\u201cIt\u2019s the most difficult part of the job,\u201d Preller said. \u201c \u2026 We have history with Leo since he was 13, 14 years old in terms of when we started following and scouting him. He\u2019s going to be a very good major league player. We\u2019ve 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. \u2026 He\u2019s asked about in every deal. He\u2019s a very good player and a tremendous prospect and we weren\u2019t going to do it unless we got the right fit and pieces.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Padres also dealt six players taken in the 2024 draft \u2014 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) \u2014 to Baltimore for Ryan O\u2019Hearn and Ramon Laureano.<\/p>\n
All told, nine of the Padres\u2019 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 Nu\u00f1ez (14), pitcher Henry Baez (16), Neighbors (20) and Figueroa (29).<\/p>\n
They got exactly one prospect back.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Preller called Quintana \u201csomebody that\u2019s shown some ability to control the strike zone, has the ability to put the bat on the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy guess is he\u2019ll have a chance to go out to full-season ball here shortly and we\u2019ll start to learn about him as we go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Padres](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-l-kash-mayfield-040825-01.jpg\")
Padres left-hander Kash Mayfield made his professional debut on April 8, 2025, at low Single-A Lake Elsinore. (Artur Ivanov\/Lake Elsinore Storm)
\nThe Union-Tribune\u2019s post-deadline top Padres prospects<\/p>\n
1\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 C Ethan Salas (AA)<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
2\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 LHP Kruz Schoolcraft (2025 draftee)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
3\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 LHP Kash Mayfield (A)<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s first-rounder, Mayfield missed some time with shoulder soreness, but he has fanned 60 batters in 40\u2153 innings (3.12 ERA) and has a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings since returning to action.<\/p>\n
4\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 RHP Humberto Cruz (A)<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old has a 6.23 ERA in just 34\u2154 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.<\/p>\n
5\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 RHP Miguel Mendez (A+)<\/p>\n
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 66\u2154 innings (1.89 ERA) while touching 100 mph.<\/p>\n
6\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 3B Kale Fountain (A)<\/p>\n
An overpay as last year\u2019s fifth-rounder ($1.7 million) and Nebraska\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
7\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 RHP Bradgley Rodriguez (AAA)<\/p>\n
He\u2019s on El Paso\u2019s 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 \u2154 IP, 0 ER) and struck out 34 against seven walks in 27\u2154 innings (3.25 ERA) between Double-A to Triple-A.<\/p>\n
8\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 C Ty Harvey (2025 draftee)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
9\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0 OF Ryan Wideman (2025 draftee)<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
10\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 SS Jorge Quintana (R)<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old switch-hitter signed with the Brewers in January 2024 for $1.7 million. Part of Thursday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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+).<\/p>\n
Originally Published: July 31, 2025 at 5:18 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tears were shed at the 2022 trade deadline. Yes, the Padres\u2019 acquisition of Juan Soto was cause for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2558,363,2328,99],"class_list":["post-54925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}