Projected Padres rotation and trade grades after landing Robbie Ray

A week ago, the San Diego Padres' trade deadline direction was a bit unclear, with the team hovering around the .500 mark and not playing its best baseball. Well, San Diego has won eight of its last nine games, pulling to within just 1.0 game of the third Wild Card spot in the National League and convincing A.J. Preller to buy.

He missed out on Tarik Skubal, but still managed to land one of the best rental starters on the market in Robbie Ray in a deal with their NL West rivals, the San Francisco Giants, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. The Padres needed rotation help if they wanted to be a serious postseason team, and sure enough, the battle-tested Ray will be making the move to Southern California.

Projected Padres rotation after Robbie Ray trade with Giants

The Ray pickup is a good one. He's not the Cy Young-caliber arm he once was, but he is still having a good year, as his 3.08 ERA would indicate. He's been outstanding of late, in particular, posting a 1.65 ERA since the start of June, trailing only Jacob Misiorowski among all qualified starters. What's most appealing about Ray is that he's allowed three earned runs or fewer in all but three of his 22 starts. He's a safe bet to, at a bare minimum, give his team a chance to win every fifth day, and that's something San Diego lacks in its rotation right now.

Even with the Ray addition, it feels like the Padres are a couple of starting pitchers short. They hope to get Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove and Lucas Giolito back within the next month, which would help, but it's hard to expect all three of those guys to return from lengthy IL stints without issue.

This reality should force Preller to acquire at least one more starter by the end of the deadline that they'd be comfortable starting a playoff game with. It doesn't have to be a Skubal-esque starter, and their bullpen being as elite as it is lessens the need to build a super-rotation, but if the Padres want to give themselves their best chance to make and do something in the playoffs, fortifying the rotational depth feels like an absolute must.

MLB trade grades: Padres bolster rotation with Robbie Ray addition

On the surface, landing two of the top 10 prospects in the Padres' system per MLB Pipeline sounds like a steal for the Giants. Knowing that the Padres' farm system isn't very good beyond Ethan Salas, though, makes it a little less stellar. Still, this is a solid return for a rental in Ray.

Miguel Mendez, San Diego's No. 4 prospect, is the headliner here. He's spent most of the year in Double-A, pitching to a 4.93 ERA in 11 starts at that level. As uninspiring as that sounds, he's struck out nearly 10 batters per nine innings, throws hard, and his slider is an outstanding secondary weapon. He'll need to improve his command and develop his change-up further to stick as a starter, but the tools are there for him to be a viable back-end option in the next couple of years.

Joniel Hernandez is an exciting second piece for the Giants to acquire. He has played extremely well in the DSL this season, posting a .927 OPS with more walks (32) than strikeouts (31). He's only 17 years old, and is obviously a ways away from debuting in the majors, but he has a ton of speed, the potential to have plus power, and a good glove that should allow him to stick somewhere up the middle. It's a project, but an intriguing one.

The Padres' system takes a hit here, but this deal still makes sense for them as they try to win now. The Giants did well, too, in acquiring Mendez in particular for just a couple of months of Ray in a lost season. If Mendez can develop a bit more, he has a chance to really haunt the Padres for the next half-decade.

Padres trade grade: A-
Giants trade grade: B

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