A’s Notes: Butler, Jump, De Vries
A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler will make his first Spring Training appearance tomorrow, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He’ll serve as a designated hitter against the White Sox. The A’s are off on Wednesday but Butler could get his first outfield work during Thursday’s game against the Mariners.
Butler played through a right knee injury late in the 2025 season. He underwent postseason patellar tendon surgery but has maintained confidence he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Butler has been able to take hitting drills throughout camp. He’d been held out of game action until this week to avoid running at full speed.
The A’s have six remaining Spring Training contests. Butler could take 15-20 exhibition at-bats if they feel comfortable playing him on consecutive days. It appears he’ll be ready to go when the A’s head to Rogers Centre to take on the defending American League champions to begin the season.
Butler is coming off a .234/.306/.404 showing across 630 plate appearances. He had a 20-20 campaign and hit 30 doubles, but his rate metrics were around league average. Although it wasn’t a bad season, it was a step back from the huge 2024 second half that established him as a core piece. Playing through the injury probably had something to do with that. Butler took a .251/.326/.433 line into the All-Star Break but hit .203/.268/.351 in the second half.
He’ll man right alongside Tyler Soderstrom and Denzel Clarke in Mark Kotsay’s outfield. Butler fits best in a corner but has the athleticism to play center if Clarke’s strikeout concerns outweigh his defensive excellence.
Butler hasn’t been good against left-handed pitching, batting .228/.261/.397 while striking out a third of time in 234 career plate appearances versus southpaws. The A’s have remained committed to him as an everyday player. They claimed righty-hitting utility player Andy Ibáñez from the Dodgers last month. He’s primarily an infielder but could be an option in right field if the A’s wanted to shield Butler from lefties to give him some rest early in the season.
In other news, the team made a few camp cuts over the weekend. Top prospects Leo De Vries and Gage Jump were among those reassigned to minor league camp. Neither player is on the 40-man roster, nor were they expected to garner serious consideration for the Opening Day roster.
A midseason promotion could be on the table for either player. De Vries will play the entire season at 19, so that’d be an extremely aggressive call, but he’s coming off a .255/.355/.451 showing between High-A and Double-A. De Vries was six years younger than the average player at the Double-A level and more than held his own. He also had a remarkable first MLB camp, batting .409 with three homers and doubles apiece in 17 games.
Jump, a left-handed pitcher who turns 23 in April, took the ball four times this spring. He tossed 9 2/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out seven against three walks. Jump spent most of last year in Double-A, where he turned in a 3.64 ERA while fanning a quarter of batters faced across 20 outings. The back of the A’s rotation is open enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Jump pitches his way to West Sacramento by the All-Star Break.
Padres Notes: Bogaerts, Bader, De Vries, Gore, Kwan
The Padres are expected to activate Xander Bogaerts from the 10-day injured list prior to Monday’s game with the Brewers, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. The shortstop might’ve already been back this weekend except a planned on-field workout on Friday was canceled due to rain, delaying Bogaerts’ return until the start of the six-game homestand that will conclude the Friars’ regular season.
A left foot fracture has kept Bogaerts out of action since August 27, and it wasn’t clear if he would be able to play again before the postseason, even if the injury wasn’t expected to keep Bogaerts out of any October action. Bogaerts has hit .262/.330/.387 with 10 home runs over 534 plate appearances, for a decent but unspectacular 103 wRC+. He has displayed some good plate discipline and augmented his work at the plate with 20 steals (in 22 attempts) and very good defense in the view of the Outs Above Average metric (+7). Jake Cronenworth and Jose Iglesias have handed most of the shortstop duty over the last four weeks, and with Bogaerts back, Cronenworth should return to his usual second base position.
Returning Monday gives Bogaerts six games to ramp up for a postseason trip that has been all but officially clinched. San Diego seems likely to finish as the NL’s second wild card team, unless the Padres can overcome the Dodgers’ three-game edge in the NL West race, or if the Padres somehow fritter away their five-game edge over the Reds (who hold the third and final wild card slot).
Though the Padres surely wish they’d been able to overtake Los Angeles for the division lead, a 25-22 record since the trade deadline has at least helped San Diego more or less lock up its fourth playoff berth in the last six years. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller was his typical active self at the deadline, swinging five trades in July to add a variety of roster upgrades.
The many players actually acquired were just the tip of the iceberg, as the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes that “the Padres were in on every top player” even somewhat available at the deadline. Most of those trade targets were cited on MLBTR’s pages, but Heyman adds that the Padres also had interest in Harrison Bader, who instead went from the Twins to another NL power in the Phillies.
