Author: Mark Polishuk

The Padres are known to be looking to bolster what is already a strong relief corps, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela is one of the names on San Diego’s radar.  Nightengale also mentions Aroldis Chapman as a Padres target, echoing Dennis Lin of the Athletic’s report from a few days ago about the Padres’ long-standing interest in Chapman.

Senzatela is in the last guaranteed year of a five-year, $50MM extension he signed with Colorado back in October 2021, as the Rockies hold a $14MM club option (with no buyout) on his services for 2027.  In this sense Senzatela is basically a rental player for any interested trade suitors, as that club option is unlikely to be exercised regardless of how well the righty pitches over the rest of the 2026 campaign.

Since signing that extension, Senzatela has tossed only 274 1/3 big league innings, as a torn ACL and a Tommy John surgery led to two extended stints on the injured list.  Finally fully healthy heading into the 2025 season, Senzatela struggled to a 7.42 ERA over 108 innings and 23 starts before the Rockies moved him to the bullpen in August.  The role switch seemed to work immediately, as Senzatela then delivered a 2.86 ERA over his first 22 innings as a reliever.

The improvement has carried over to some extent in 2026, though Senzatela’s sparkling 1.13 ERA carries several red flags.  A .195 BABIP is probably the biggest reason why Senzatela’s 3.48 SIERA more than triples his real-world ERA.  It isn’t just good luck, however, as Senzatela’s 6.8% walk rate is quite solid and his hard-contact numbers are vastly improved from his career norms.  His 22% strikeout is a bit below league average, but also markedly better than the 14.7K% Senzatela posted over his first nine MLB seasons.

As one might expect, Senzatela’s move to relief pitching has bumped his velocity — after averaging 94.2mph on his fastball prior to 2026, Senzatela is now up to 97.1mph.  Moreso than just the velo, Senzatela’s decreased usage of his four-seamer has made the pitch much more effective, as Senzatela has now introduced a cutter to his arsenal.  The four-seamer has been thrown 35.2% of the time while the cutter isn’t far behind at 30.8%, and Statcast’s Run Value metric gives the cutter an impressive +6.

These results bode well for Senzatela’s chances of landing a decent contract when he hits free agency this winter, as it looks like the move to the pen has resurrected his career.  In the shorter term, it makes him an obvious trade chip on a rebuilding Rockies team that is tied with the Angels for the worst record in baseball (20-34).  Barring injury, Colorado will surely be moving Senzatela in advance of the trade deadline.

The wrinkle in regards to the Padres is that San Diego is apparently looking to make a move sooner rather than later.  San Diego relievers have already logged 213 2/3 innings, the seventh-highest total of any relief corps in baseball.  Though this heavy workload hasn’t stopped the Friars’ bullpen from being one of the best in the game, the front office is looking to be proactive in adding a relief arm or two to help keep everyone fresh for what the Padres hope is an even deeper playoff run.

On the flip side, the fact that the Padres’ desire for bullpen help is more of a want than a true need, they may not be operating with much desperation.  That reduces what leverage the Rockies may have as one of the few teams in pure seller mode.  While the Rox will definitely be selling and the Padres will (barring a total collapse in the next two months) definitely be buying, most prominent trades don’t take place until much closer to the deadline since clubs usually want to take their time in accessing their needs and gauging the market.

Since the Rockies’ priority should be on amassing talent rather than cutting payroll, Colorado could offer to eat virtually everything remaining on Senzatela’s contract (roughly $8MM of a $12MM 2026 salary) in order to maximize the prospect return.  Such an offer could be of particular interest to the Padres, who project to be luxury tax-payors for the second straight season and didn’t spend much this past winter.  Of course, the incoming new ownership group led by Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones could be willing to stretch the budget in pursuit of the franchise’s elusive first World Series ring.

It is perhaps worth noting that the Padres and Rockies are very infrequent trade partners who haven’t completed a non-cash considerations type of trade since December 2011.  This may have less to do with a division rivalry than the fact that the Rockies generally made less trades as an organization than most other clubs, though president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta has already swung several lower-level deals in less than a year on the job.