Padres shockingly demote trade deadline acquisition after rough debut

Just one start into his tenure with the San Diego Padres, JP Sears is headed back to the minors.

The San Diego Padres announced on Tuesday that they’ve optioned Sears to Triple-A El Paso following a rocky debut against the St. Louis Cardinals. In a corresponding move, the club recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will operate with a nine-man bullpen for the time being.

On the surface, this looks like a reactionary move. Sears gave up five runs on 10 hits and a walk across five innings in Monday’s loss, striking out four and showing little of the upside the Padres were hoping for when they acquired him from the Athletics at the trade deadline. But underneath it all, this demotion might reveal a deeper shakeup, or a calculated pause in the rotation shuffle.

Padres option deadline pickup JP Sears in stunning move

Sears, who carries a 5.12 ERA and 1.31 WHIP across 116 innings this season between Oakland and San Diego, hadn’t been sent down to the minors since the 2022 season. He had been a durable, if unspectacular, presence in the A’s rotation and looked like a classic “change-of-scenery” candidate. That scenery changed quickly, and now so has his status.

The Padres had already optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. With Sears now optioned, the rotation has been temporarily trimmed to four arms: Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish, and fellow deadline pickup Nestor Cortes. 

This sudden shift opens up two intriguing possibilities. The first: a quick recall for Vásquez, who had shown flashes of back-end rotation potential earlier this year and may be waiting in the wings for a more favorable matchup. The second, and perhaps more tantalizing scenario? The return of Michael King.

King has been working his way back from an extended IL stint. He recently began a rehab assignment and could be nearing a return. If San Diego is planning to slot him back into the mix, it would explain the short-term pivot to a bullpen-heavy approach.

Either way, the move to demote Sears so quickly is jarring. It’s not often a trade deadline acquisition is cast aside this fast. The Padres may view it as a temporary reset, but it also underscores just how tight the margins are in their chase for October. In San Diego, there’s no time to wait for bounce-backs.

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