Padres Acquire Robbie Ray From Division Rival Giants

With a clear need for rotation help heading into the final stretch of the season, the San Diego Padres called up one of the few obvious sellers in baseball and acquired veteran southpaw Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants. Right-handed pitching prospect Miguel Mendez and 17-year-old shortstop Joniel Hernandez are the return.

Ray is on an expiring deal and was one of the more reliable arms that was clearly available at this year’s deadline. With San Francisco in the midst of an abysmal season and no turnaround in sight, they sent Ray to a division rival after already dealing Luis Arraez to the Phillies and Tyler Mahle to the Braves over the last 24 hours.

It’s always hard to predict what AJ Preller is going to do at the deadline, but after the Padres took three of four from San Francisco over the weekend, it was clear that buying would be the stance.

The Padres get their much-needed starter, while the Giants add to a system that is already flourishing. Let’s see how each team made out in the deal.

San Diego’s Side

The Padres’ biggest need at the deadline was glaring. While they may have the best bullpen in baseball, their starting group has been a completely different story.

The fact that the organization is even in a position to buy with the rotation they’ve had is impressive. Through 502.2 innings — the third fewest in the league — the Padres’ starters have given them a 4.66 ERA, 4.85 xERA, 7.65 K/9, and 3.72 BB/9.

All four of those marks rank in the bottom six of big league rotations, with the majority of their other numbers also being in the bottom third of the league.

The good news for Padres fans is that they’re getting Ray in the middle of arguably his best stretch as a San Francisco Giant, which they saw firsthand last week. On Thursday, Ray went six strong innings against the Padres, striking out six and walking just one.

While underlying numbers haven’t necessarily loved him, he’s also been one of baseball’s best pitchers since June 1. In his 53.2 innings during that span, Ray’s 1.84 ERA and 0.34 HR/9 are the second best marks in the National League.

Even with some regression, Ray will be a massive help to a bleeding San Diego Padres rotation.

The Giants’ Return

Like most intradivision deals, the Padres likely had to give up a little more than they would’ve liked to for Ray, which worked out extremely well for Buster Posey.

The Giants are in an interesting position, with a big league roster suggesting they should be competing now while also holding one of the league’s worst records.

Posey, however, is clearly building for the future.

The first piece in the return is right-handed pitching prospect Miguel Mendez. After the Giants acquired Ramon Marquez from the Phillies earlier today, Mendez is the second notable arm they have added to their system at this year’s deadline.

The 24-year-old had a breakout season in 2025, posting a 3.22 ERA and 11.18 K/9 while seeing significant time at three different levels. He adds to a recent influx of pitching talent for an organization that significantly lacked arms prior to last month’s draft.

The second part of the return for San Francisco is 17-year-old prospect Joniel Hernandez. The right-handed hitting shortstop was San Diego’s top signee in the most recent international signing period and is the latest infield phenom to join San Francisco’s lower minors.

With teenage standouts Josuar Gonzalez, Jhonny Level, and fellow 17-year-old Luis Hernandez already in affiliated ball, Hernandez should have as much time as he needs developing with San Francisco.

Early signs are exciting, though, as he posted a .927 OPS while walking as much as he struck out in the DSL this year.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, this is a deal that makes a lot of sense for both sides, even if San Diego slightly overpaid. The Padres further their playoff hopes by getting a reliable southpaw who was an All-Star as recently as last year and has been dominant over the last two months.

The Giants, on the flip side, add some much-needed pitching depth into their upper minors while further improving their most recent crop of middle infielders in the lower minors.

We may not see deals between two National League West teams all that often, but with San Francisco being a season-worst 18 games below .500 and San Diego desperately needing rotation help, Preller prying Ray from Posey only made sense.