The San Diego Padres were gifted the highest MLB trade deadline grade by an MLB insider.
The San Diego Padres' president of baseball operations, A.J. Preller, and staff went into the final week of the MLB trade deadline with the same goal as years past: to buy.
There were plenty of rumors speculating around the Padres, from the team looking to sell top-paid players to making moves to acquire some of baseball's best in the league.
Despite being a common name in trade rumors, Dylan Cease was never moved, but the Padres were able to trade for both pitching help and positional players to upgrade in struggling spots in the batting order.
San Diego had to part ways with multiple top prospects, including the league's No. 3 prospect, shortstop Leo De Vries. In return, the Padres acquired Mason Miller and JP Sears from the Athletics, 2025 All-Star Ryan O'Hearn and Ramon Laureano from the Baltimore Orioles, as well as catcher Freddy Fermin from the Kansas City Royals.
They were able to add on to one of the best bullpens in baseball after getting Miller, add a top designated hitter in the league in O'Hearn, and upgrade the team's struggling catcher position with Fermin.
These moves were able to make the Padres, along with the Seattle Mariners, the top graded teams in the eyes of The Athletic's Jim Bowden.
The Padres got an "A" grade from the MLB insider, and he had some high praise for the second-place team in the NL West.
"The Padres put themselves in a strong position to not only catch the Dodgers in the NL West — they’re only three games back — but also to again be legitimate candidates to reach the World Series... It’s official: From now on, A.J. Preller should be considered the king of the trade deadline," Bowden wrote in an article.
The San Diego Padres are just three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West and have won seven of their last eight games.
Category: Baseball
