Reranking Padres' 2025 Trade Deadline Deals One Year Later

[Brendan Dentino]

A.J. Preller isn’t a mad scientist, at least not technically. His role as San Diego Padres’ president of baseball operations and general manager doesn’t require a STEM degree. But his roster machinations and the construction of his contract offers can only be cooked up in a lab. Exhibit A: The 2025 trade deadline.

On July 31, 2025, the day of the deadline, the Padres sat 11 games over .500 and were strong Wild Card contenders. That was thanks in large part to one the best pitching staffs in baseball, patched together in a typically Preller-ian fashion. Robert Suarez, the team’s erstwhile closer, was signed in 2021 from Japan. Starting pitcher Nick Pivetta, the team’s most valuable pitcher by bWAR, was signed on a bizarre four-year contract that paid him just $2.5 million in that first year. Various trades had brought in Dylan Cease, Randy Vasquez, and Michael King.

That did not stop Preller from swinging five trades at the deadline, two of them major and one of them franchise-altering. The 2026 Padres are a worse team than last year's, but they’re again in the Wild Card hunt. No one really knows what Preller will do, but we know one thing: Preller will not sit on his hands. Below is a ranking and assessment of the 2025 deadline trades with the benefit of a year's worth of hindsight.

5. Milwaukee Brewers trade LHP Nestor Cortes, SS Jorge Quintana and cash to San Diego Padres for LF Brandon Lockridge

Preller has made many successful trades, and his acquiring a minor-league Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2016 is at the top of the list. But for a GM as active as Preller, it is impossible to avoid some clunkers. This trade is one of them. 

Outfielder Brandon Lockridge was a useful bench player for a couple seasons, offering defensive versatility and speed on the basepaths. In 2025, he stole eight bags in 47 games for the Padres. But the Padres needed starting pitching in light of injuries to King and Yu Darvish, so they shipped Lockridge to Milwaukee for starter Nestor Cortes and prospect Jorge Quintana.

Cortes started six games and pitched to a 5.47 ERA. He’s currently a free agent rehabbing from arm surgery. Quintana is 19-years old and playing in Single-A. Lockridge, for his part, is having a solid season as a bench player for a great Brewers team. As with most teams, the Padres are desperate for right-handed outfield depth. Lockridge would look quite nice in the brown and gold right now.

4. Kansas City Royals trade C Freddy Fermin to San Diego Padres for RHP Ryan Bergert and RHP Stephen Kolek

The Friars are cursed at the catcher position, so it makes sense why Preller targeted Freddy Fermin. In 2023 and 2024, he had solid seasons at the plate, and throughout his career he has displayed excellent defense. There are not many all-around catchers in MLB. Fermin was one of them. Key word: was. 

Fermin was productive for the Padres last season in 47 games, but his slash line this season warrants a trigger warning.

Brace yourself: It’s .145/.245/.258.

Granted, his defense still makes him a valuable player—just barely—but the Padres’ anemic offense can’t afford the black hole in the lineup when he starts. Consequently, the Padres’ catcher carousel continues. They’ve started four different players at the position this year.

Meanwhile, Stephen Kolek is for the Royals what he was for the Padres: an adequate number four or five in the rotation. In 14 starts for Kansas City, Kolek has a 3.28 ERA. (Ryan Bergert, a swingman, is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.) 

3. Toronto Blue Jays trade 3B Will Wagner to San Diego Padres for C Brandon Valenzuela

The media pays attention to the blockbuster trades and fans dwell on the lopsided calamities, but most trades don’t change much about either team. One side may get payroll flexibility, while the other side may open up a roster spot. Prospects are exchanged and fade into the minor-league abyss. Replacement-level players on expiring contracts disappear as quickly as they came. This is one of those deals. 

Will Wagner has been fine for the Padres. Brandon Valenzuela has been fine, if not quite good, for the Blue Jays. This trade is fine.

2. Baltimore Orioles trade 1B Ryan O'Hearn, RF Ramón Laureano and cash to San Diego Padres for LHP Boston Bateman, RHP Tyson Neighbors, RHP Tanner Smith, SS Brandon Butterworth, SS Cobb Hightower and 1B Victor Figueroa

This is one of two major trades Preller swung at the 2025 deadline, and, until Ramón Laureano went down with a season-ending injury this month, Preller crushed it.

In the stretch run last year, Laureano was one of the Pads’ best players, registering an .812 OPS. That performance earned Laureano a starting outfielder spot in 2026, though his lingering hip issue ultimately turned this season into a wash. Ryan O’Hearn also contributed to the Padres’ postseason berth last season, accruing 0.5 bWAR in just 50 games.

The other side of the ledger is still an open question. Boston Bateman, Tanner Smith, Cobb Hightower, and Victor Figueroa are all figuring things out in A-ball. Tyson Neighbors has an ERA over 10 at Double-A this season. Brandon Butterworth is the closest to the majors. Some or all of these players may become quality major leaguers, but if I was presented with that list of names before researching this piece, then I wouldn’t be sure if any of them were real minor-league players or extras in Bull Durham.

This trade was the kind of win-now, low-cost move that Preller specializes in. The book’s not closed on the deal, not with so many young players sent to the Baltimore Orioles, but with Laureano and O’Hearn in tow, the Padres made the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.

1. Athletics trade RHP Mason Miller and LHP JP Sears to San Diego Padres for RHP Henry Baez, RHP Eduarniel Núñez, SS Leo De Vries and RHP Braden Nett

Cue “Blind” by Korn.

Closer Mason Miller hardly needs introduction. He is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, and he is under team control through 2029. That’d be case-closed on this trade, except Leo De Vries, the Padres’ former top prospect, might hit 150 home runs per season once he and his major=league team move to the thin, hot air of Las Vegas. In Double-A this season, the 19-year-old (!) has an OPS just a shade under .800, though he’s gotten better as he gains experience. In June, his OPS is .880. In the last week, it's over .904. 

With all due respect to the other players involved, this trade was essentially a one-for-one swap between Miller and De Vries. It was the Athletics making a bet that De Vries would develop into a generational shortstop and the Padres making a bet that Miller would continue being unhittable. So far, both bets are hitting. In any case, this is a veritable blockbuster, a trade that will reverberate for years, if not decades, to come.

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