Padres Receive 'A+' in Trade Deadline Re-Grade

Aug 22, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller (22) throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres are currently tied with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in the vaunted NL West.

Mike Shildt's team has been chipping away at what was once a nine-game deficit. Strong play coupled with a litany of Dodgers' injuries has resulted in a tied race with roughly a month remaining in the regular season.

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Mason Miller made a great scoop at first to get out of the eighth inning and his teammates celebrated with him in the dugout pic.twitter.com/qu7RFa0g2N

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 23, 2025

Los Angeles made minimal moves at the trade deadline — acquiring reliever Brock Stewart from the Minnesota Twins and reserve outfielder Alex Call from the Washington Nationals. The returns have been mixed, with Call playing well yet Stewart finding himself on the IL with shoulder inflammation after only four appearances with the Dodgers.

San Diego, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today remarked, had a fantastic trade deadline. In fact, he's given the Padres an "A+" after initially rewarding the team with an "A" grade.

"No one pushed their chips in more at the deadline than [AJ] Preller, who was completely fearless, making five trades, involving 22 players," Nightengale wrote. "He has watched the newcomers turn a contender into one of the scariest teams in baseball. The bullpen has been insane, yielding an MLB-best 2.05 ERA the past six weeks, including a 2.97 ERA for the season, and now has another lethal weapon in 102-mph reliever Mason Miller. It’s the best bullpen in the game."

Nightengale then remarked about the offensive improvements made with the acquisitions of two bats from the Baltimore Orioles and a catcher from the Kansas City Royals.

Ramon Laureano in 15 games with the Padres:

.339 BA
1.082 OPS
4 homers
3 doubles
2 triples
12 RBI
11 runs pic.twitter.com/IfBsiXwUMd

— Sammy Levitt (@SammyLev) August 18, 2025

"The Padres’ offense has broken out, too, scoring 5.33 runs a game since the trade deadline after acquiring Ramon Laureano, Ryan O’Hearn and Freddy Fermin. Laureano has been one of the best pickups in baseball at the deadline, hitting .327 with a 1.032 OPS since his arrival.

"Entering Saturday, the Padres were 23-12 since July 4 and for the first time since 2010, have had at least a share of first place in the month of August," Nightengale added. "The last time the Padres won the NL West? Would you believe 2006 with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts batting leadoff for the Padres the final day of the season?

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The last note is very fascinating. Roberts has heavy links to both cities. Roberts grew up in San Diego, though went to college at UCLA in Los Angeles. Roberts played three impactful seasons as a player for the Dodgers, and then later played two years with the Padres.

Roberts became a coach with the Padres for five seasons before eventually getting the manager position with the Dodgers. Over the last decade, Roberts has developed into a Hall of Fame-level skipper with mutiple World Series titles and a large quantity of division titles.

While the Dodgers are going for another one this year, the hopes in San Diego are that the Friars made enough moves at the deadline to put themselves over the top.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.