How Padres' A.J. Preller Helped the Dodgers Land Tarik Skubal

How much responsibility does San Diego Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller shoulder for Tarik Skubal now being a Los Angeles Dodger? It depends on your point of view.

One on hand, you can say a significant one. On the other, the Dodgers had plenty of other prospects in the Top 100 that could have replaced this particular one in the package L.A. sent to the Detroit Tigers for Skubal, the back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner.

But let's draw the direct line in this. Who are we talking about? None other than right-handed starter River Ryan.

Here is the background: Ryan was the Padres' 11th-round selection in the 2021 draft out of North Carolina-Pembroke, a Division II school. Ryan was a two-way player in college who also was an infielder. His fastball was clocked at 97 mph. Ryan was a high-upside swing with that draft pick.

But before he suited up for his first minor-league game with the Padres, Preller shipped Ryan to the rival Dodgers for first baseman-outfielder Matt Beaty, who had just been designated for assignment, in spring training 2022. Beaty was expected to be a left-handed bench bat as the Padres had 32-year-old Eric Hosmer as their starting first baseman, with a 31-year-old Wil Myers also on the roster. Beaty had limited outfield experience, but the Padres had depth questions there.

So, the expectations weren't that great for Beaty, who did have some success with the Dodgers, putting up a .262/.333/.425 slash line with 18 homers and 91 RBIs in 556 plate appearances over the previous three seasons. So that would be about a full season for a full-time player. Solid to good numbers. But if you are trading for that player to continue to keep him on the bench, those numbers aren't likely to improve and that production could be found elsewhere.

Instead, Preller sent the previous year's 11th-rounder to the Dodgers for Beaty. The Dodgers have a track record of developing pitchers and someone already possessing upside now in that system is sure to flourish. But Preller's M.O. has been to sell certain prospects before they get established because their value is higher to others than it is to the Padres.

We know what has happened to Ryan. While there have been injuries along the way, including Tommy John surgery in 2024 that caused him to miss all of 2025 and then two stays in the injured list this year with hamstring issues. But he is still a Top 100 prospect as the 27-year-old still retains rookie eligibility after pitching just four MLB games in 2024. He turns 28 on Aug. 17.

As for Beaty, as you might know, he didn't work out. You can't predict injuries, but Beaty went on the injured list in early May 2022 with a left shoulder impingement. At the time, Beaty was slashing just .175/.189/.364 with no homers and one RBI while mainly playing the outfield corners. The injury lingered and he didn't come back until mid-August and was optioned to Triple-A El Paso after the Padres.

Beaty did come back up on Sept. 1, but only played in three games before being designated for assignment.

As we see each year at the trade deadline, Preller loves to spin off recent draft picks to improve the major-league roster. Last year's deal with the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Ramon Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn included five members of the 2024 draft class.

Still, spinning off a high-upside starting pitcher prospect before he pitches in a game for a minor-league affiliate in exchange for a bench bat feels a bit pricey even by Preller standards. While Beaty's career ended in 2024 in the minors, Ryan was a key piece of the biggest trade this season and just helped the Padres' biggest rival in their quest for a third straight World Series championship.