Padres Land Robbie Ray, Casey Mize at Trade Deadline — SkimNews
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- The Padres acquired left-hander Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants and right-hander Casey Mize from the Detroit Tigers on Monday, also receiving third baseman Gage Workman from Detroit as they chased a wild-card spot one game out of the final position.
- President of baseball operations A.J. Preller sent prospects Joniel Hernandez and Miguel Mendez to the Giants — who will pay part of Ray's $25 million salary — and Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf to the Tigers, saying: "We're trying to win. We don't apologize for it."
- Robbie Ray, the 2021 AL Cy Young winner, has gone 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in June and 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in July, but his 11.1% walk rate ranks third-highest among qualified starters and he has a stark 4.06 road ERA versus 2.22 at home.
- Casey Mize is 4-6 with a 2.70 ERA, 85 strikeouts and a 0.99 WHIP — limiting batters to a .593 OPS — but has been capped at 86 2/3 innings by two IL stints for groin strains and is set to become a free agent after this season.
- San Diego's rotation has posted a 4.66 ERA with only 14 starts by a left-hander, none of them a quality start, leaving Michael King as the only starter the team trusts to go deep while Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta remain on the injured list.
- San Diego entered Monday 11 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West but had gone 8-2 over its previous 10 games, and infielder Xander Bogaerts said the surge "showed them enough" to justify the deadline swings.
Why it matters: The Padres paid meaningful prospect capital plus a share of Ray's $25 million salary for two pitchers carrying real risk — Ray's walk rate and reverse home/road splits, Mize's recurring groin issues and impending free agency — to a rotation that already has two starters (Musgrove, Pivetta) still on the injured list, making this a high-leverage gamble on a one-game wild-card cushion.
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