10 worst trades in recent San Diego Padres history

AJ Preller has made his fair share of trades as the Padres' General Manager. He has become known in baseball as one of the most active GMs, always looking for ways to improve his team. However, not every trade has gone his way. Here is a look back at ten of the worst trades in recent Padres history,

2014: Yasmani Grandal, Zach Eflin, and Joe Wieland to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp and Tim Federowicz

Trading within your division is usually not a good idea. This trade proves as much for the Padres.

Over his next four years with the Dodgers, Grandal would go onto put up 10.1 bWAR, made an all-star team and received MVP votes.

Kemp on the other hand spent just a year and a half in San Diego and was worth just 1 bWAR during that stretch. He did hit 46 home runs as Padre, but with an OPS+ of 108 and negative defensive value, Kemp did not perform the way San Diego hoped. Federowicz never played in San Diego.

2014: Will Myers, Ryan Hanigan, Jose Castillo and Gerardo Reyes to the Padres. Rene Rivera, Jake Bauers, Burch Smith, Steven Souza to the Rays. Trea Turner and Joe Ross to the Nationals.

The Padres did not come out on the winning side of this three-team trade. That's because they gave up Trea Turner, who blossomed into a three-time All-Star and World Series-winning shortstop for the Nationals.

Not only that, but he was traded from Washington to the division rival Dodgers. Turner has totaled 37.5 bWAR in his career between Washington, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

Will Myers was the prize of the deal for the Padres, and while he did perform well in San Diego, it feels lackluster compared to the career Turner has had. Myers spent eight years in San Diego. He was an All-Star in 2016 and received MVP votes in 2020. However, his 12.5 bWAR with the Padres is only a third of what Turner has achieved in his career.

2014: Max Fried, Mallex Smith, Dustin Peterson and Jace Peterson to the Braves for Justin Upton and Aaron Northcraft

Another rough trade in the 2014 offseason saw the Padres give up pitching prospect Max Fried and outfield prospect Mallex Smith to the Braves in exchange for Justin Upton.

Upton spent just one year in San Diego, and was worth 4.1 bWAR. He made the all-star team, drove in 81 runs and hit 26 home runs.

Fried went on to have an impressive eight-year run with Atlanta. The southpaw finished second in Cy Young voting in 2022, and was generally one of the better pitchers in baseball, making two All-Star games with Atlanta. He was worth 22.9 bWAR as a Brave.

2016: Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea to the Marlins for Josh Naylor, Carter Capps, Luis Castillo and Jarred Cosart

While Cashner and Rea did not do much for the Marlins in 2016, Cashner had the best year of his career in 2017 with the Rangers, when he had a 3.40 ERA in 28 starts.

Meanwhile, the trio of Naylor, Capps and Cosart combined to be worth -0.6 bWAR in San Diego.

2016: Matt Kemp to the Braves for Hector Olivera

The double-whammy of the first Matt Kemp trade was that in 2016, not even two years later, the Padres were forced to give Kemp up for free to offload his contract. Hector Olivera did not play a single game for the Padres.

Kemp struggled in Atlanta, but would return to the Dodgers in 2018 and had a bounce-back season, returning to his All-Star form and continuing to haunt San Diego.

2017: Jabari Blash to the Yankees for Chase Headley and Bryan Mitchell

The Padres brought back fan favorite Chase Headley along with reliever Bryan Mitchell. The two of them combined for -0.7 bWAR in 2018 and neither made it the full season with the team. Blash never played for the Yankees, but New York still comes out on top of this trade.

2020: Cal Quantrill, Gabrial Arias, Austin Hedges, Josh Naylor, Owen Miller and Joey Cantillo to the Guardians for Mike Clevinger and Greg Allen

Clevinger commanded a real haul at the 2020 trade deadline. The Padres gave up seven players to accquire the ace pitcher. Unfortunately, injuries slowed down Clevinger in San Diego. He would make 26 starts over three seasons in San Diego, finishing his time with the Padres with a 4.12 ERA and 1.3 bWAR.

Cleveland, meanwhile, found a starter in Josh Naylor. Naylor broke out with 20 home runs for the Guardians in 2022, and followed that up with a 31 home run All-Star season in 2024.

2020: Andres Munoz, Luis Torrens, Taylor Trammell and Ty France to the Mariners for Austin Nola, Austin Adams, Dan Altavilla

The Padres gave up two future All-Stars in exchange for a backup catcher and two no-name relievers during their 2020 trade deadline push.

Munoz has a 2.22 ERA in five years with the Mariners, and has become one of the best closers in baseball. He was an All-Star in 2024, and so far has yet to allow an earned run in 2025. Ty France had an up-and-down five years in Seattle, but was an All-Star in 2022.

Nola spent four years in San Diego and was at best a solid platoon option at catcher. He was worth 2.6 bWAR during his time with the Padres.

2022: CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Robert Hassell to the Nationals for Juan Soto and Josh Bell

This trade might look much worse for San Diego in a few seasons. Soto spent a year and a half with the Padres before being traded again to the New York Yankees and eventually signing a free-agent deal with the Mets.

While he was worth 7.0 bWAR as a Padre, the trade ultimately failed on its promise to bring the Padres to the World Series. They lost in the NLCS in 2022, and missed the playoffs in 2023. Bell was also a non-factor for the Padres in 2022, worth -0.5 bWAR.

The Nationals now have three blossiming stars. Gore (4.1 bWAR), Abrams (8.6 bWAR), and Wood (3.1 bWAR) are all beginning to break out for Washington, and all are controlled by the Nationals into the near future.

The Padres were able to flip Soto to get Michael King, so the trade is not entirely a loss.

2024: Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur, Graham Pauley and Jay Beshears to the Marlins for Tanner Scott

Trading three of your top five prospects for a rental reliever is certainly a gamble. Had the Padres won the World Series with Tanner Scott recording the final out, it would have been worth it. But after another playoff shortcoming, followed up by Scott's massive deal with the Dodgers, the trade appears to have been for nothing,

We still don't know if any of the four prospects the Padres gave Miami will pan out, but Scott's two months of 0.7 bWAR baseball were certainly not worth three of San Diego's five best prospects.