Padres’ deal-making takes a painful hit after the Marlins-Yankees trade reveals more

The annoying part about this latest Marlins-Yankees trade isn’t just the prospect package. It’s the reminder of a pattern Padres fans have watched play out too many times. San Diego keeps selling low on arms, then watching someone else cash them in when the timing is better.

Back on Aug. 1, 2023, the Padres dealt left-hander Ryan Weathers to Miami for Garrett Cooper and minor-league righty Sean Reynolds. At the time, the logic was understandable. San Diego wanted a veteran bat to patch 1B/DH depth, and Weathers hadn’t locked down a consistent role with the Padres. 

Padres’ trade tree just turned tense after the Marlins score big from the Yankees

Fast forward to January 2026, and the Marlins flipped Weathers to the Yankees for four prospects. That’s a real “contender paid up” package, the kind of return that instantly makes people look back at the original trade and ask a pretty uncomfortable question:

Why does it feel like the Padres always trade pitchers at their lowest narrative point?

Because that’s what “selling low” looks like in practice. It isn’t always getting fleeced on the day of the deal. It’s moving an arm while the league can still shrug and say, “change of scenery,” “role clarity,” or “needs consistency.” When that’s the story attached to a pitcher, the price drops. Not because the talent isn’t there, but because the market doesn’t have proof it’s safe to pay full price yet.

The Marlins didn’t need Weathers to turn into an ace to “win” this. They just needed him to be interesting enough for a big-market contender to talk itself into upside — and 2025 gave them exactly that.

Weathers finished 2025 2–2 with a 3.99 ERA in eight starts (38.1 innings), with 37 strikeouts against 12 walks and a 1.28 WHIP.  He also spent huge chunks of the year on the injured list — first with a left flexor strain (IL retroactive to March 24), then a left lat strain that ultimately pushed him to the 60-day IL in June. 

But even with the injuries and the limited workload, the selling point was clear. The stuff ticked up. Multiple reports and analysis pegged his four-seam fastball around 97 mph in 2025 — the kind of velocity bump that makes teams believe there’s another level if the body cooperates.  

And it hits a nerve in San Diego because the Padres are always moving arms around. Every offseason turns into some version of “where are the innings coming from?” Every rotation question becomes a roster squeeze. So when a former Padres starter turns into a Yankees prospect haul for another organization, it’s evidence of a process problem.

The Padres aren’t wrong to trade arms. They’re wrong when they keep doing it from a place of urgency, before the value swing arrives. Deadline pressure creates quick-fix trades, and quick-fix trades are where organizations leak value.

That’s why this is another one that stings. Not because Weathers was guaranteed to pop in San Diego, but because the Padres once again did the hard part — draft the arm, live through the messy development phase — then moved on right before the market decided it was worth paying for.