Jason

Adam

Adam secures a nice pay raise over the $4.8 million that he took home in 2025. The 34-year-old hurler delivered another dominant season in his first full year with the Padres, compiling a 1.93 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 70/25 K/BB ratio over 65 1/3 innings before a ruptured quad tendon ended his season prematurely at the beginning of September. He’ll function in a setup capacity in front of Mason Miller once again in 2026, limiting his overall fantasy appeal.

Adam is slated to undergo season-ending surgery later this week after suffering a significant quad injury during Monday’s relief appearance against the Orioles. The 34-year-old finishes the season with a stellar 1.93 ERA across 65 1/3 innings over 65 appearances. His absence places even more pressure on elite closers Mason Miller and Robert Suarez to handle even more high-leverage situations down the home stretch.

Adam collapsed on the mound after turning around to look at a groundball. He’s almost certainly going to miss the rest of the season with the unusual injury, taking away a key pitcher in what is, on paper, baseball’s best bullpen heading towards the postseason.

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 dynamic 23-year-old fantasy ace headlines a pitching staff that will also feature fellow starting pitchers Zack Wheeler, Matthew Boyd, Freddy Peralta, MacKenzie Gore, Chris Sale, Logan Webb, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Robbie Ray. Clayton Kershaw was added as a legend pick by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. They’ll be joined by relievers Edwin Diaz, Jason Adam and Randy Rodriguez.

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.

Adam had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $5.3 million via arbitration, so it looks like the Padres actually got a bit of a discount here. The 33-year-old hurler was unbelievable during the 2024 season, registering a scintillating 1.95 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and an 81/23 K/BB ratio across 73 2/3 innings between the Rays and Padres. He’ll open the 2025 season in a setup role in front of closer Robert Suarez and should be the next man up should anything happen to him.

Adam will head to San Diego after procuring a 2.49 ERA and 50/16 K/BB over his 47 appearances with Tampa Bay in 2024. The right-hander has been one of the best high-leverage arms in baseball over the last few seasons, and he should serve as a bridge to Robert Suarez — with a few save chances himself — while a member of the Padres.

In the deal, the Rays will acquire right-handed pitching prospect Dylan Lesko, outfielder Homer Bush Jr. and catcher JD Gonzalez. Adam has been a stalwart of the Tampa Bay bullpen with a 2.30 ERA over 170 appearances since 2022, and he’s registered a 2.49 and 50/16 K/BB over his 47 appearances with the Rays in 2024. He should be a high-leverage option that might see a few save opportunities in the Padres’ bullpen.

Adam was his usual excellent self in this one, dropping nasty sweepers and changeups to make opposing hitters look foolish. His ERA shrunk to a microscopic 1.71, but he only got the save opportunity because Pete Fairbanks threw 28 pitches on Thursday.