Padres Pursuing Top Reliever in Blockbuster Trade Ahead of Deadline: Report

The MLB trade deadline is quickly approaching, and the San Diego Padres are easily one of the more interesting teams to watch across baseball.

Despite the Padres struggling a bit, the front office is still expected to be one of the more active around the league. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has built a reputation for himself as someone who likes to take big risks, and some believe he could go all-in again.

The Padres' biggest need is adding more offense to the team, but there are other areas that Preller could target. One of them is continuing to build out the bullpen, adding more around star closer Mason Miller.

The San Diego bullpen has undergone a heavy workload this season, and the team can't sustain this level of use. With the Padres' desire to get into the playoffs, manager Craig Stammen will need to have more options to use, helping to keep guys fresh.

The Padres have used Adrian Morejon and Miller a ton this season, asking both guys to take on heavy innings. Morejon is on pace to throw a career-high 82 innings this year, while Miller could be throwing over 60. Thus, bringing in another bullpen arm could help lessen their loads.

According to Padres insider Dennis Lin of The Athletic, San Diego is pursuing a top reliever ahead of the deadline.

"The Padres, according to team sources, continue to eye a still-developing reliever market," Lin wrote.

As for who they could target?

"Their list of possible targets includes baseball’s hardest-throwing left-hander over the past 16 seasons [Aroldis Chapman]," Lin wrote.

The Padres have been linked with Chapman previously with the team's desire to keep upgrading the bullpen. Assuming that Chapman will be available in trade talks, he is expected to be the best relief pitcher on the market this year.

Chapman has again put together a very nice season for the Red Sox, continuing his excellent career. Overall, the left-hander has posted an ERA of 2.19 over 24.2 innings of work, striking out 32 batters.

Adding Chapman to the Padres bullpen would give them the best one-two punch for late-game situations. San Diego would be able to choose between using Miller or Chapman in different situations, and this would be a nightmare situation to face for opposing teams.

Chapman has a mutual option for $13 million heading into 2027.

Does Aroldis Chapman Make Sense For Padres?

While having both Miller and Chapman sounds like a good idea, the Padres may want to invest elsewhere. Adding to the bullpen around the edges makes sense, but bringing in another star could cause the Padres to neglect the other issues on the roster.

The Padres' offense has been one of the worst in baseball, and if they can't score, it won't matter how strong of a bullpen they have. This team has real aspirations to get into the playoffs and win a World Series, but it's going to take multiple moves to make that a reality.

The Red Sox are likely to ask for a lot to move Chapman, and with how limited the Padres' farm system already is, it could hinder future moves. Chapman is a great player who would help beef up the bullpen moving forward, but unless the offense gets going, it would likely all be for nothing.

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