Padres Notes: Taillon, Catching, DeVries

The Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon Taillon has reportedly attracted interest from several teams as the trade deadline approaches, and it appears the Padres could be added to that list. Chandler Rome, Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic write that the Friars “have Taillon on their radar” as starting pitchers remain a need in San Diego.

Joe Musgrove He could be set to begin a minor league rehab assignment next week, but he’ll need several warm-up starts since he hasn’t pitched since May 26. Yu DarvishThe veteran’s last MLB game was on May 29 and his last minor league rehab game was on June 19, and his return date remains uncertain given that the veteran remains on the Padres’ restricted list due to a personal family matter.

San Diego’s rotation has still put up solid numbers even without those two front-line pitchers, with the trio of Dylan stops, Michael KingAnd Matt Waldron lead the way. However, bolstering that group with a veteran like Taillon would allow the Padres to get rid of the Adam Mazur out of the starting mix. If the Padres get Musgrove, Darvish and a new addition to join Cease, King and Waldron, they could perhaps adopt a six-man rotation to keep everyone fresh for the playoff race, or this semi-surplus could resolve itself if more injuries arise.

Taillon is much more than just a rental player, as he has yet to reach the halfway point of the four-year, $68 million contract he signed with Chicago in the 2022-23 offseason. Taillon is receiving $18 million in each season of the deal, so he has about $43 million in salary owed — a number that won’t please a Padres club trying to reset its competitive balance tax status. After paying the tax in each of the previous three seasons, staying below the CBT line was a known goal of the Padres this season, and the team is projected (per RosterResource) for a current tax figure of about $224.8 million.

While that gives San Diego some breathing room under the $237 million tax threshold, acquiring Taillon would eat up the rest of that CBT space on its own, not to mention any other additions the Padres could make before the deadline. The Padres could look to sweeten the prospect return in order to get the Cubs to cover more of Taillon’s remaining salary, or perhaps some sort of larger multi-player deal could be arranged involving a notable contract going from San Diego to Chicago to help offset Taillon’s contract. AJ Preller and Jed Hoyer are no strangers to creative trades, and it’s perhaps worth noting that the two clubs have been linked in several trades over the last eight years — most notably the blockbuster that sent Darvish to San Diego during the 2020-21 offseason.

In theory, it’s more likely that the Padres view Taillon as a backup plan of sorts, as one would imagine the Friars would first explore less expensive options before considering adding another long-term pitching contract to the organization. A potential trade could also be a moot point if Taillon happens to have San Diego as one of 10 teams on his no-trade list, as his contract contains partial protection against a trade.

Winners of their last six games, the Padres have clinched a wild-card spot and are just a few percentage points behind the Mets for the top wild-card spot in the National League. With San Diego just 6.5 games behind the Dodgers, the NL West title isn’t out of the question yet, but by all accounts, the Padres are heating up at the right time. Preller should be aggressive in his trades at the deadline to fully solidify his team as a contender after missing the playoffs in 2023, though upgrading while staying below the CBT line presents an interesting secondary challenge.

Beyond pitching, the Padres could also use help behind the plate, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes, who says catching could be a target area. Luis Campusano And Kyle Higashioka handled catching duties this season, with Campusano hitting .237/.280/.375 with six homers in 239 plate appearances and Higashioka showing unexpected pop by hitting .226/.269/.540 with 12 homers in 145 PA.

That translates to a wRC+ of 127 for Higashioka and a wRC+ of 89 for Campusano, who has also posted below-average defensive numbers. Former top prospect Campusano appeared to be starting to break out in 2023, but this season’s rough results could at least result in some additional playing time lost if the Padres go with the hottest player in Higashioka. Adding a new catcher would completely shake things up, and Campusano could potentially be sent down to Triple-A in that scenario since he still has a minor league option remaining.

From Ethan Salas While Campusano is one of the top prospects in baseball, the Padres already have a “catcher of the future” in the wings for a few seasons to come, giving them some leverage to potentially get rid of Campusano if he can’t get back on track. Of course, there’s a danger in shuffling the catcher position midseason, and some teams avoid catcher trades at the deadline because it can be difficult for a catcher to join a new team and learn the tendencies of a new pitching staff on the fly.

Speaking of prospects, it remains to be seen how willing the Padres are to make significant trades in a minor league pipeline that has already been heavily tapped for trades in recent years. Dennis Lin of The Athletic believes the shortstop prospect Leodalis De Vries He may not be completely untouchable in trade talks, but he’s at least close to that status, as “the Padres won’t consider trading him for anything other than a controllable, star-level talent.”

De Vries, 17, signed an international contract last January with a hefty $4.2 million bonus. De Vries has already started to deliver on his potential, hitting .242/.362/.450 with nine homers and 11 steals (in 12 attempts) over his first 276 professional plate appearances, all at the A level. Xander Bogaerts Preller told Lin that he was very impressed with De Vries’ talent and maturity when the two were briefly teammates during Bogaerts’ minor league rehab assignment this season, further solidifying De Vries’ status as a possible future cornerstone of the Padres’ lineup. It’s fair to assume that plenty of other teams have taken notice and asked about De Vries in trade talks, giving Preller another big asset to consider for the right return by July 30.