At the MLB trade deadline, the San Diego Padres are likely to be buyers. But that isn’t to say that they won’t trade some of their Major League-ready talent. According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the Padres are open to trading from their bullpen depth at the deadline.
“You can probably bank on a reliever or two being moved.” Lin wrote. “As you alluded to, organizational bullpen depth is the Padres’ strength.” But, while the Padres might look to move some relievers, they might not be the veterans on the MLB roster.
“That said, their higher-leverage arms have been overworked,” Lin writes, “So I don’t see them subtracting too much from the big-league roster.”
Lin also named a couple of possible trade candidates come the deadline, all of whom were from the Minor Leagues. Bradgley Rodriguez, Eduarniel Nunez, and Tyson Neighbors are the relievers that Lin is most interested in seeing what A.J. Preller and the Padres do with.
A huge reason why the Padres might trade their bullpen depth from the Minors is due to their surplus of talent at the position. While the Padres could use some of these relievers in the Majors, they could also benefit from the cash and prospects they could bring back in a trade.
The Padres are just a game out of the third NL Wild Card spot, and will likely be fighting for a spot come the MLB trade deadline. Whether they’re in contention or not, it seems likely, based on this report from Lin, that the Padres would be open to moving some of their relief pitching depth for help elsewhere on the roster or within the organization.
