Updating Padres' Depth Chart Following Wild 2025 Trade Deadline

It's in A.J. Preller's nature to be the center of attention. Seemingly every deadline, the San Diego Padres shake the ground with a significant addition and with little regard for the prospect cost that so many other organizations hold dear. This year was, of course, no exception. If anything, it set a new standard for the executive.

Preller parted with nearly a third of the team's top 30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline). Gone across the team's major deals from Thursday are Leo De Vries (formerly no. 1), Braden Nett (no. 3), Boston Bateman (no. 4), Cobb Hightower (no. 6), Tyson Neighbors (no. 12), Henry Baez (no. 13), Eduarniel Núñez (no. 17), Brandon Valenzuela (no. 26), and Victor Figueroa (no. 29). This comes in addition to sending pitchers Stephen Kolek & Ryan Bergert and outfielder Brandon Lockridge out of town.

While the latter trio represent some needed depth, the headline of the day is that the bottom tier system becomes even more barren, but flags fly forever. At least, that's what Preller is hoping he can say in a few months' time. 

In their place are some new components essential the roster. Mason Miller was obviously the major get for the Padres. He joins in conjunction with JP Sears out of the Athletics organization, providing additional heat at the end of the bullpen (in Miller's case) and some stability toward the back of the rotation (in the form of Sears). Preller then moved to poach catcher Freddy Fermin from Kansas City for the two major league arms before jumping over to Baltimore for designated hitter Ryan O'Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano. For good measure, Preller also acquired Will Wagner from Toronto, providing the team with some optionable versatility in the infield. 

It's a series of moves that not only rattles the organization's farm system but the current on-field roster. Six new players join the fray, with roles that were rather sturdy in nature set to shift on both sides of the ball. Here's what we're expecting each position to look like moving forward: 

Catcher

Aside from left field, catcher represented the most desperate need for the Padres. Fermin forced his way into something of a timeshare alongside Kansas City legend Salvador Perez over the last two years. He doesn't offer too much on the offensive side, but neither did the previous duo of Elías Díaz and Martín Maldonado. Fermin replaces the latter, who was designated for assignment upon his arrival and grades as an above-average framer and average thrower from behind the plate. He'll likely get the bulk of the starts with Díaz being relegated to a clear backup role. For what it's worth, Baseball Prospectus has Fermin occupying the spot behind the plate 60 percent of the time moving forward. 

First Base

The configuration here is going to be really interesting. Of the team's active roster, Luis Arráez has appeared at first in 85 games. Gavin Sheets follows him with 12 appearances, and Jake Cronenworth has 11. Arráez has also graded very poorly defensively as the team's first sacker. Enter Ryan O'Hearn. He wasn't a full-time first baseman in Baltimore but still grabbed 48 appearances there (tied with Ryan Mountcastle for the team lead). Notably, O'Hearn has actually received quite favorable grades on the defensive side; he's at six Outs Above Average for the year; Arráez is at the literal other end of the spectrum with a -6 OAA. The assumption here is that O'Hearn gets the lion's share of the time while Arráez serves more of a straightforward DH role moving forward. BP leans that way, too, giving O'Hearn 60 percent of the time down the stretch.

Second Base, Shortstop, Third Base

Nothing to see here. Cronenworth did not, in fact, end up traded, while the left side of the infield was never expected to be anything other than Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado. We could, however, see Wagner grab a little bit of time at the keystone before the season's over, particularly in someone like Tyler Wade's stead. 

Left Field

We heard some interesting names that A.J. Preller could target to fill the Padres' massive vacancy on the left side of the outfield grass. Luis Robert Jr. and Jarren Duran were among those floated in the days and weeks leading up to the deadline. Instead, the Padres walked away with Ramón Laureano. He's not the name he was a few years ago, but he's been on the comeback trail in 2025. Prior to the trade he was at a 144 wRC+ and a .239 isolated power. Both represent career highs. The defense isn't quite what it was when he first broke out with Oakland, but it's an upgrade from rolling Gavin Sheets out there with regularity.

Center Field, Right Field

Again, the picture remains set here. Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis, Jr. are your guys now and until the end of the decade. 

Bench

If there's one player that stands to lose quite a lot in the midst of Thursday's trades, it's Gavin Sheets. The spring invitee was enjoying a strong season with plenty of power in his first year in San Diego before his numbers cratered in July (65 wRC+). Nevertheless, he's sure to give guys a blow in left, at first, and out of the designated hitter spot. Even with the struggles, he remains the only upside bat outside of the starting lineup, so pinch hit opportunities should be available in spades.

Beyond Sheets, Díaz officially takes over as the backup backstop with Jose Iglesias, Tyler Wade, and Bryce Johnson figuring into the mix on some level. One of Iglesias or Wade, though, could be on the fringes of the roster with Wagner's arrival. Pushing Sheets to the bench helps the unit look better, at least.

Starting Pitching

Somewhat surprisingly, the team did not move Dylan Cease and will hope he regains his form ahead of free agency. He remains atop the rotation that remains relatively deep following the departures of Kolek & Bergert, but a little bit less stable.

Baseball Prospectus has the team rolling eight deep with starting opportunities. Cease (18 percent of starts), Nick Pivetta (18 percent), Yu Darvish (16 percent), JP Sears (14 percent), and Randy Vásquez (13 percent) lead the way in projected starting opportunities. Michael King (10 percent), Nestor Cortes (9 percent), and Matt Waldron (2 percent) follow the other five. There are health questions for King & Cortes and performance questions for Darvish, Cease, and Vásquez. Nonetheless, it's an impressive group if it can even come close to touching some of the upside present.

Bullpen

It's unreal. The relief corps already represented the strength of the 2025 San Diego Padres. Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejón, and Robert Suárez at the end of games is about as tight as you can get. And then Preller acquired perhaps the most coveted reliever of them all in Mason Miller. The immediate inclination was to believe Suárez was on his way out. Instead, he remains as part of what could (should? is?) be the league's best group of relievers.

BP likes Miller to take about 85 percent of the saves down the stretch with Suárez transitioning to more of an eighth inning role. That pushes everyone down a bit, leaving Yuki Matsui, David Morgan, and Wandy Peralta to serve exclusively the middle innings. Covering four or five innings with obscene velocity and some pretty silly movement? That'll work.