What Prospects Could Padres Trade in Blockbuster Deadline Deal?

AJ Preller has an ace up his sleeve, and a handful of wild cards.

San Diego Padres catcher Ethan Salas (88) celebrates with third baseman Graham Pauley (right) after scoring runs against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Petco Park on March 26, 2024. | Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres are emerging as a trendy pick to acquire pitcher Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Regardless of whether Skubal finishes the year in San Diego or elsewhere, the Padres will only make as much noise before the trade deadline as their farm system allows.

President of baseball operations AJ Preller has one ace up his sleeve. Catcher Ethan Salas, 20, is rising the midseason prospect ranks amid a bounce back season at Double-A San Antonio.

Salas is ranked No. 50 by MLB Pipeline, No. 5 by The Athletic's Keith Law, No. 9 by Just Baseball, No. 22 by Baseball America and No. 111 on FanGraphs' big board. That reflects a wide variety of opinions about Salas' .808 OPS in the Texas League (through his first 48 games).

Among Tigers pro scouts, the consensus opinion of Salas might be on the lower end of the spectrum. It might be high. We don't know. Regardless, it points to a larger question: if the Padres can't — or don't want to — use Salas to improve their major league roster this summer, then who?

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested a few names: starting pitcher Kash Mayfield, relief pitcher Tucker Musgrove and outfielder Ryan Wideman.

"If not Salas, Preller can dangle left-hander Kash Mayfield, the Padres’ first-round pick in 2024, who is pitching well at High A," Rosenthal wrote. "Righty Tucker Musgrove, a seventh-rounder in 2023, is a reliever at High A averaging more than two strikeouts per inning. Another possibility would be outfielder Ryan Wideman, a third-rounder in 2025. Wideman is hitting well and stealing bases at Low A, but his batted-ball luck indicates regression is possible, if not likely."

If anything, these might be the names to pay attention to when it comes to Skubal. There are plenty of teams with deeper farm systems than the Padres, and it stands to reason that a catcher might not be the piece that pushes a Skubal trade over the finish line between the Tigers and any team.

That's because Detroit might have already found its catcher of the future in Dillon Dingler. Through Friday, the 27-year-old leads all qualified catchers in RBIs (39) and FanGraphs' version of WAR (2.8), which reflects some of his defensive abilities behind the plate.

Dingler comes with four more years of team control. Salas would effectively be blocked in Detroit for at least that long; the Tigers seem more likely to sign Dingler to a long-term extension than trade him.

Skubal, eligible for free agency this winter, is a near-lock to be traded with the Tigers languishing at 26-38 through Friday. If Salas is needed to get a Skubal deal done, the Padres might need to rope in a third team along the way.

Mayfield (4), Musgrove (9) and Wideman (7) are among the Top 10 prospects in the Padres' system according to MLB Pipeline. So are pitchers Kruz Schoolcraft (2) and Miguel Mendez (3), shortstop Jorge Quintana (5), catcher Ty Harvey (6), and outfielders Kale Fountain (8) and Braedon Karpathios (10).

All are names to remember — whether you're a fan or an advance scout — in the months ahead.

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