Another trade deadline of A.J. Preller going all-in commenced, as not only did he hold onto his team's rentals, but he even traded several prospects to acquire pieces for the stretch run like Robbie Ray and Casey Mize. The Padres continue to go all-out to try and win a World Series, and they continue to fall short, this time bowing out in the NLDS at the hands of the Brewers.
San Diego has made four playoff appearances in the last five years, but the Padres haven't made it to the NLCS since 2022 and haven't been to a World Series since 1998. They also, of course, have never won a title. And with an expensive core already locked in, this team is going to need to let many pending free agents walk this offseason.
LHP Adrian Morejon
The most painful of which will be Adrian Morejon, who has established himself as one of the best relievers in the sport. In fact, Morejon leads all qualified relievers with 223.1 innings pitched since the start of the 2024 season, with a sparkling 2.58 ERA in that span while ranking only behind Mason Miller and Cade Smith with 6.3 fWAR. He doesn't close games in San Diego because Miller exists, but he will almost certainly be coveted to fill such a role elsewhere. He could even test the waters of being a starting pitcher, given the fact that he did come up through the Minors as one.
Either way, with the Padres already devoting so much to Miller and the rest of their core, can they really afford to spend the kind of major money Morejon is going to command on the open market? He's the best reliever available and is only 27 years old. As much as the Padres will want to bring him back, it feels likely they'll be outbid for his services. It's a shame his tenure in San Diego will likely end with him having not been used in Games 3 and 4.
LHP Robbie Ray
The Padres needed to bolster their rotation at the trade deadline, so they went out and acquired one of the best starters available in Ray. He wasn't pitching at the Cy Young level he once did, but he had a 3.08 ERA with the Giants prior to the deal. With San Diego, that ERA ballooned by nearly two runs to 5.02, and he completed six innings just three times in nine starts. He couldn't get out of the third inning of his lone postseason start, allowing two runs in 2.2 innings of work.
Ray did not pitch well for the Padres, and now he's a 35-year-old on an expiring contract. San Diego could consider bringing him back as a back-end starter in the rotation, but they should probably look for a younger and/or better option.
RHP Casey Mize
Casey Mize was the other major starter acquired by the Padres at the deadline, and while Ray has the pedigree, Mize was having the much better year. He had a 2.70 ERA with the Tigers pre-trade, with peripherals that matched. Fast forward to his time in San Diego, and he wound up posting a 7.46 ERA in 10 starts. Mize allowed 26 earned runs and five home runs in 16 starts with Detroit, and allowed 37 earned runs and 13 home runs with the Padres.
His ERA was admittedly inflated due to a couple of brutal clunkers, but Mize was nowhere close to as effective in his short stint with the Padres. Adding insult to injury, Mize missed the postseason with a sprained ankle. Mize pitched well overall and is just 29 years old, so he should still fetch a healthy contract, but given how his stint in San Diego went, I have my doubts that they'll be the team to give it to them.
RHP Lucas Giolito
With the Padres desperate for starting pitching help, they signed Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal in late April. This felt like a smart move for Preller to make, as Giolito pitched well in 2025 and was available for very cheap. Unfortunately, the right-hander had a 5.16 ERA in seven appearances (five starts) with San Diego, and he has been sidelined since June due to elbow inflammation.
This is another deal that just didn't work out. Giolito was ineffective and barely healthy. He'll probably latch on somewhere on a cheap one-year prove-it deal, but it's hard to envision the Padres being eager to re-sign him given how this year went.
DH Miguel Andujar
I thought the one-year, $4 million deal Miguel Andujar signed with the Padres was going to be one of the more underrated moves of the offseason. While he always had defensive concerns, Andujar's bat has always been solid, and he had a particularly great year against lefties in 2025. The Padres having Andujar operating in a short-side platoon role, at a bare minimum, felt like an easy win.
That didn't wind up being the case. Andujar had a couple of IL stints and wasn't great when healthy, slashing .259/.303/.423 overall with five home runs and 22 RBI in 77 games. He was particularly disappointing against lefties, as his .682 OPS would indicate. Guys like Austin Hays and even Samad Taylor proved to be more impactful off the bench than Andujar, which is not how the Padres drew it up.
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