Quote from fenn68 on July 2, 2025, 1:03 pm

Whew! Game should have been a Padre blowout win ... Pivetta was outstanding. Two shots at a blowout when leading 5-0 and the bases loaded but Manny and Sheets did not deliver.

Then Hoeing was not impressive ... what makes that worse is that his performance force the Padres to use Morejon in this game vs saving him for the nightcap. I could say the same about using Suarez BUT

Suarez is beginning to look real shaky ... command and velocity seem to have deteriorated making this a very tense end even with the save / win by the Pads.

Hopefully the can score a lot in game 2 so they don't have to bring in Suarez again for a save. If not, maybe we see an audition for an alternate closer ... Adam? Morgan?

Quote from ultratvfan on July 2, 2025, 5:55 pm

What is going on with Cease? He pitched 3 solid scoreless innings and then collapsed in the 4th. The Padres offense have had opportunities but could not deliver.

Padres head home to play the Rangers next.

GO PADRES!

Quote from Jeremy Hill on July 2, 2025, 6:16 pm

Not many guys can succeed as a starter leaning on 2 pitches as heavily as Cease does. When he's locating well and has them both working he can be dominant. That just hasn't happened with any kind of consistency this year. He's capable of locking in and going on a run, but he has much less margin for error than a pitcher with more offerings. Looking at his past seasons this isn't the first mediocre year he's had. Just have to hope he can figure something out to get going.

Quote from WindsorUK on July 3, 2025, 4:12 am

I have no idea what Cease's value would be to other contenders but I'm fairly certain someone will give something that we value( read: SS, C, 1B, LF), that can be employed in 2026.

As you said Jeremy, when he's on, he's on! Someone will hope to capture that for a  few weeks( just need to be "on" in October)

Make it happen AJ!

Quote from fenn68 on July 3, 2025, 5:26 am

With it looking more like Darvish will return next week and Bergert can come off the IL around July 10th ... and King "apparently" making progress and a potential return before the trade deadline ... Cease should be a on the market by Preller. As much as his past suggests he is a top tier pitcher his 2025 is a mix of a terrible road record vs a great home record (and that may keep his value up in a trade market). The gamble for another team ... a contender that has a real shortcoming in their starting 5 ... only has to commit to a 2 month rental and about $5MM ... is worth a decent prospect to get even a .500 pitcher down the stretch but with potential to be better.

If Preller follows his normal criteria ... would expect him to deal for the best prospect(s) even if they are NOT near term or in a position of current need. A lot has to do with who wants to deal for Cease and who they have (and are willing to deal).

Looked at the top prospects (per MLBPipeline) by all the teams that COULD be contenders then guessed at which MAY want a SP and who they may be willing to deal. (That is a LOT of speculation). Did not come up with much in help for 2026 ... some maybe but the better prospects are a more 2027. That would be OK from my perspective.

Think Preller has to wait ... first for the Padre pitchers to show they can return effectively ... but then the target teams need to still think they are contenders at the deadline and SP is a priority.

In the AL a lot of teams in the Wild Card hunt at this point even if the Division races are not that competitive. NL has a lesser Wild Card race but still a lot of contenders. Not sure Preller would be excited about a trade of Cease to a NL team that the Padres have to beat for a Wild Card slot ... but for the right return probably.

If reaching high for top prospects (if the teams will deal) might want to see Boston challenge for the Wild Card (they have a AAA OF in Garcia that just got added at #100 in the Top 100) and they may want to curry some favor after the Devers saga. The other is the Mets ... Cohen given his approach should be aggressive and the Mets have a mid-Top 100 prospect Jett Williams (AA) who is an INF who will be blocked by the other Mets. He is more a future ML long term starter (somewhere) than a future star but that is OK ... with the Padres he likely would be a "super sub" for the INF/OF but one who can hit and with plus speed. Both those are long shots for a rental but?

That is sort of why the chance of lower level prospect return should be considered. Don't forget Cease is only a 2 month rental, so has to be just the right set of circumstance to get a top return ... but very tradable.