San Diego’s interest in Bader was logical, as the Padres had a clear need in the outfield. Rather than Bader, the Padres ended up acquiring both Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn from the Orioles for a six-prospect trade package, addressing both left field and first base in one fell swoop. O’Hearn’s bat has cooled off since the deal while Laureano has played really well, so there probably aren’t any regrets in the Friars’ front office about missing out on Bader, who has exploded since arriving in Philadelphia.
The largest of the Padres’ deadline deals saw Mason Miller and JP Sears acquired from the Athletics for four minor leaguers, including elite prospect Leo De Vries as the headliner. De Vries was far and away the most prominent prospect moved at the deadline, and it took the inclusion of a controllable young arm like Miller to convince the Padres to move the young shortstop.
This doesn’t mean that other teams didn’t ask. San Diego was known to have made a push to pry MacKenzie Gore away from the Nationals, even though Washington wasn’t going to move Gore for anything less than a haul. Heyman writes that the Nats’ ask from the Padres was a five-player package that included De Vries, so it isn’t too surprising that the Padres turned elsewhere.
Steven Kwan was another outfielder on the Padres’ wishlist, and a De Vries-for-Kwan trade was floated between the Padres and Guardians even though Heyman says that neither team wanted a straight-up swap. Kwan (like Gore) is arbitration-controlled through the 2027 season, so while two-plus years of control is still a lot of an established player, it perhaps wasn’t enough of a long-term add to convince Preller to move De Vries.
From Cleveland’s perspective, the Guardians often pursue at least one MLB-ready piece when trading their veteran assets. De Vries only just made his Double-A debut after his move to the Athletics’ farm system, and while he is posting strong numbers, he doesn’t turn 19 until next month and isn’t expected to reach the majors until 2027. While the Guards were only 54-54 on July 31, keeping Kwan has paid dividends, as has helped contribute to the September surge that has now given Cleveland a chance at not just a playoff spot, but even the AL Central title.
MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals
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…
- The Padres acquiring Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Nestor Cortes, Freddy Fermin and Will Wagner, while not trading Dylan Cease nor Robert Suarez (1:20)
- The Athletics sending out Miller and Sears, getting a pile of prospects, headlined by Leo De Vries (25:20)
- The Twins trading a bunch of rentals but also Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Carlos Correa (31:50)
- The Astros taking on Correa despite previously trying to avoid the competitive balance tax (50:05)
- The Phillies’ deadline (58:25)
- The Mariners acquiring Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez from the Diamondbacks (1:00:40)
- The Diamondbacks trading Merrill Kelly but not Zac Gallen (1:07:45)
- The Rangers’ deadline (1:16:00)
- The Mets acquiring various relievers, including Tyler Rogers from the Giants (1:19:05)
- The Yankees acquiring Camilo Doval, David Bednar and Jake Bird (1:25:45)
- The Pirates holding several trade candidates but they did trade Ke’Bryan Hayes to the Reds (1:35:15)
- The Blue Jays acquiring Shane Bieber and Varland (1:43:40)
- The Red Sox acquiring Dustin May from the Dodgers (1:54:20)
- The underwhelming deadlines of the Cubs and Tigers (1:59:40)
Check out our past episodes!
- Megapod Trade Deadline Preview – listen here
- David Robertson, Trade Chips For The O’s and A’s, And What The Rangers Could Do – listen here
- Rays’ Ownership, The Phillies Target Bullpen Help, And Bubble Teams – listen here
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 Acquire Mason Miller, JP Sears
The Padres are once again grabbing deadline headlines, as they’ve swung a trade that’ll bring star closer Mason Miller and lefty JP Sears to San Diego while sending a four-player package led by top shortstop prospect Leo De Vries back to the Athletics. The A’s will also add right-handers Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nunez in the blockbuster deal. The deal is now official.
It’ll go down as one of the more stunning trades of the 2025 deadline. Miller is one of the sport’s most highly regarded relievers — an All-Star and fourth-place finisher in American League Rookie of the Year voting just last season. He’s controlled for another four years beyond the current season. De Vries, meanwhile, currently sits as the No. 5 prospect in the entire sport on Baseball America’s latest rankings.
It also sets the stage for a fair bit of other dealing from the Padres, who’ve been discussing current closer Robert Suarez and righty Dylan Cease in trade talks. Either or both could change hands now in trades that simultaneously net younger talent and free up payroll space for San Diego to pursue upgrades in left field, behind the plate and/or on the bench. Both Miller and Sears are still in their pre-arbitration years and thus earning just over the league minimum. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggests that there are no current plans to trade Suarez, though with president of baseball operations A.J. Preller at the helm for the Padres, nothing should ever be expressly ruled out. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that both Suarez and Cease are still being discussed.
