Yankees icon makes Padres bullpen joke that should worry NL contenders

The San Diego Padres revamped their squad leading up to the MLB trade deadline last Thursday. General manager A. J. Preller decided to put all his chips on the table to win a World Series, and his actions received praise from former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

Among the players that San Diego landed, the marquee names are Mason Miller and Ryan O’Hearn. Miller arrived from the Athletics and will help the Padres have a vaunted bullpen that no team will want to face. Meanwhile, O’Hearn adds a left-handed run-producing bat to their lineup.  

On Saturday, Jeter was part of the MLB on FOX panel discussing the trade deadline and which teams strengthened their postseason chances. When asked which team made a big leap, he picked the Padres and spotlighted an area that will be dangerous in this final stretch.

“I tell you what, don’t forget about the San Diego Padres," Jeter said. "You talk about a team that’s really just revamped itself at the trade deadline. What they’ve done has been pretty impressive. I think there are games now, you can jokingly say it, but they want the lead after three [innings], and then they turn it over to their bullpen.”

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With a lead past the sixth inning, San Diego will be a challenging team to beat, considering what they’ll have at their disposal. The Padres have two arms that can seal the win in the ninth inning in Miller and Robert Suarez.

Even though Miller and Suarez are the big names, there’s also Jason Adam (1.89 ERA), Adrián Morejón (1.63 ERA), Jeremiah Estrada (2.59 ERA), and David Morgan (2.08 ERA), who are excellent options from the bullpen.

While Jeter is joking that a Padres starter only needs to go three innings, San Diego is probably asking their starting pitchers to give them five or six innings, and then it will be the bullpen’s turn to lock down the opposition for the win.