Padres Trade Chips: What Prospects Would Be Available In A Trade?

With the calendar flipping to June, every front office's focus has turned to the trade deadline. [And the draft, of course, but for the purposes of this exercise, the trade deadline is our only consideration.]

Most of the chatter is on who certain teams should be acquiring. Already, the San Diego Padres have been linked to two left-handers: two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman. How credible at least the Skubal talk is remains to be seen.

But, what would it take for the Friars to acquire any player, much less Skubal? And do the Padres have those players?

That is obviously debatable. The Padres have the consensus worst minor-league system in MLB thanks to previous deals made by president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. When scanning through Padres Mission's Top 20 prospects, there are maybe two that you have to consider virtually untouchable. Those would be catcher Ethan Salas and left-handed starter Kash Mayfield, the Friars' top two prospects.

Salas, our No. 1 prospect, is one of the rare catchers who is projected to not only be a terrific defender at the MLB level, but also a quality hitter. The left-handed hitter, who turned 20 last week, has restored the luster on his prospect status this year at Double-A San Antonio after missing almost all of 2025 with a back injury. He's currently hitting .291/.350/.455 with seven homers, 32 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 51 games.

Mayfield, our No. 2 prospect, has been dominant at High-A Fort Wayne. In ten starts, he has a 3.15 ERA with a 11.8% walk rate and 30.7% strikeout rate over 40 innings. He has allowed a grand total of 21 hits and not allowed a run in six of his starts.

While you can never rule out anything with Preller, let's set Salas and Mayfield aside for now. In that case, what do the Padres really have to offer teams?

There are two players currently in our top 10 that jump out to me. They would be Low-A Lake Elsinore center fielder Ryan Wideman (No. 5 prospect) and Fort Wayne catcher Lamar King Jr. (No. 10). A third attractive prospect would be Lake Elsinore shortstop Jorge Quintana (No. 6), whom the Padres acquired at last year's trade deadline from the Milwaukee Brewers along with left-hander Nestor Cortes in exchange for outfielder Brandon Lockridge.

Wideman is probably the most dynamic player in the system. He leads the minors in stolen bases with 39 and owns a slash line of .317/.383/.515 with five homers and 39 RBIs. There is more power to come from Wideman, but the speed threat is real and he plays the premium position of center pretty well. The biggest knock on Wideman, a third-round draft choice in 2025, entering the season was his strikeout rate, which has gone from 28.6% last year as he made his pro debut to 18.1% this year.

Meanwhile, King is coming off a really nice May (.274/.384/.417) that brought his season slash line up to .248/.365/.373. He was a fourth-round pick in 2022, but was slowed by a shoulder injury and a concussion to begin his career. King has athleticism in his family as his father, Lamar King, was a first-round draft choice and played defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks.

Quintana hasn't shown much offensively, producing a .228/.307/.295 slash line entering June. A switch-hitter with speed and good size (6-foot-2), his defense will carry him for a while, but will need to show more offensively.

Two players currently unavailable from the top 10 are No. 7 prospect Ty Harvey, a catcher, and No. 8 prospect Kale Fountain, who was moved to the outfield this year. Harvey recently broke his left hand as it was hit by an opponent's bat and will be sidelined probably until July. Fountain is out for the season after having shoulder surgery after crashing into the fence. Both are with Lake Elsinore.

In the group of the prospects ranked 11-20, three more players pop. Those are Fort Wayne outfielder Alex McCoy (No. 12), Fort Wayne right-handed reliever Tucker Musgrove (No. 14) and Triple-A right-handed reliever Garrett Hawkins (No. 15).

McCoy has been a revelation this year after signing as an undrafted free agent last summer. The 6-foot-5 left fielder had a slash line of .286/.359/.571 entering June with 10 homers, 39 RBIs and nine steals. He has as much raw power as anyone in the minors. He had a 118 mph exit velocity last year with Lake Elsinore, then a 119.5 mph groundout this year. That would be the second-hardest hit by a Padre in the Statcast era (2015) behind only Manny Machado on Aug. 20, 2021. He currently leads the Midwest League in doubles (18), extra-base hits (29) and total bases (102).

Musgrove was drafted as a two-way player, but has ditched hitting to focus on pitching. He has a triple-digit fastball and has been handled gently since coming back from Tommy John surgery after being drafted in the seventh round in 2023. He threw just 20 innings over 14 appearances at Lake Elsinore last year and has been strictly in a relief role for his 15 games (15 innings) this year at Fort Wayne. He is currently running a ridiculous 43.2% strikeout rate and should climb the minor-league ladder quickly if he's healthy.

Hawkins is the most MLB-ready of any of these prospects, although Salas' defense is at that level now. While he has a 6.17 ERA, six of the 16 earned runs he has allowed this season came in a single outing in the thin air of Albuquerque. The Padres' Minor League Pitcher of the Year last year, Hawkins' walk and strikeout rates have gone in the wrong direction as he moved up from Double-A to Triple-A, but he should adjust to the increased level of competition sooner rather than later.

One other name to watch is left-hander Jagger Haynes. He is eligible again to be selected in the Rule 5 draft after being bypassed last winter. He is at San Antonio with a 4.50 ERA. Everyone wants a left-hander, right?

Everyone rates prospects differently, but the universally thin minor-league system the Padres sport could mean dealing from the MLB roster to acquire a significant piece. The bullpen is the strongest unit and it would be tough to break up that unit, although left-hander Yuki Matsui could be dealt in any trade that brings back bullpen piece. The struggling Padres offense also doesn't present many options. Infielder Sung Mun Song hasn't latched onto a role while Jake Cronenworth is out with a concussion, so Song could be on the move, too. Outfielder Jase Bowen, just called up for his MLB debut, could be part of any conversation as well.