5 starting pitchers the Padres need to have on their trade deadline radar

The current San Diego Padres rotation consists of one very good starter in Michael King, who can opt out after the season, and a bunch of other guys. Walker Buehler, of all people, has been the most reliable starter recently. That’s either a great story or a flashing warning light. They have a full rotation on the IL as well, which is never ideal.

And yet, here they are, hanging around the Wild Card race while the offense underachieves. The August 3 MLB trade deadline is the spot where that could all change, but the Padres need to attack the market with their usual deadline vigor.

Starting pitching is the Padres' most obvious 2026 trade deadline need

The offense needs help, yes, but there are always more pitchers than hitters available. King has been fine, but sometimes frustrating. Randy Vasquez has recently gone from surprise to liability. The reinforcements are all rehabbing elbow-adjacent stuff on timelines nobody wants to commit to. Lucas Giolito is currently hurt. Griffin Canning hasn’t helped. That is just too many question marks for a team with eyes on October.

As always, complicating things is the hit the farm system has taken in recent years, particularly last year in the Mason Miller deal and the Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano deal. The payroll is already over the luxury tax, but there are reports that new ownership is willing to give AJ Preller some financial leeway anyway. There’s money to spend, but not really prospects to spare. The math points in the direction of absorbing salary to keep the prospect cost down, which shapes the whole list. AJ Cassavell of MLB.com figures the realistic play is a mid-rotation arm instead of an ace. Let’s take this list from the sensible to the delusional.

Michael Wacha, Kansas City Royals

Let’s start here because it is the one that actually looks like a Preller move. Wacha found new life in Boston the year before his one season in San Diego, and has now found a home in Kansas City, where he’s been very good for the last two years and the first half of this one. He’s also controllable through 2027 with a club option beyond that, so you’re not renting. National writers are also mentioning him as an option. The only concern here is if the Royals move him. They both will expect to contend again in 2027, and Wacha has made a home in Kansas City and is very comfortable, and that organization tends to prioritize things like that.

Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants

If the Padres simply want to spend cash instead of talent, Ray is probably the poster child. He’s in the last year of a five-year, $115 million deal and is earning $25 million this season. The Giants are among the clearest sellers in baseball, and he’s been pitching great lately. He’s a pure rental who Jim Bowden of The Athletic said was the Giants’ most likely chip. For a team with money and without much farm, taking on salary can be a huge benefit.

Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers

Look, he hasn't stayed terribly healthy this year, but he has pitched exceptionally well when he has. The strikout rate is the best of his career. The walk rate is the best of his career (other than a two-start season in 2022). He won't give a ton of innings per start, but he'll give good innings and is a free agent after the season, which, combined with his injuries, probably limits the return on him. If the Tigers end up trading one starter and one starter only, it might be Mize to keep their big gun for the draft pick compensation. Mize probably won't be cheap from a prospect-perspective, but likely won't require the top of the Padres' list.

Freddy Peralta, New York Mets

The Mets pretty much put out the “For Sale” sign when they fired Carlos Mendoza, which means Peralta becomes the best non-Tarik Skubal starter on the market. His first half in New York has been uneven, but the underlying resume is exactly what a playoff rotation could use. The team-friendly extension he signed with the Brewers means he’s inexpensive, but when you combine that with the fact that he’s good, he’s going to cost some real prospects. Are the Padres willing to give up what they have left for two months (and hopefully more) of Peralta? That remains to be seen.

Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins

This is not new. The Padres have been linked to Ryan since what seems like the start of baseball as we know it, and it’s easy to see why. He’s under team control through 2027, misses bats, and is a legitimate top-two starter. He’d be the absolute perfect fit for the Padres. The issue here is that it’s hard to know what the Twins will do, and the asking price for Ryan likely includes Ethan Salas. It’s the smartest fit on paper, but it’s a tough swing to make.

Not likely a real option, but required by law to be on all trade deadline lists: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

It wouldn’t be a trade deadline list if Skubal wasn’t on it, so why not dream? Until proven otherwise, he’s the best pitcher on the planet, the two-time reigning Cy Young, and a pure rental every team would want. He’d fit in San Diego because he’d fit literally anywhere. Of course, an ESPN fit list left the Padres off entirely, likely because the price is a farm system the Padres simply don’t have. But they do have the top prospect the Tigers would want in Salas. Skubal is absolutely the arm you want, just not the one that’s likely to happen.

Honorable mentions: Jack Flaherty, Tigers; Foster Griffin, Nationals; Seth Lugo, Royals

This deadline probably lives somewhere in the Wacha/Ray range. They’d get a quality start machine who requires more dollars than prospects. A bigger swing would absolutely be more fun, but it’d also be more expensive in exactly the way the roster and the organization can’t afford. But if the rotation is the priority, the smart money is on the safer bet, not the flashy name. And it might be enough.

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