Adrian

Morejon

After several false starts to his career, Morejón has been terrific as a reliever the last two years, finishing with a 2.83 ERA in 63 2/3 innings in 2024 and a 2.08 ERA in 73 2/3 innings last season. Although he’s just 26 — 27 in February — he’s only one year away from free agency, having spent considerable time on the injured list earlier in the decade. That’s resulted in him coming up in trade discussions this winter.

Rosenthal, Lin and Sammon add the Padres have expressed interest in the Mets’ trio of elite pitching prospects — Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat — while noting that franchise cornerstones Francisco Lindor and Fernando Tatis Jr. have not surfaced in trade discussions. Any deal involving those prospects would qualify as a blockbuster, though McLean’s inclusion would be especially surprising given that he’s been viewed as virtually untouchable since making his major-league debut late last season. New York remains in the market for an established front-line starter and an additional high-leverage reliever to pair with newly acquired stopper Devin Williams following Edwin Díaz’s departure to Los Angeles. While The Athletic notes that nothing appears imminent, this is a situation worth monitoring closely from a fantasy standpoint.

The same goes for David Morgan. Of moving the relievers to the rotation, Stammen said: “It’s a risky proposition health-wise and performance-wise.” We’d say it still might be worth it in Miller’s case, especially given the Padres’ lack of rotation depth, but if they’re not going to do it, then Miller, who allowed just two runs and struck out 45 in 23 1/3 innings after being traded to San Diego at the deadline, has an argument for fantasy baseball’s No. 1 RP heading into the 2026.

Miller appears more likely that Morejon to get another try as a starter, but we’ll find out for sure later. The Padres are definitely going to be hurting in the rotation with Dylan Cease and Michael King set to become free agents, though they do have Joe Musgrove on the way back from Tommy John. The closer’s role is also likely to open up, unless the Padres can come to another agreement with Robert Suarez before he opts out of the two years and $16 million he has left on his contract.

One of the best left-handed relievers in baseball, Morejon took over for Padres starter Dylan Cease in the fourth inning and wound up retiring all seven batters he faced before handing the ball to dominant closer Mason Miller.

The 26-year-old hurler came on with two outs in the eighth inning and the Padres leading 3-1. He struck out Michael Conforto to end the inning, then the Padres tacked on another pair of runs in the home half of the frame. Morejon returned for the ninth and set down the Dodgers in order to close it out for the Padres. He has been a major weapon out of the bullpen this season, compiling a 1.81 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and a 60/12 K/BB ratio over 59 2/3 innings while securing three saves and nine victories.

The Padres are searching for an upgrade to their lineup, and Passan notes that they simply don’t have the farm system to make a trade for an impact hitter. However, they could choose to rely on the strength of the bullpen and trade away Suarez, who is leading baseball in saves but will be a free agent at the end of the season. If Suarez were dealt, the Padres would likely shift Jason Adam into the closer’s role or pair him with Adrian Morejon in a committee.

The Padres declined to use Jason Adam today after he threw 27 pitches Tuesday, so Morejon, who threw two innings yesterday but needed just 13 pitches to do so, got the ninth after Jonathan Estrada worked a perfect eighth. Morejon has been used aggressively of late, pitching 13 times in the Padres’ 24 games this month, but he’s still thriving. He hasn’t allowed an earned run since May 17, and his ERA is down to 2.04.

Suarez has dropped his appeal after the league reduced his original three-game suspension to a two-game ban for hitting Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani with a pitch during last week’s series against Los Angeles. It’ll be some combination of Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon handling the closing duties while he’s out.

Robert Suarez, Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada all worked in wins the previous two days, so Morejon was the choice for the save tonight. It should be a very rare save for the left-hander; Adam is definitely the primary fallback to Suarez in the ninth.