BALTIMORE — The Padres paid a price to fill a need.
“You’ve got to give up good players to get to get good players,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said Sunday afternoon. “Especially guys that have control and have been performing among the better relievers in the game over the last few years.”
That is what they believe they did Sunday, acquiring right-hander Jason Adam, considered one of the best setup men in the major leagues, from the Rays in exchange for three prospects.
What many around the league said for more than a month was the Padres’ top priority — landing a right-handed reliever capable of protecting slim leads — was costly in a market that favored sellers because there are so many contending teams trying to get pitching.
The Padres sent Dylan Lesko, their second-ranked pitching prospect, outfielder Homer Bush Jr., their fourth-ranked position prospect, and catcher J.D. Gonzalez, their sixth-ranked position prospect.
The 32-year-old Adam has a 2.49 ERA in 47 appearances (47 innings) this season and 2.30 ERA over the past three seasons, working mostly in the eighth and ninth innings.
“It gives Mike (Shildt, the Padres manager) a chance to have another guy that can pitch in that spot late in the game against the best parts of the lineup,” Preller said. “(Adam) gets out righty and lefty hitters, so it gives us that versatility there as well. And another winning piece for what’s been a pretty good bullpen especially late in the game.”
The Padres bullpen has been highly effective at times, such as when posting a 1.89 ERA in the seven games leading up to Sunday. But their relievers have been prone to costly lapses, especially when trying to rely on pitchers other than their top three higher-leverage relievers (Jeremiah Estrada, Adrián Morejón and closer Robert Suarez).
The bullpen’s 4.19 ERA ranks 21st in the majors. They have allowed 39.4 percent of their inherited runners to score, third most in the majors.
Adam was signed by the Padres as a minor league free agent in 2017 while coming back from two seasons lost to arm injuries. He spent most of the year at the Padres’ complex in Arizona before pitching in one game for Double-A San Antonio and being released in August.
He made his MLB debut for the Royals in 2018 and is under team control through 2026.
“We have our evaluation system about what fits and what works and how we feel like we’re looking at our current team,” Preller said. “I think also with Jason, part of our decision (was) you get him for this year and also future years. So he fits really well on our current team, and he also fits really well over the course of the next few years.”
The Padres, who entered Sunday’s finale of a highly successful road trip in a virtual tie with the Braves for the National League’s top wild-card playoff spot, are aggressively trying to acquire a starting pitcher as well. While they have engaged in talks about some of the game’s top starters, including making a serious play for Tampa Bay’s Taj Bradley, they are mostly targeting starters to put near the back of their rotation.
“We’re still in conversation,” Preller said. “We feel like we have internal options that we like. … We’ll see what’s on the market here the next couple days.”
The Padres do expect Joe Musgrove, who last pitched on May 26 due to elbow issues, back by the end of August. They also have Jhony Brito, who was held out of his last start in Triple-A with forearm tightness but is expected to start in the coming week. There is also a possibility Yu Darvish returns from his time off dealing with a family issue.
“I have conversations with Yu every few days just to see where things are at,” Preller said. “And from that standpoint, he’s let us know that when he feels like he’s in a spot from from a personal situation that he can he put his attention back on the team, he’ll go from there with that. We’re just respecting that, honestly.”
All three prospects the Padres sent to Tampa Bay were ranked among their top 12 by MLB.com.
Lesko was the Padres’ first-round pick (15th overall) in 2022 shortly after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The right-hander has struggled with command and had a 6.46 ERA in Single-A this season. He was ranked as MLB.com‘s No.56 prospect at the start of the year but fell 20 spots in their most recent rankings.
Bush, a fourth-round pick in 2023, was batting .272/.362/.347 in Single-A.
The 18-year-old Gonzalez was the Padres’ third-ranked catching prospect behind No.1 overall prospect Ethan Salas and No.11 Brandon Valenzuela.
Sunday’s trade means the Padres have since March traded nine prospects ranked in their top 15 while acquiring starting pitcher Dylan Cease, Luis Arraez and Adam.
“You’re not gonna get a performer like Jason Adam without giving up good prospects,” Preller said. “I think we understand that.”
