The Padres added a starter they think can help them get through September and a pair of relievers they believe will help them navigate October.
The starter was for protection, to give them a chance to win a few more games. The relievers were with the intent of domination, to lock down numerous crucial victories.
Two days after acquiring Jason Adam, by some measures one of the best setup men in the major leagues, the Padres on Tuesday traded with the Marlins for All-Star closer Tanner Scott.
Then, just before the 3 p.m. PT trade deadline, they made a deal with the Pirates to get veteran starter Pérez.
Along with Scott, the Padres also got right-hander Bryan Hoeing, who can serve as a long reliever and/or spot starter, from the Marlins. To get the two pitchers, they sent their top-ranked pitching prospects, Robby Snelling and Adam Mazur, No. 3 position prospect Graham Pauley and Single-A infielder Jay Beshears to Miami.
To get Pérez, the Padres sent 18-year-old left-hander Ronaldys Jimenez, who was playing in the Dominican Summer League, to Pittsburgh.
The Padres also traded reliever Enyel De Los Santos and Thomas Balboni Jr., a reliever for Single-A Lake Elsinore, to the Yankees in exchange for Triple-A outfielder Brandon Lockridge.
In all, the Padres added about $5.2 million to their payroll and remained more than $8 million below the competitive balance tax threshold they were adamant about avoiding.
Add in the trade for starting pitcher Dylan Cease in March, infielder Luis Arraez in May, Adam on Sunday and Scott, and the Padres have traded away 12 players who were ranked among their top 15 prospects at the time. That includes their top five pitching prospects as ranked by MLB.com.
Importantly, they still have 18-year-old catcher Ethan Salas and 17-year-old shortstop Leodalis De Vries, the two prospects they covet above all others.
The Padres spread a wide net fishing for starting pitchers. But the prices were high, and other clubs had more minor leaguers to give that were closer to the big leagues than the Padres did. Garrett Crochet and Jack Flaherty, the top starters on the market, could have been had virtually straight up for Salas or De Vries, who was particularly popular. But that was essentially a non-starter for the Padres.
“The two areas (were) kind of neck and neck,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said of their pursuit of starters and relievers. “And just looking at what was available, we felt like (there) were more relief options. And from an impact standpoint, we felt like there were some guys that could really, really impact our bullpen. … Obviously, (we) weighed out the costs from a return standpoint of both starting pitchers and relievers. We ultimately ended up feeling like maybe a little bit more strength on the relief side for more options, more impact. We went that route.”
The Padres have taken advantage of abundant off-days this month to use just four starters to cover all but one of their past 14 games. But they have a couple starting pitchers (Michael King and Matt Waldron) in unprecedented territory in terms of workload.
That made getting a starter imperative, even if it’s largely to fill innings. Perez has a 5.20 ERA in 16 starts this season.
But their splash before the trade deadline showed how they intend to contend.
“I think there are a lot of ways you can go about building championship teams and rosters and pitching staffs,” Preller said. “For us, like especially in the postseason, you get the additional rounds, less days off. I think it’s a little bit less right now where you can get two or three starters and ride those guys and two or three ‘pen guys. You need a really deep 13-man staff.”
A hard-throwing lefty, Scott has a 1.18 ERA and has struck out 53 batters in 45⅔ innings this season. The 30-year-old has a 1.89 ERA over 123⅔ innings dating to the start of last season, and has 18 saves in 20 opportunities in 2024. He will be a free agent after this season.
Preller said a key to getting that deal done was the inclusion of Hoeing, who is under team control through 2028.
Manager Mike Shildt and pitching coach Ruben Niebla now have the enviable task of figuring out how to use two closers, one of the game’s top setup men and right-hander Jeremiah Estrada and left-hander Adrián Morejón at the end of games in which the Padres are leading.
“I think what we’ve seen when we’ve been in the postseason the last few years and historically, you just need some guys to get outs against some big-time hitters,” Preller said. “If that’s as a starter for seven innings, that’s extremely valuable. But … the more guys that can go out and get elite hitters (out) in the postseason and the more options (Shildt and the coaching staff) have, we felt good about it. We looked at it, and we’ve seen some teams win championships that way. And hopefully that’s a real strength for us in the next couple of months.”
Originally Published:
