This Padres reliever has more than lived up to hefty trade deadline cost

Despite initial rumblings that they would make a splash on the starting pitching trade market, the San Diego Padres' trade deadline this year was defined by their complete overhaul of their bullpen. While the most recognizable name they brought in was Tanner Scott, it was their acquisition of Jason Adam from the Rays that could end up being their biggest win.

At the time, there were a number of observers that thought the price the Padres paid for Adam was rather high. Adam had been quite good for Tampa since at least 2022 and had a 2.49 ERA at the time of the trade, but the Padres gave up some highly-rated prospects in exchange for a non-closing reliever (albeit one who came with some team control).

Since the trade, however, Adam has made the Padres look like geniuses for making the move.

Jason Adam has turned into one of MLB's best relievers with the Padres

So much attention is given to closers when the discussion of relievers comes up, but having a guy like Adam who can be called upon in late-game situations with the ability to go more than an inning has been huge for the Padres. Since Aug. 1, Adam has been the Padres' best reliever by fWAR at 0.7 and the 12th-best reliever in all of baseball with a 0.82 ERA and 2.08 FIP in 22 innings of work (before his rough showing against the White Sox on Saturday: 1/3 of an inning, one earned run, one hit, two walks and a hit batter).

Again, it isn't like the other relievers San Diego brought in at the trade deadline have been bad. Tanner Scott has been awesome with a 2.45 ERA and 2.35 FIP with the same workload as Adam. Bryan Hoeing, who also came over in the Scott trade, has chipped in in a big way as well with a 0.95 ERA despite not getting much swing and miss.

Relievers are always a risk to be sure, but San Diego shipping out Dylan Lesko and others doesn't look as bad now as it initially did. Lesko's struggles are very real and Adam is under team control through 2026. The Padres were looking to make an impact in the short-term and they made it happen.

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