Inside The Padres

Padres Targeting 2.12-ERA Pitcher From NL Contender in Major Trade

J.P. Hoornstra|
Pirates shortstop Liover Peguero (60) beats St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher JoJo Romero (59) to first base during the tenth inning at Busch Stadium on Sept. 1, 2023.
Pirates shortstop Liover Peguero (60) beats St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher JoJo Romero (59) to first base during the tenth inning at Busch Stadium on Sept. 1, 2023. | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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San Diego Padres

The St. Louis Cardinals' front office has reporetedly been busy fielding calls from rival executives about a number of their players, none more than two-time All-Star closer Ryan Helsley. "As many as 10 teams" called the Cardinals about Helsley, according to John Denton of MLB.com, who was traded to the New York Mets.

The San Diego Padres weren't among the teams in on Helsley.

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Katie Woo of The Athletic reported that the Padres, "though in the market for a reliever, are not viewed as a fit for Helsley at this time."

High leverage relievers are not an area of need for the Padres, who sent a record three relievers — Robert Suarez, Adrian Morejon and Jason Adam — to the National League All-Star team earlier this month.

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Suarez (3.50 ERA, 30 saves) and Adam (1.93 ERA in 51 appearances) are both right-handers. Morejon (1.63 ERA in 52 appearances) and Wandy Peralta (3.31 ERA in 49 appearances) are left-handers.

According to Woo, "San Diego has expressed interest in left-handed reliever JoJo Romero, who owns a 2.12 ERA this year and will not be a free agent until 2027."

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The Phillies traded Romero to St. Louis in July 2022 in exchange for Edmundo Sosa. Since then he's gone 14-8 with a 3.19 ERA in 147 games. Last year he logged 65 appearances out of the Cardinals' bullpen, going 7-3 with a 3.36 ERA.

While not a marquee name, Romero seems like a sensible addition for a team that does not have a wealth of prospect capital to trade from — and faces the possibility that Suarez will leave as a free agent after the season, adding to their need for controllable relief pitching.

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Romero has had success against both righties (.239/.333/.343 opponents' slash line) and lefties (.192/.271/.250) this season. In San Diego, he would give the Padres another option against the National League's best left-handed sluggers — Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in Los Angeles, Juan Soto in New York, and Pete Crow-Armstrong in Chicago — all of whom could be potential postseason opponents.

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

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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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