clutch. That’s what this lineup needs! Two clutch adds. Stay tuned JM!
I appreciate you guys enough to where I don’t want to pile into the Padres.
They are still a good team with definite playoff potential. But I do hope they miss this year. I don’t need another 5 game series like last year, epic as it was.
Padres need to jettison two players with .536 and .537 OPS respectively and add one that is leading all of AAA in wRC+ to be a DH/backup catcher who plays most games and then trade for a decent power bat to hit in the short side of the platoon with him.
The best way to be “clutch” is to hit consistently.
I found the upgrade the Padres need.
Billy McKinney Elects Free Agency
Sorry I know I said I wouldn’t pile on. But I still like you guys lol.
Just looked it up on luxury tax for 2025
Teams have until Dec 2nd of the current payroll year 2025 to submit the final team payroll number for luxury tax purposes
If over the luxury tax, then then have until Jan 21, 2026 to pay it.
Using creative accounting, the Padres could add a new LF and not have it count against their luxury tax if they make moves before Dec 2nd to clear up some payroll
They have at least 3 free agents @ the end of the season including: Cease, Arraez and King.
And, the Padres closer Robert Suarez has an “opt out” contract clause at the end of the year.
Padres 2026 payroll is expected to drop just from guys leaving.
Padres may try to re sign King if he is healthy.
“Creative accounting” means selling at the TDL. You can’t subtract payroll any other way after the TDL (barring an extremely rare Commishioner’s Suspension a lá Wander, Urias, etc.)
Padres also have two other “breakout starters”
in Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert who have looked very good in filing in for Darvish and King. even though each had a few rough starts and many strong starts.
And, Padres minor league starter Henry Baez had a no hitter going into the 9th inning in his most recent start and looks like the real deal for a major league call up.
Baez was the Padres 2024 Minor league pitcher of the year in 2024.
So, the Padres have many options on the 40 man roster and in the minors to keep the starting staff on track.
And, some of that Padres talent could be trade bait for a LF and/or catcher.
The Padres have a collective .198 BA and .549 OPs from the DH position and that includes the 209 AB from Sheets who is now the full time LF and Arraez who is the full time 1B. Outside of those two it has been a black hole with a .093 BA and .329 OPS. THAT is the area they need to add to.
The Padres catchers are not hitting well, but they are not the biggest problem.
You may have noticed that Preller did not name a position that they need to add, he said bat. It really doesn’t matter whether they are an OF, an infielder, a catcher, or a DH, the Padres need a bat.
Verdugo is available…
He said bat.