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Padres Acquiring Robbie Ray From Giants in Blockbuster Trade

The Padres bolstered their rotation with an NL West veteran
J.P. Hoornstra|
San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray (38) during the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Oracle Park on July 27.
San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray (38) during the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Oracle Park on July 27. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres made a deadline-day move to bolster their starting rotation Monday, trading for San Francisco Giants veteran Robbie Ray. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the trade.

According to multiple reports, the Padres will send two prospects to the Giants: right-handed pitcher Miguel Mendez and shortstop Joniel Hernandez.

Mendez was the Padres' No. 4 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and Hernandez No. 9.

For a Padres team that has struggled to fill the back end of its rotation amid injuries to Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove and Lucas Giolito, Ray will provide a reliable source of innings.

Who is Robbie Ray?

In 22 games (21 starts) with the Giants, Ray is 10-6 with a 3.08 ERA. He has a 1.29 WHIP and is only one year removed from his second career All-Star Game appearance.

Ray won the American League Cy Young Award in 2021, the best of his 13 MLB seasons. Ray debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 2014, then spent the next six seasons becoming a familiar opponent to the Padres with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Ray is in the final year of a five-year, $115 million contract that he originally signed with the Seattle Mariners as a free agent in November 2021. He was owed $25 million this season, and around $8 million for the rest of the year. The Giants are reportedly taking half of it.

A left-hander, Ray relies less on velocity than an assortment of quality secondary pitches: a slider, changeup, sinker and curveball.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post previously reported the Padres' interest in Ray. The Phillies were also in on Ray, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

If the Phillies are to upgrade their rotation before the 3 p.m. PT trade deadline, no such trades were reported before the first reports of the Padres' move to acquire Ray. It appears, then, that the Padres won a bidding war with a possible postseason opponent.

Ray slots into a rotation led by right-hander Michael King. Walker Buehler, Germán Márquez, Griffin Canning, JP Sears and Randy Vásquez have struggled to fill out the back end of the rotation without Giolito, Pivetta and Musgrove. Ray's place seems assured regardless of the health and performance of the other pitchers over the season's final two months.

Ray is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA since the All-Star break, showing no signs of slowing down at age 34. The Padres hope to get plenty from Ray in August, September and October.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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