Padres trade for Robbie Ray in deadline raid of division-rival Giants

Another dependable starter has been on the list for the Padres all season long. It took him a little while, but A.J. Preller arrived at the trade deadline and went shopping in a pretty satisfying aisle: the roster of an NL West rival. The Friars are finalizing a trade to acquire left-hander Robbie Ray from the Giants, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The return hasn’t yet been reported, but the immediate takeaway is obvious. The Padres just added one of the hottest starters on the market while the fourth-place Giants moved another veteran out of San Francisco.

Ray won the 2021 AL Cy Young Award, but San Diego is paying for a 34-year-old who has pitched like a legit difference-maker this season. He’s gone 10-6 with a 3.08 ERA, 107 strikeouts and a 1.29 WHIP across 122 2/3 innings. He made 21 starts for the Giants and was getting even better as the deadline approached.

Robbie Ray trade gives Padres another weapon for playoff push

The guy went 7-0 with a 1.65 ERA over his final 10 appearances for the Giants. That run ended with six innings of one-run ball against the Padres at Petco Park on July 30. So, the Padres received the full sales presentation from the batter’s box. A few days later, they bought the product.

We can’t brush past the source of the deal. The Giants just handed a productive veteran starter to the Padres, a team they’re supposed to make miserable. Intradivision trades aren’t common. But the Giants have positioned themselves as sellers, and if they have to send Ray to the Padres to move him off the roster, so be it.

Ray doesn’t overpower hitters the way he did during his 248-strikeout Cy Young season, and that’s totally okay. The Padres aren’t even looking for a nostalgia act. They need someone healthy who can give them quality innings. He’s a second left-handed look and a guy who can keep games under control. Ray has done that all season.

There’s some rental risk. Ray is in the final season of the five-year, $115 million contract he originally signed with Seattle, meaning the Padres are adding him for a playoff push rather than securing a long-term rotation fixture. We will need the full return before judging the complete cost, especially if San Francisco is covering part of the money still owed.

But the baseball fit isn’t complicated. The Giants are going nowhere fast, the Padres have October ambitions, and Ray was one of the best available starters. San Diego turned a division rival’s deadline sale into a meaningful rotation upgrade.

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