The addition of Miller strengthens what was already a powerhouse San Diego bullpen (though, as mentioned, could set the stage for a Suarez trade as well). San Diego relievers have pitched to an MLB-best 2.97 earned run average on the season and rank fifth with a collective 24.1% strikeout rate.
Miller, despite carrying a fairly pedestrian 3.76 ERA, will provide a massive upgrade. The majority of his trouble this year came in a rough month from early May to early June. He’s rattled off 14 innings of one-run ball with 18 strikeouts and four walks since June 15 and, of course, was one of the most dominant bullpen arms in the game a year ago. Miller has pitched 136 2/3 big league innings and carries a 3.16 ERA with a superlative 37.3% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. He’s saved 48 games and tallied one hold in his career to date and has blown only six opportunities.
Certainly, the tools are there for Miller’s bottom-line results to align with the very best arms in the sport. No one in baseball throws harder than his average 101.1 mph four-seamer, and Miller’s 20.4% swinging-strike rate trails only Josh Hader and Fernando Cruz for the top mark among pitchers with even 10 innings pitched this season. Dating back to 2024, he’s fanned nearly 41% of his opponents and kept his walk rate under 10%. Even in an era where power arsenals with premium bat-missing ability seem to proliferate the sport, the 6’5″ Miller stands above the rest in a tier nearly unto himself.
It’s worth at least considering the possibility that Miller could return to the rotation at some point down the road. Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic suggested last night that it was an idea the Padres had considered. Miller was drafted as a starter and made his big league debut in the Athletics’ rotation. Given the Friars’ lack of rotation depth and plethora of talented relievers, they could at least explore the idea of returning Miller to a starting role beginning next season, though there’s obviously some risk in removing him from a role in which he’s found such success.
Regardless of which role Miller holds in the long run, it seems likely he’ll work in relief for the balance of the current season. He’s not yet arbitration-eligible — though he will be this winter — and is controlled for four additional seasons, so it’s only natural that the asking price on the right-hander was exorbitant. The Padres have repeatedly rebuffed teams who’ve come calling for De Vries or top catching prospect Ethan Salas, but San Diego ultimately relented in order to acquire four-plus seasons of arguably the game’s most dominant reliever and Sears — a respectable back-of-the-rotation arm who can help solidify the staff for three-plus years in his own right.
Sears, 29, came to the A’s alongside Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina in the trade sending Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the Yankees. He’s the only one of the pitchers (on either side of the deal) that has held up without a major injury.
While Sears is a pure back-end starter, he’s been a durable source of competitive innings for the A’s. The 5’11” southpaw started 32 games in both 2023 and 2024, and he’s taken the mound 22 times in 2025. This year’s 4.95 ERA is a career-high, though like teammate Luis Severino, more of those struggles have come at home in what’s proving to be a hitter-friendly setting at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. Sears has a 5.48 ERA and has allowed 14 homers in 47 2/3 innings at home, compared to a 4.55 mark and nine round-trippers in 63 1/3 innings on the road.
Over Sears’ past 464 innings with the A’s, the lefty has worked to a combined 4.58 ERA. He’s fanned 20.1% of his opponents in that time and kept his walk rate to a strong 6.7%. Sears sits 92.2 mph on his four-seamer and couples that pitch with a slider that sits 79.5 mph and a changeup that’s averaging 83.4 mph this year. He’s averaging just over five innings per start.
Sears now slots into a rotation group that includes Cease (for now), Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish, Ryan Bergert and Randy Vasquez. Top starter Michael King has been out for more than two months but is expected to return before season’s end. Both Cease and King are free agents at season’s end.
San Diego has been hopeful of re-signing King, though that’s no guarantee. Next year, they’ll get Joe Musgrove back from Tommy John surgery. A 2026 rotation could well include Musgrove, Pivetta, Darvish, Sears and one of Bergert/Vasquez/Stephen Kolek, though the return of King or acquisition of other rotation arms obviously can’t be ruled out. Regardless, Sears adds some nice depth and will remain affordable. He also still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, giving the Friars plenty of flexibility with the composition of that staff.
The A’s have been reluctant to move Miller, but San Diego’s willingness to include De Vries surely pushed things over the edge. He’s the best prospect moved at a trade deadline since the Padres gutted their farm system to acquire Juan Soto three years ago. Today’s front offices are generally loath to part with prospects who’ve reached this level of acclaim, but the Preller-led Padres are the most aggressive in baseball when it comes to the trade market.
