Tears were shed at the 2022 trade deadline.
Yes, the Padres’ acquisition of Juan Soto was cause for celebration, but it came with a cost.
James Wood, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana were all highly regarded Padres prospects.
And Gore was family, a former No. 3 overall pick who had made his big-league debut with San Diego earlier that year.
Then again, there are no sacred cows in the Padres’ farm system.
If you needed a reminder of that, A.J. Preller provided one Thursday. The Padres’ president of baseball operations traded top prospect Leo De Vries to the A’s, one of five deals that shipped 14 young players out of town ahead of the trade deadline.
“It’s the most difficult part of the job,” Preller said. “ … We have history with Leo since he was 13, 14 years old in terms of when we started following and scouting him. He’s going to be a very good major league player. We’ve talked about this in the past. There are going to be guys that we sign and scout and develop and we want them to do it at Petco at a championship level. … He’s asked about in every deal. He’s a very good player and a tremendous prospect and we weren’t going to do it unless we got the right fit and pieces.
“I think when you start looking at it overall, trying to hit three or four different needs and we tried to figure out different ways to do that and ultimately we ended up with the combination that we did today.”
The Padres also dealt six players taken in the 2024 draft — left-handed pitcher Boston Bateman (second round), shortstop Cobb Hightower (third), reliever Tyson Neighbors (fourth), shortstop Brandon Butterworth (12th), pitcher Tanner Smith (15th) and first baseman Victor Figueroa (18th) — to Baltimore for Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano.
All told, nine of the Padres’ top 30 Padres prospects according to Baseball America went out the door: De Vries (1), Bateman (6), pitcher Braden Nett (7), Hightower (8), pitcher Ryan Bergert (13), pitcher Eduardniel Nuñez (14), pitcher Henry Baez (16), Neighbors (20) and Figueroa (29).
They got exactly one prospect back.
Switch-hitting shortstop Jorge Quintana, 18, was part of the return in a trade that sent outfielder Brandon Lockridge to the Brewers for pitcher Nestor Cortes. Quintana signed with the Brewers for $1.7 million the same day the Padres gave De Vries $4.2 million.
Preller called Quintana “somebody that’s shown some ability to control the strike zone, has the ability to put the bat on the ball.”
“My guess is he’ll have a chance to go out to full-season ball here shortly and we’ll start to learn about him as we go,” he said.
The Union-Tribune’s post-deadline top Padres prospects
1 | C Ethan Salas (AA)
The lone top-100 prospect left in the system (No. 20 at MLB.com and No. 65 at Baseball America), the 19-year-old Salas has been sidelined since April with a slow-healing stress reaction in his lower back. He had a .589 OPS last year at high Single-A Fort Wayne and a .544 OPS in 10 games this year in San Antonio. He’s expected to get on the field again this year and make up some lost at-bats in either the Arizona fall league or a winter league.
2 | LHP Kruz Schoolcraft (2025 draftee)
He signed earlier this month for slot value ($3.61 million) as the 25th overall pick in the draft. The 6-foot-8 Schoolcraft has been up to 97 mph with his fastball in high school. Look for him to make his professional debut next year at Lake Elsinore.
3 | LHP Kash Mayfield (A)
Last year’s first-rounder, Mayfield missed some time with shoulder soreness, but he has fanned 60 batters in 40⅓ innings (3.12 ERA) and has a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings since returning to action.
4 | RHP Humberto Cruz (A)
The 18-year-old has a 6.23 ERA in just 34⅔ innings since landing in the system last year. He signed for $750,000 and has been up to 97 mph with plenty of room left for projection.
5 | RHP Miguel Mendez (A+)
An afterthought in the 2021 international class, Mendez signed for just $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic. This year, the 23-year-old has popped as much as anyone in the Padres system, striking out 81 in 66⅔ innings (1.89 ERA) while touching 100 mph.
6 | 3B Kale Fountain (A)
An overpay as last year’s fifth-rounder ($1.7 million) and Nebraska’s career high school home run king, the 19-year-old is limited to first base/DH duty as he rehabs his offseason Tommy John surgery. He hit his first Cal League homer over the weekend and has a .699 OPS in 45 games this year between rookie ball and the Storm.
7 | RHP Bradgley Rodriguez (AAA)
He’s on El Paso’s injured list with shoulder inflammation but is expected to pitch again this season. He averaged 97.6 mph in his brief time in the majors this season (1 ⅔ IP, 0 ER) and struck out 34 against seven walks in 27⅔ innings (3.25 ERA) between Double-A to Triple-A.
8 | C Ty Harvey (2025 draftee)
The 19-year-old was committed to Florida State when the Padres went well over slot to sign him for $1.5 million as a fifth-rounder. He has plus raw power potential and a strong arm behind the plate.
9 | OF Ryan Wideman (2025 draftee)
This year’s third-rounder out of Western Kentucky signed for $650,000. He swiped 45 bases and hit 10 homers in 60 games. He grades out as a double-plus defender in center field with some projection still left for his 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame.
10 | SS Jorge Quintana (R)
The 18-year-old switch-hitter signed with the Brewers in January 2024 for $1.7 million. Part of Thursday’s Nestor Cortes trade, Quintana just hit .264/.349/.403 with three homers and 19 steals in 50 games in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League.
Also in the picture: RHP David Morgan (MLB), RHP Sean Reynolds (AAA), RHP Francis Pena (AAA), LHP Jagger Haynes (AA), C Lamar King Jr. (A), OF Kavares Tears (A), SS Deivid Coronil (R), RHP Isaiah Lowe (A+), OF Tirso Ornelas (AAA), 1B Romeo Sanabria (AA), RHP Bryan Balzer (A), RHP Victor Lizarraga (AA), LHP Omar Cruz (AAA), OF Kai Roberts (A+), INF Rosman Verdugo (A+), OF Braedon Karpathios (A+), LHP Carlos Alvarez (R), SS Jhoan De La Cruz (R), RHP Kannon Kemp (A), INF Ryan Jackson (A+), RHP Garrett Hawkins (A+), RHP Eric Yost (A+), RHP Clark Candiotti (A+).
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