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Padres make waves at trade deadline again, unafraid to deal away one of baseball's top prospects

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Padres make waves at trade deadline again, unafraid to deal away one of baseball's top prospects
Sport

Sport

Padres make waves at trade deadline again, unafraid to deal away one of baseball's top prospects

2025-08-01 18:00 Last Updated At:18:10

For the second time in four years, A.J. Preller turned the San Diego Padres into the biggest stars of baseball's trade deadline.

In 2022, the San Diego general manager snagged slugger Juan Soto, sending James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams and three others to Washington in an eight-player blockbuster.

Then on Thursday, the aggressive Preller pulled off a slightly less seismic version of that deal, trading top prospect Leo De Vries to the Athletics and bringing back closer Mason Miller.

Prospects that highly touted are rarely dealt anymore. De Vries, a shortstop, is ranked No. 3 overall by MLB Pipeline. Last year at the deadline, none of Baseball America's top 100 prospects were traded.

By the time this year's deadline passed, Preller had traded 14 players and acquired eight. Left-handers JP Sears and Nestor Cortes, first baseman Ryan O'Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano were among those the Padres landed in addition to Miller, an All-Star last season who is under team control through 2029.

Here's a division-by-division look at this year's deadline:

TORONTO leads the division by 3 1/2 games, but the Blue Jays have dropped four of five. They took a gamble, albeit one with some upside, in acquiring 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, who has made several rehab starts as he works toward a return from Tommy John surgery. The second-place YANKEES added All-Star relievers David Bednar and Camilo Doval to their bullpen and acquired some more power in third baseman Ryan McMahon. BOSTON's deadline was less inspiring, unless oft-injured right-hander Dustin May can get hot down the stretch.

BALTIMORE has shown it can build a strong farm system of position players, but poor pitching has the Orioles in last place this year. They did add some interesting minor league arms over the past week while selling off more than a half-dozen players. TAMPA BAY is 3 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and added reliever Griffin Jax and starting pitcher Adrian Houser, but the Rays also traded away a dependable starter in Zack Littell. Just assume the unorthodox Rays know what they're doing and move on.

KANSAS CITY is a half-game behind CLEVELAND in the standings, and both have about a 13% chance of making the postseason according to FanGraphs. But they went in opposite directions at the deadline. The Royals largely stayed the course, making some under-the-radar additions like outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and left-hander Bailey Falter, while the Guardians — who are three games out of a playoff spot — dealt away Bieber and reliever Paul Sewald. Of course, that's nothing compared to the way MINNESOTA tore apart its roster, trading Jax, infielder Carlos Correa, reliever Jhoan Durán and more than a half-dozen others.

DETROIT didn't have a terribly sexy deadline but added starters Charlie Morton and Chris Paddack along with a few bullpen arms. The WHITE SOX held onto outfielder Luis Robert Jr. He has club options for the next two years, so perhaps we haven't heard the last about his potential trade value.

SEATTLE threw down the gauntlet Wednesday night by acquiring slugging third baseman Eugenio Suárez. Then HOUSTON answered Thursday by bringing Correa back to the team that drafted him. The difference between these two moves is that Correa is under contract through at least 2028, while Suárez can become a free agent this offseason. But the Mariners can worry about that later.

TEXAS, which is five games behind the first-place Astros but just a game behind Seattle for the final wild card, added Merrill Kelly to its rotation. He may have been the best starting pitcher dealt — but pitching hasn't been the problem for the Rangers this year.

The ANGELS are the worst team in the American League that didn't make a clear move toward selling. And they didn't do anything likely to move the needle much as they try to make up ground. The ATHLETICS are finally making news for reasons other than their nomadic existence. Add De Vries to an organization that already has two of the game's top rookies in the majors, and the future looks a little brighter.

The METS lead PHILADELPHIA by a half-game atop this division, and both teams went big on bullpen help. New York went for quantity with Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley, while the Phillies made one huge move in adding Duran. MIAMI held onto Sandy Alcantara. Perhaps his value will improve by the offseason — right now he has a 6.36 ERA in his first season back from Tommy John surgery.

WASHINGTON sold in fairly predictable fashion, but ATLANTA — currently 16 games under .500 — curiously held onto Raisel Iglesias despite no shortage of teams looking for late-inning relievers.

MILWAUKEE and the CUBS boast the game's two best records, and they appear reasonably satisfied with what they have. Both added some bullpen help. CINCINNATI was more aggressive, acquiring Littell from the Rays and Gold Glove third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes from PITTSBURGH. Trading Hayes within the division was a gamble by the Pirates, given that he's under team control through 2030, but he has an OPS well under .600 for the second straight year. Pittsburgh is under pressure to improve while Paul Skenes is young and cheap.

ST. LOUIS looked like a buyer a month ago, but the Cardinals have lost 17 of 25 and are now a .500 team.

SAN DIEGO's flurry of moves didn't draw a particularly brazen response from the DODGERS, who were actually on the prospect-receiving end of the deal that sent May to Boston. SAN FRANCISCO certainly looked like a buyer when it acquired Rafael Devers earlier this season, but now the fading Giants are under .500 and will hope the haul of prospects they received — particularly from the Mets and Yankees for Rogers and Doval — pan out.