Still just 18 years old, De Vries is a switch-hitting shortstop with power who’s having success in High-A despite his youth. More advanced and experienced opponents haven’t fazed him. He’s hitting .245/.357/.410 (116 wRC+) with eight homers and eight steals despite being one of the youngest players in the league. He draws above-average grades across the board in most scouting reports, with his raw power, in particular, generating plus marks.
De Vries is listed at 6’2″ and 183 pounds, although given his age, he could still grow into more bulk and tap more into his raw power. Baseball America describes him as a potential “centerpiece of a big league club,” touting an all-fields approach from the left side of the plate and a pull-heavy approach from the right side that lets him get to that power more frequently. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen is a bit more bearish, albeit only relative to his elite ranking at BA and at MLB.com (where he’s ranked third in the game). Citing questions about his defensive aptitude and some swing-and-miss, FanGraphs’ report calls De Vries “only” a top-40 or so prospect in the game and has him as more of a strong regular than a superstar.
As with any prospect, there’s a fairly broad range of outcomes, but De Vries’ ceiling is higher than most and he’s on track to reach the majors at an uncommonly young age, giving the A’s more control over his peak physical seasons. A call to the majors in 2027 seems quite feasible, and in a best-case scenario he could even debut late next year. If De Vries incurs injuries or takes a bit longer to adjust to upper-level pitching, that debut could push back to 2028, but even then he’d be in just his age-21 season. Regardless, when the range of likely outcomes is generally agreed upon as something between “above-average everyday shortstop” to “superstar centerpiece of a team,” we’re talking about one of the game’s premier young talents.
De Vries is the clear headliner of the deal, but the three arms headed back to the A’s are hardly mere throw-ins. Nett and Baez were reportedly among the more sought-after prospects in the second tier of a thin Padres farm system. Both are posting strong numbers in Double-A this season.
Nett, 23, has started 17 games and pitched 74 1/3 innings. He’s logged a 3.39 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 42.3% ground-ball rate. Nett signed with the Padres as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has pitched his way into genuine prospect status.
Baseball America ranked Nett seventh among San Diego prospects earlier this month. He sits third in their system at MLB.com and 12th at FanGraphs. He sits 95-97 mph with a fastball that can climb to 99 mph. Nett’s slider gets above-average grades from scouts and works with a cutter, changeup and curveball that could all use some additional refinement. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this offseason and will surely be selected to the A’s 40-man roster by November — if he’s not called upon for a major league look in the season’s final two months.
Baez, meanwhile, ranked 16th in the system at BA, 13th at MLB.com and 27th at FanGraphs. He’s posted a 1.96 ERA in 20 Double-A starts this season but has averaged under five innings per outing. Baez sits in the low to mid-90s with his fastball and tops out around 97. He has better command than Nett but lesser velocity and misses fewer bats. He also features a curveball in the upper 70s and a mid-80s changeup. Baez was already on San Diego’s 40-man roster and will thus go right onto the Athletics’ 40-man roster as well.
The 26-year-old Nunez has already made his major league debut, tossing 4 2/3 innings out of the Padres’ bullpen this year. He’s a pure bullpen prospect who can step right into manager Mark Kotsay‘s relief corps, if the A’s choose. He’s sat 97.9 mph with his four-seamer in his brief big league look, and Nunez has sat even higher (98.8 mph) in Triple-A. He couples that pitch with an upper-80s slider and a seldom-used curveball in the low to mid-80s.
San Diego signed Nunez as a minor league free agent over the winter, and he’s made huge gains with what had been previously poor command in the Cubs’ system. Nunez walked 22% of his opponents with Chicago’s Triple-A club a year ago. His 14% mark in Triple-A this season is still problematic but nowhere near as alarming. He also boasts a massive 38.6% chase rate in the minors and an outrageous 21.5% swinging-strike rate.
If Nunez can even come close to replicating those rates in the majors, he’d have the potential to be a high-end relief arm himself. That said, it’s worth bearing in mind that Nunez is already older than the elite reliever for whom he was just traded (Miller), and this is the first time he’s really shown any semblance of command in the upper minors. There’s upside here, but Nunez is still very much a work in progress.
