The Padres have been looking for left field solutions for a while. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that they are interested in Steven Kwan of the Guardians, Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox and Ramón Laureano of the Orioles. Their interest in Kwan was reported earlier this week.
Robert has been one of the clearest trade candidates for a while now. The Sox have been aggressively rebuilding and he’s not in their long-term plans. He’s in the final guaranteed year of his contract. There are a pair of $20MM club with $2MM buyouts. However, his mercurial production and frequent injury issues have made those seem less attractive.
He is at least in a good stretch now. In early June, he sat out a few games to focus on some adjustments to his approach. He had a .177/.266/.286 batting line at that time. Since then, he has hit .266/.349/.457 for a 122 wRC+. Even when he was struggling, he was still hitting lefties, stealing bases and fielding well. His improved offense of late won’t totally erase the memories of his slumps but it should help somewhat.
There have been some rumblings that the Sox could hold Robert and exercise the option if they don’t get an offer to their liking but that feels like an unwise path. They have already missed chances to sell him when his value was presumably higher. He had a great 2023 season but the Sox didn’t trade him at that time, when they could have felt they had four affordable years of club control. But in 2024, he was largely hurt and underperforming, which cut into his value. Holding him at that point and hoping for a bounceback was defensible, but then he his struggles carried over into the early parts of 2025.
Though he’s been better lately, he’s been inconsistent enough that it would be a real risk to hold him. It’s entirely possible that more injuries or slumps pop up in the second half, which would make it harder to justify picking up the option.
Laureano is also a logical candidate to move in the next week. The Orioles are in the midst of a disappointing season and are clear sellers. They’re not going to move controllable core pieces but general manager Mike Elias has admitted they will be looking to move guys who are “coming towards the end of their contracts.”
That should include Laureano, though he’s not strictly a rental. His one-year deal contains a club option for 2026. The O’s could keep him but he’s not a foundational piece for them, so they should be open to offers.
It also makes sense to sell him now since his career has been up-and-down but he’s been hot lately. He has 14 home runs and a .277/.337/.521 line this year, which translates to a 137 wRC+. He was sitting on a tepid .188/.216/.438 line at the end of April but has gone off since then with a .300/.366/.542 line.
For a few years now, the Padres have been dealing with a tight budget and various roster concerns. They traded Juan Soto ahead of the 2024 season, saving some money and adding rotation depth. They backfilled some of Soto’s production by signing Jurickson Profar for $1MM, which worked surprisingly well, though that also priced him out of San Diego’s range for this year.
The Friars tried to find low-cost solutions again. The first plan was a platoon of Jason Heyward and Connor Joe, who both got $1MM deals. However, both struggled and were off the roster before the end of June.
Another low-cost move is working out well. Gavin Sheets signed a minor league deal with the Padres ahead of this year. He has 14 home runs, a .253/.314/.424 slash line and a 109 wRC+. However, he’s not a strong defender in the outfield and would be better utilized at first base or in the designated hitter slot.
The trio of Sheets, Luis Arráez and Jake Cronenworth could cover first base, second base and DH if Sheets is no longer needed in left field. That would mean fewer plate appearances for Jose Iglesias, who is hitting .238/.297/.277. Tyler Wade and Trenton Brooks aren’t playing as often as Iglesias but are hitting .206/.309/.252 and .150/.190/.275, respectively.
Laureano has experience at all three outfield spots. Robert has only ever played center field. The Padres have Jackson Merrill in center, who is a strong defender. Since he’s signed through 2034, the Padres presumably wouldn’t move him for a short-term addition. Center fielders usually move to a corner spot with ease, so there shouldn’t be any real concern about Robert’s lack of experience in left.
With the Padres, the budget is an ongoing concern, as mentioned. Their offseason moves clearly showed a lack of financial wiggle room. In addition to Heyward and Joe, they gave small guarantees to Elias Díaz and Kyle Hart. They did give Nick Pivetta $55MM over four years but that deal is heavily backloaded, with the righty only making a $1MM salary this year, in addition to a $3MM signing bonus.
In addition to the financial concerns, the Padres have traded away a lot of prospects in recent years and their farm system isn’t well regarded. They have two strong pieces in Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas but all reporting has suggested the Friars want to hold those two.
It seems that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is considering all kinds of scenarios in order to work around his constraints. Despite a questionable rotation, there have been a number of Dylan Cease rumors recently, though the Padres have also been connected to other starters such as Sandy Alcantara. It’s possible that Preller engineers a sort of musical chairs approach where he could trade Cease away for prospects or big league talent while saving some money and also bringing in other players. There have also been rumors that the Friars could subtract from or add to their bullpen.
That’s not unprecedented for the Friars. As mentioned, they flipped Soto ahead of last year for younger players, one of them being Drew Thorpe. Shortly thereafter, they used Thorpe as part of a package to get Cease. It’s possible that Preller again cooks up a number of trades that relate to each other.
Robert is making $15MM this year. About $5MM of that will be left to be paid out at the deadline, plus at least the $2MM buyout on his option. The Sox are reportedly willing to include cash in trading Robert, though that would be a way to extra prospect capital. The Padres would obviously welcome that financial arrangement but may not have the prospects, unless they get some in a Cease deal or some other trade.
Laureano is far more affordable, as he’s only making $4MM, which will leave roughly $1.33MM left to be paid out at the deadline. His 2026 club option is for $6.5MM with no buyout. If he stays hot through the end of the year, it’s possible that option looks like a good deal. In that scenario, the Padres could keep him for 2026 or flip him to another club in the winter.
The Padres have also been connected to Kwan and Jarren Duran of the Red Sox, though those are more long-shot candidates. Both of those players are affordably controlled beyond this season and their respective clubs are both still playoff contenders. Still, the Padres seem to be going over dozens of different trade permutations, so there are lots of different ways things could play out in the next week.
Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images