Padres have run out of ways to salvage this disastrous pitching experiment

It's become the story of the season, but with the San Diego Padres clinging to life in the standings, it begs repeating that the rotation simply hasn't been good enough this year. Michael King is doing Michael King things, but no one else has proven capable of sustaining success over a long stretch.

Then there are some who simply haven't had any success at all, like Griffin Canning. The 30-year-old right-hander was a smart upside signing over the offseason, but he's been a total mess in his maiden voyage with the Friars. His 6.97 ERA is uglier than his 5.23 FIP and 4.96 xERA suggests he deserves, but his production has been well below replacement level (-1.1 bWAR) through 62 innings this year.

For $2.5 million, that doesn't sound truly awful, but it gets worse the deeper you dig. As bad as Canning has been as a starter (.839 OPS allowed, 6.79 ERA), he's been even worse out of the bullpen, compiling a ghastly 7.71 ERA in four bulk appearances. Opposing hitters are teeing off on him in those outings, posting a ridiculous .300/.386/.500 slash line.

No matter how you slice it, it seems like it's time for the Padres to move on from Canning in one way or another.

Griffin Canning and other Padres rotation failures have left A.J. Preller with nowhere else to turn

In fairness to Canning, it was unrealistic to expect him to be the rotation's savior just one year after tearing his Achilles. The stalwarts (Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, and Nick Pivetta) haven't contributed anything to the Padres in 2026, thrusting players like Canning and Walker Buehler into roles they're no longer capable of handling.

Still, their failures have left the Friars on the precipice of demise, with no real way out barring the most miraculous trade deadline performance ever from A.J. Preller. Even if the stagnant offense and overworked bullpen could propel this team to October, a rotation of King, Canning, Buehler, and JP Sears/German Marquez would get torn to shreds under the bright lights of playoff baseball.

Which leaves us with one question: How do the Padres go about offloading their poor performers? Canning's incredibly cheap contract suggests that, perhaps, another team would be willing to pluck him off waivers if the Friars designated him for assignment. At the very least, he's reliably struck guys out and induced ground balls this year -- some organization would likely find value in that.

There's just no real path to recouping any value in a trade, which is pretty frustrating for a franchise that might have to walk the tightrope between buying and selling this summer. Perhaps even more than their mediocrity in the standings, that's the failure that will haunt the Padres most.

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