There’s rarely a dull deadline when it comes to Preller, and this morning’s early and still fairly stunning swap of one of MLB’s most coveted prospects for one of its best big league relievers leaves plenty of time for further dealing. The Padres have been connected to left fielders like Cleveland’s Steven Kwan and Boston’s Jarren Duran while simultaneously exploring deals involving Cease, Suarez and other members of the current big league roster. More fireworks are surely on the way, but Preller and his Oakland West Sacramento counterpart, David Forst, have kicked things off with a bang.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the trade of Miller and Sears to the Padres and was also first with the full details on the Athletics’ return. This post was originally published at 10:25am.
Padres Interested In Mason Miller, Continuing To Pursue Jarren Duran
The Padres continue to lurk on some of the top potential trade candidates. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic wrote this afternoon that San Diego remains enamored with Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran. Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic write that the Friars are involved on Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan as well. Lin and Rosenthal also report that the Padres have interest in A’s flamethrower Mason Miller.
Miller remains a long shot trade candidate but would be one of the most impactful arms available if the A’s seriously consider dealing him. Rosenthal reported this afternoon that the Phillies, Mets and Yankees had all been in touch with the A’s. The Phils and Mets were evidently deterred by the asking price. Philadelphia went on to acquire Jhoan Duran, while the Mets added Ryan Helsley. The Yankees have not pivoted to a different late-game weapon. However, SNY’s Andy Martino suggested this evening that the A’s asking price was high enough that talks with the Yanks had yet to become especially serious.
The Padres have two prospects on Baseball America’s most recent Top 100 update: infielder Leo De Vries at #5 and catcher Ethan Salas at #65. They’d previously been reluctant to part with either player. Salas’ stock has dipped in recent months, largely because of a back injury that has kept him on the minor league injured list since late April. Salas is still a very good prospect, but De Vries is the clear top talent in the system.
San Diego could have a tough time acquiring an impact player with multiple years of control unless they’re willing to put De Vries on the table. Rosenthal and Lin write that the Padres are at least willing to discuss De Vries and Salas in trade conversations. It stands to reason they’d prefer to build a package around the latter, but his injury might make that difficult right now.
MassLive’s Sean McAdam suggested last week that the Red Sox rebuffed a framework built around Salas and Dylan Cease in talks on Jarren Duran. McCaffrey suggested today that Boston would be more open to building a Duran package around Cease and De Vries. That might be a bridge too far for San Diego.
The Padres’ interest in Miller comes as the Friars are simultaneously considering trading away MLB pitching. They’ve been open to offers on Cease for a few days, listening on the impending free agent starter while separately acquiring controllable pitching. There’d be a similar logic in shopping closer Robert Suarez, who may opt out of the remaining two years and $16MM on his contract. Jon Heyman of The New York Post relayed this morning that Suarez is indeed in play in talks with other clubs. (As impending free agents, neither Cease nor Suarez would be of any interest to the A’s.)
San Diego could try to arrange a Suarez deal while making a push for Miller to replace him in the ninth inning. Rosenthal and Lin also float the possibility of the Padres stretching Miller back out as a starting pitcher. That’d be a very difficult ask midseason but could be more viable next spring. Miller moved to the bullpen because of a concerning injury history that included shoulder and elbow issues. Throwing as hard as he does puts plenty of stress on a pitcher’s arm. Still, the upside of returning Miller to a rotation role would be tantalizing. The Padres have had success with Seth Lugo, Michael King and (to a much lesser extent) Stephen Kolek as reliever to rotation conversions. Cease and King are impending free agents, and there’s not much in the way of controllable starting pitching to go around.
None of this is to say that San Diego making a blockbuster acquisition is likely. The A’s control Miller for four and a half seasons. They’re not going to trade him for anything less than a monster haul. It’d take a bigger return than what the Phillies sent to Minnesota for two and a half years of control over Jhoan Duran: top 100 catching prospect Eduardo Tait and young starter Mick Abel. That’s probably also true for Jarren Duran and Kwan, All-Star caliber outfielders who are controllable for multiple seasons. A lot could hinge on De Vries, but if the Padres are genuinely willing to consider dealing one of the 10 or so best prospects in the sport, that’d open plenty of opportunities for a huge swing.
Garrett Crochet Rumors: Cubs, Padres, Yankees, Red Sox, Reds
7:28pm: MLBNetwork’s Jon Morosi reported this evening that a Crochet deal coming together during the Winter Meetings this week is “increasingly possible.” What’s more, Morosi suggests that the Red Sox are “more willing” to listen on top shortstop prospect Marcelo Mayer than previously believed and could become a more significant factor in Crochet’s trade market if they make him available in trade talks with the White Sox.
