Things are beginning to fall off for the San Diego Padres in the National League races in both the division and the wild-card. It wasn’t too long ago that they were hanging around the Los Angeles Dodgers at the top of the NL West.
However, a 2-8 stretch in their last 10 games has San Diego focusing on the wild-card race and forgetting about the Dodgers. A week ago, they were just a half-game away from the final NL wild-card spot. They snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Dodgers on Sunday night. However, during that streak, they fell to four games behind the final wild-card spot.
That leaves president of baseball operations AJ Preller in a tough spot with the trade deadline a month away. San Diego has multiple needs, mainly with their pitching staff, both in the bullpen and in the starting rotation. If they decide to buy, Jim Bowden of The Athletic had a target at the deadline, Freddy Peralta of the New York Mets.
San Diego Padres Urged To Trade for New York Mets Right-Hander Freddy Peralta
San Diego has a pair of series at home before the All-Star Game. They will host the Arizona Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays. By Sunday night, Preller will have a good idea where his team stands. However, Bowden believes the best fit for the Padres is Peralta.
“The Padres’ top priority should be to land a top-of-the-rotation starter, and it won’t surprise me if they target Tarik Skubal and Joe Ryan and are willing to swap their best prospect, Ethan Salas. Why? Because that’s what they do. However, it’s probably more realistic they land either Freddy Peralta, Sonny Gray, Robbie Ray or Reid Detmers instead,” Bowden wrote.
Tarik Skubal and Joe Ryan might be dreams at this point for San Diego and Preller. Pivoting to someone like Peralta makes sense, according to Bowden, for one reason.
“Rather than swing for Skubal or Ryan, the Padres are more likely to take a chance they can get Peralta back on track, given that the prospect price to acquire him will be much lower than it was before the season,” added Bowden.
Freddy Peralta Makes Sense for the San Diego Padres
Things have not gone the way many had hoped in 2026 for the Mets. They swung big over the winter to land Peralta from the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s not working out. They are buried at the bottom of the National League East Division and the wild-card race. Moving Peralta is something they’ll likely do.
The 30-year-old is 5-7 in 18 starts this season with a 4.81 ERA. In 95.1 innings, the two-time All-Star has seen his strikeouts fall off a little bit with 92, compared to over 200 in each of the last three seasons with the Brewers. His WAR is 0.0 after posting a 5.5 in 2025.
A winning record before the All-Star break would go a long way toward forcing Preller to be a buyer at the deadline. There are multiple needs for San Diego. With Skubal and Ryan unlikely to be a target, trying to turn Peralta around might be the move for Preller to make.
San Diego Padres Urged To Acquire All-Star Right-Hander To Solidify Rotation