Padres Trade: Taylor Williams is an underrated acquisition

The Padres made one final move before the deadline, adding Mariners closer Taylor Williams for a player to be named later.

The Padres are the clear winners of MLB’s trade deadline, highlighted by the acquisition of Mike Clevinger in a blockbuster trade with Cleveland. Yesterday, the Friars had a blockbuster trade with Seattle that centered around Austin Nola, and apparently, the two sides weren’t done exchanging players.

San Diego reportedly made a push to acquire reliever Taylor Williams from the M’s just ahead of the deadline, and he’s a sneaky-good acquisition to the bullpen. He has pitched much better than his immediate numbers suggest this year. While his 5.93 ERA isn’t overly convincing, the 29-year-old has a 3.50 FIP and has fanned 19 batters in only 13.2 innings of work.

Along the way, he’s collected six saves for a struggling Mariners team and is posting a career-best 12.5 K/9 as the team’s closer. When he was with Milwaukee, Williams had a difficult go of it, with a 5.23 ERA in three seasons. The former fourth-round pick of the Brewers struggled massively with walks during the 2018 campaign, allowing 25 free passes in 53.0 innings. He was one of the players we highlighted before the Padres-Mariners series.

Williams will likely pitch the sixth or seventh inning, which could signal the end for Craig Stammen, who has been a disappointment this season. The now-former Mariner is under team control through the 2023 season, so there’s obviously some potential for him to stick around much longer in this bullpen.

If too overcrowded, he could end up being a decent chip to flip at next year’s deadline, assuming he has a solid season. Either way, this is a great move on general manager AJ Preller’s part, who played chess while everyone else was playing checkers at the deadline.