4:23pm: Garrett Crochet‘s status as the offseason’s top trade candidate means that there is plenty of buzz surrounding the White Sox southpaw as the Winter Meetings get underway. A crosstown trade could be a possibility, as Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Cubs “have had at least preliminary talks” with the Sox about Crochet’s availability.
The Cubs’ list of top prospects is heavy on position players, which could fit with White Sox GM Chris Getz‘s stated aim of obtaining premium position-player talent in exchange for Crochet’s services. It is easy to imagine Getz asking for at least one of Matt Shaw or Owen Caissie as a headliner in a trade package, or perhaps even Pete Crow-Armstrong if the Sox wanted a player with some actual big league experience. Given the Cubs’ depth at both the MLB and minor league levels, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer might feel comfortable in parting with a younger blue-chipper in order to land a controllable pitcher.
Crochet is projected to earn only $2.9MM in arbitration this season, and he is under one further year of team control in 2026. Even if Crochet’s production takes a dip from his 2024 numbers, he’d still be a bargain in comparison to the cost of the average starting pitcher. This might be the type of special circumstance that would make the Cubs want to keep adding to their rotation, even though the Wrigleyville starting five already seems set with Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad, and new signing Matthew Boyd.
The White Sox are known to have a very high asking price on Crochet, and apparently had interest in at least one of Ethan Salas or Leodalis De Vries in trade talks with the Padres, as per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. San Diego has been linked to Crochet on the rumor mill since prior to the trade deadline, yet the Friars have seemingly drawn a line when it comes to moving either of the top two prospects in their farm system.
The Padres and Cubs are just two of the many clubs known to have had some level of interest in Crochet in the last six months, and given his low price, it’s probably safe to say just about every team in baseball has probably at least checked in with Getz about what it would take to land the left-hander. The Yankees refused to deal Spencer Jones to the White Sox for Crochet prior to the deadline, but MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (X link) writes that New York is still “believed to be in” on the Crochet sweepstakes.
Boston may be a different story, as Cotillo hears that the Red Sox are “just on the periphery of Garrett Crochet talks and are not aggressors at all.” This tracks with reporting from Cotillo’s MassLive colleague Sean McAdam a couple of weeks ago, as McAdam wrote that negotiations between the two Sox teams had seemingly quieted. On paper, the Red Sox would seemingly be an ideal fit for Crochet given Boston’s need for frontline pitching and their collection of elite position-player prospects (Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel), but obviously a match depends on what exactly Chicago would want back in return. For instance, there have been reports that Anthony and Campbell are the true untouchables within the “big four” Red Sox prospects, so talks might have cooled with the White Sox are insisting on one of those two.
There appear to be mixed signals on whether or not the Reds could be involved. Cotillo writes that “Cincinnati [is] seen as a real threat to land Crochet,” but Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer throws cold water on the possibility, saying that “the talks went nowhere” between the Reds and White Sox, “and there’s no reason to think they’ll re-engage at this point.” Wittenmyer notes that the two sides discussed Crochet before Cincinnati acquired Brady Singer from the Royals, so that deal could mark the end of any higher-level pitching moves the Reds could make.
Padres Notes: Profar, Higashioka, De Vries, Salas
The postseason will move on without the Padres involved tonight when the Mets travel to Dodger Stadium for Game 1 of the NLCS, and the Padres now figure to turn their attention to building for the 2025 season. Among the top needs to address on the club’s offseason to-do list figures to be addressing the needs created by the possible departure of pending free agents. Infielder Ha-Seong Kim is perhaps the club’s most high-profile free agent, though between his recent surgery leaving questions regarding his market and San Diego’s considerable depth in the middle infield, left fielder Jurickson Profar and catcher Kyle Higashioka are likely higher priorities for the club to either return or replace.
In the case of Profar, the 31-year-old has made clear that he prefers to stay with the Padres. Profar told reporters (including MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell) yesterday that he hopes to return to San Diego next year before acknowledging that the decision isn’t “totally in [his] hands,” adding that the Padres “have got to want [him], too.”
After signing a one-year deal with the Padres over the offseason that guaranteed him just $1MM last year, Profar enjoyed a breakout season that is sure to earn him a significant pay raise headed into 2025. In 158 games with San Diego this year, Profar slashed an excellent .280/.380/.459 (139 wRC+) with 24 home runs, 10 steals, a strong 11.1% walk rate and an excellent 15.1% strikeout rate. That strong all-around play came together to create by far the most valuable season of Profar’s career as he posted 4.3 fWAR, leaving him sandwiched between Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker as the seventh most valuable outfielder in baseball this year.
