Should the Padres listen to offers on their All-Star closer?

Despite being deadline buyers, the San Diego Padres are hearing teams out on Dylan Cease. He’s an impending free agent who could theoretically allow them to acquire young talent they could flip for a more controllable starting pitcher or help elsewhere on the roster.

There’d be a similar logic for San Diego in entertaining offers on All-Star closer Robert Suarez. The 34-year-old righty is expected to opt out of the remaining two years and $16M on his contract. He’s playing on a $10M salary this year, around $3.MM of which will be owed from the deadline through the end of the season. While that’s a bargain rate for a very good reliever, it’s not an insignificant amount for a team that had very little short-term payroll room all offseason.

San Diego reportedly fielded interest in Suarez throughout the offseason. It obviously didn’t find an offer to its liking. That was also the case for Cease but hasn’t stopped them from taking calls this summer. ESPN’s Jeff Passan suggested on Wednesday that the Padres could make Suarez available as well.

The Padres have a trio of high-end setup options in Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon. Rookie right-hander David Morgan has a 2.25 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents in his first 24 big league innings. Morgan doesn’t have any high-leverage experience, but he regularly hits 98 MPH with his fastball and has a plus curveball. He certainly has late-inning caliber stuff. If they were to trade Suarez, the Padres could give Morgan some more meaningful assignments while using Estrada or Adam in the ninth inning.

A trade would only make sense if the Padres get big league talent in return (either directly or by flipping some of the prospects to a third team). They need to add a left fielder and could be in the catching market. The rotation depth is questionable, especially with Yu Darvish struggling in his first four starts off the injured list. Their farm system isn’t strong beyond their top two prospects, Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas, whom they’re unlikely to move. 

Trading off the big league roster in some capacity seems likely — even though the conventional play would be to deal rookies like Morgan or starter Ryan Bergert for more established veterans.

Suarez leads MLB with 29 saves. He tallied 36 saves last season and carries a 3.46 ERA across 41 2/3 innings. Almost all of the damage has been confined to a pair of five-run disasters. Outside of those two appearances, he has allowed seven combined runs. 36 of his 44 appearances have been scoreless. Suarez has fanned nearly 27% of batters faced against a 7.3% walk rate. 

His opt-out clause could give some teams pause — the remaining $16M in guarantees are pure downside for an acquiring club if he gets injured late in the season — but he’s affordable and effective enough that the Padres should find plenty of interest if they seriously considered making him available.