That strong season should make Profar among the most interesting free agents of the winter. Valuable as his offense was this year, he provides virtually no defensive value as a below-average glove limited to left field and his track record on offense is spotty at best. Profar’s career wRC+ is actually below league average (99) even after this year’s phenomenal campaign, and even his 107 wRC+ since first joining San Diego in 2020 is closer to solid than spectacular for a player of Profar’s limited defensive value. If those possible red flags leave teams cautious about giving Profar a hefty guarantee, it’s certainly feasible to imagine the sides working something out to keep the veteran in San Diego going forward.
Of course, a Profar reunion would only serve to further elevate what already figures to be a complicated payroll picture for the Padres next year. The club is currently set to be on the hook for just over $207MM according to RosterResource next year, with a payroll of more than $243MM for luxury tax purposes. It’s possible that offseason trades or perhaps even a creative extension for an arbitration-level player like Luis Arraez could lower those numbers, but the Padres nonetheless appear likely to be nearing their payroll capacity even before reuniting with Profar or addressing the multiple holes in the club’s rotation.
That could leave the Padres needing to scrimp on other parts of the roster, particularly if they hope to retain Profar. One position where the club could look to save money is behind the plate, where Kyle Higashioka impressed in his final year before free agency with 17 homers in 263 trips to the plate for the Padres this year. Much like Profar, Higashioka indicated an interest in returning to the Padres as he heads into free agency, telling reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that he loved playing in southern California and that his time with the Padres has been the most fun he’s had with a team.
With Higashioka potentially in line for a hefty raise this winter, however, Acee suggests that San Diego brass could instead look to part ways with both him and Kim this winter as they wait for the impending arrival of the club’s top prospects. Catcher Ethan Salas entered the 2024 season as a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball after reaching the Double-A level as a 17 year old, but Acee notes that shortstop prospect Leodalis De Vries, who turned 18 just two days ago, is even more highly regarded by Padres brass.
What’s more, Acee notes that there have been discussions within the organization about the possibility of both teenage phenoms making their big league debuts as soon as 2025. If the Padres truly believe both players could be ready for the majors sometime next year, that could incentivize them to focus on other areas of the roster this winter and stick to relatively short-term options behind the plate and at shortstop who could be pushed aside in the event that Salas or De Vries cracks the big league roster.
Of course, both players would need to rocket through the minor leagues at a breakneck pace to reach the majors next year. Salas spent the entire 2024 season at the High-A level and slashed a lackluster .206/.288/.311 in 111 games with the club, while De Vries slashed an excellent .238/.361/.442 across 75 games in his first taste of professional action this year but has not yet played above the Single-A level. While breakout rookie Jackson Merrill stands as an example of San Diego’s willingness to push top prospects aggressively, even he had nearly 50 games of success in the upper minors before cracking the big league roster.
Padres Notes: Kim, Tatis, De Vries
The Padres were dealt a scare yesterday when Ha-Seong Kim was forced out of their loss to the Rockies after jamming his throwing shoulder diving into first base. San Diego sent the shortstop for imaging today and came away encouraged by the initial results.
“(Early testing) seems to be mostly favorable, but there’s zero timeline to it,” manager Mike Shildt told reporters before tonight’s series opener with the Twins (via the MLB.com injury tracker). “We’re initially fairly pleased with what it looks like. We’re still gathering information.” The Friars did not place Kim on the injured list, though he’s not available for tonight’s game.
Tyler Wade drew into the lineup at shortstop tonight. He’d seemingly be the favorite for playing time if Kim requires an IL stint. Wade provides speed and defensive versatility but limited offensive upside. He entered tonight’s game with a .241/.318/.259 batting line in 134 trips to the plate. Wade only has two extra-base hits (both doubles) all season. Kim is not an impact hitter, yet he’s far more of a threat than Wade. The South Korea native has 11 homers with a roughly average .223/.330/.370 slash across 470 plate appearances.
Kim has avoided the injured list in each of his first four MLB seasons. That durability will be a major selling point for the 28-year-old when he hits free agency during the upcoming offseason. There’s technically an $8MM mutual option on his deal with San Diego, but Kim will surely decline his end in favor of a $2MM buyout and look for a longer-term deal.
If Kim does require his first MLB injured list stint, he’ll join Fernando Tatis Jr. as lineup fixtures on the shelf. Tatis has been down for nearly two months after sustaining a stress reaction in his right leg. Dennis Lin of the Athletic wrote this evening that club officials have suggested Tatis could be out into the middle of next month (though there’s still no official timetable). The injury halted an All-Star campaign. Tatis was one of the most productive outfielders in the National League during the first half of the season, drilling 14 homers with a .279/.354/.468 line in 80 games.
The Friars have relied on David Peralta as their right fielder since Tatis went down. The 37-year-old veteran has been a surprisingly strong offensive contributor, running a .269/.331/.438 slash in 175 trips to the plate. Peralta is coming off a well below-average season with the Dodgers and wasn’t hitting well in Triple-A early this year.
In a bit of minor league injury news, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that top prospect Leodalis De Vries suffered a right shoulder strain that seems likely to end his season. While it’s not believed to be a long-term issue, the Low-A season only runs into the second week of September. De Vries was widely perceived as the most talented prospect in the most recent international signing class. The Dominican Republic native has only elevated his stock in the past few months, reaching Low-A while playing the entire season at age 17. The switch-hitting shortstop has turned in a .237/.361/.441 mark with 11 homers against much older competition. The Padres reportedly made him (and top catching prospect Ethan Salas) more or less untouchable at the trade deadline.
Padres Hoping To Add Starter, Have Discussed Jack Flaherty With Tigers
The Padres fortified their bullpen with their weekend acquisition of righty Jason Adam from the Rays, but they’re not done yet. Dennis Lin and Chad Jennings of The Athletic report that San Diego is hoping to add “at least” one starter and is still open to bringing in additional relief help. They’ve had discussions with the Tigers about Jack Flaherty, per the report, and have indeed at least checked in on a potential Blake Snell reunion (as was reported last night).
Flaherty, 28, stands as one of the likeliest trade candidates on the market. He’s on a one-year, $14MM contract with a Tigers club that faces a 12-game deficit in the AL Central and a 5.5-game gap in the chase for the final AL Wild Card spot (with four teams to leapfrog in that hunt). The Tigers could hold onto Flaherty and make him a qualifying offer — he’s a lock to reject and at least net them a draft pick it after his brilliant 2024 rebound — but the demand for pitching should allow Detroit to extract a better package than that potential comp pick.
In 106 2/3 innings since signing with Detroit, Flaherty boasts a 2.95 ERA with an exceptional 32% strikeout rate and an outstanding 4.6% walk rate. Among the 80 pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched in 2024, Flaherty has the fifth-best strikeout rate, the seventh-best walk rate and the second best differential between those two marks (trailing only White Sox ace Garrett Crochet). He’s also keeping the ball on the ground at a solid 43% clip, and this year’s 93.5 mph average fastball is his best since 2021. Flaherty also has the sixth-best swinging-strike rate among those 80 pitchers, trailing only Crochet, Cole Ragans, Tarik Skubal, Dylan Cease and Chris Sale — an impressive collection of some of the game’s top arms.
The Friars’ once-outstanding farm system has been thinned over the years by president of baseball operations A.J. Preller’s insatiable appetite for marquee trades. San Diego recouped some of the value they lost when trading five top prospects for Juan Soto in the offseason when they traded their final year of control over Soto to the Yankees. However, the headline prospect in that trade never threw a regular season pitch in the Padres organization; right-hander Drew Thorpe was instead packaged with three other farmhands in a trade to acquire Dylan Cease during spring training. Preller has since further thinned the system with trades for Luis Arraez and the aforementioned Adam.
Catcher Ethan Salas and young shortstop Leodalis De Vries still rank among the sport’s elite prospects, but all indications to this point have been that both are close to untouchable. Lin recently wrote a separate piece on that subject, and veritably any report connecting the Padres to a high-end trade target has suggested that Salas and De Vries aren’t expected to be in play. That’s likely all the more true when it comes to a rental like Flaherty (or a high-priced star with an opt-out clause, like Snell).
The Padres have been without right-hander Yu Darvish for weeks as he tends to an undisclosed personal matter. He’s on the restricted list indefinitely. Right-hander Joe Musgrove has been out since May due to a bone spur in his elbow and is on the 60-day injured list. They currently have Dylan Cease, Michael King, Matt Waldron and Randy Vasquez in the rotation, but Vasquez has spent much of the season flirting with a 5.00 ERA while King has already set a new career-high for innings pitched. Adding Flaherty or another arm to the mix would both help to bridge the gap until Musgrove and/or Darvish are ready to return and also give the Padres another impact arm for a potential postseason rotation. A theoretical group fronted by Cease, Flaherty, Musgrove and Darvish would be formidable, assuming all four are healthy and active.
Padres Notes: Taillon, Catching, DeVries
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.