ARIZONA had two of the best trade chips on the market in Suárez and Kelly and cashed in both. COLORADO's assets were less enticing, but the Rockies did unload McMahon and his contract.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Baltimore Orioles' O'Hearn rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Orioles' O'Hearn rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Protesters for and against the Trump administration's latest immigration crackdown clashed in Minneapolis on Saturday as the governor's office announced that National Guard troops had been mobilized and stood ready to assist state law enforcement, though they were not yet deployed to city streets.

There have been protests every day since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.

A large group of protesters turned out in downtown Minneapolis and confronted a much smaller group of people attending an anti-Somali and pro-Immigration and Customs Enforcement rally. They chased the pro-ICE group away and forced at least one member to take off a shirt they deemed objectionable.

Jake Lang, who organized the anti-Islam and pro-ICE demonstration, appeared to be injured as he left the scene, with bruises and scrapes on his head. He said via social media beforehand that he intended to “burn a Quran” on the steps of City Hall, but it was not clear if he carried out that plan.

Lang was previously charged with assaulting an officer with a baseball bat, civil disorder and other crimes before receiving clemency as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Jan. 6 defendants last year. Lang recently announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.

In Minneapolis, snowballs and water balloons were also thrown before an armored police van and heavily equipped city police arrived.

“We’re out here to show Nazis and ICE and DHS and MAGA you are not welcome in Minneapolis,” protester Luke Rimington said. “Stay out of our city, stay out of our state. Go home.”

The state guard said in a statement that it had been “mobilized” by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to support the Minnesota State Patrol “to assist in providing traffic support to protect life, preserve property, and support the rights of all Minnesotans to assemble peacefully.”

Maj. Andrea Tsuchiya, a spokesperson for the guard, said it was “staged and ready” but yet to be deployed.

The announcement came more than a week after Walz, a frequent critic and target of Trump, told the guard to be ready to support law enforcement in the state.

During the daily protests, demonstrators have railed against masked immigration officers pulling people from homes and cars and other aggressive tactics. The operation in the deeply liberal Twin Cities has claimed at least one life: Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot by an ICE officer during a Jan. 7 confrontation.

On Friday a federal judge ruled that immigration officers cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including while observing officers during the Minnesota crackdown.

During a news conference Saturday, a man who fled civil war in Liberia as a child said he has been afraid to leave his Minneapolis home since being released from an immigration detention center following his arrest last weekend.

Video of federal officers breaking down Garrison Gibson's front door with a battering ram Jan. 11 become another rallying point for protesters who oppose the crackdown.

Gibson, 38, was ordered to be deported, apparently because of a 2008 drug conviction that was later dismissed. He has remained in the country legally under what’s known as an order of supervision. After his recent arrest, a judge ruled that federal officials did not give him enough notice that his supervision status had been revoked.

Then Gibson was taken back into custody for several hours Friday when he made a routine check-in with immigration officials. Gibson’s cousin Abena Abraham said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told her White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller ordered the second arrest.

The White House denied the account of the re-arrest and that Miller had anything to do with it.

Gibson was flown to a Texas immigration detention facility but returned home following the judge's ruling. His family used a dumbbell to keep their damaged front door closed amid subfreezing temperatures before spending $700 to fix it.

“I don’t leave the house,” Gibson said at a news conference.

DHS said an “activist judge” was again trying to stop the deportation of “criminal illegal aliens.”

“We will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

Gibson said he has done everything he was supposed to do: “If I was a violent person, I would not have been out these past 17 years, checking in."

Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed.

Garrison Gibson, a Liberian man who has lived in the U.S. for around three decades, shows reporters his shirt reading “Immigrants make America great” during a news conference Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Garrison Gibson, a Liberian man who has lived in the U.S. for around three decades, shows reporters his shirt reading “Immigrants make America great” during a news conference Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

A Jake Lang supporter clashes with counterprotesters the March Against Minnesota Fraud rally near Minneapolis City Hall, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A Jake Lang supporter clashes with counterprotesters the March Against Minnesota Fraud rally near Minneapolis City Hall, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Jake Lang, center, who organized the protest March Against Minnesota Fraud, clutches his head as he leaves the rally near Minneapolis City Hall, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Jake Lang, center, who organized the protest March Against Minnesota Fraud, clutches his head as he leaves the rally near Minneapolis City Hall, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A Jake Lang supporter bleeds from his head as he is chased away by pro-immigration protesters Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A Jake Lang supporter bleeds from his head as he is chased away by pro-immigration protesters Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A pro-immigration protester lifts up Jake Lang's vest after an altercation at the March Against Minnesota Fraud rally near Minneapolis City Hall, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A pro-immigration protester lifts up Jake Lang's vest after an altercation at the March Against Minnesota Fraud rally near Minneapolis City Hall, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Garrison Gibson becomes emotional as he is arrested by federal immigration officers Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Garrison Gibson becomes emotional as he is arrested by federal immigration officers Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Teyana Gibson Brown, second from left, wife of Garrison Gibson, reacts after federal immigration officers arrested Garrison Gibson, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Teyana Gibson Brown, second from left, wife of Garrison Gibson, reacts after federal immigration officers arrested Garrison Gibson, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal immigration officers prepare to enter a home to make an arrest after an officer used a battering ram to break down a door Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal immigration officers prepare to enter a home to make an arrest after an officer used a battering ram to break down a door Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Garrison Gibson, a Liberian man who has lived in the U.S. for around three decades, shows a photo of his arrest on a t-shirt as he speaks with reporters during a news conference Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Garrison Gibson, a Liberian man who has lived in the U.S. for around three decades, shows a photo of his arrest on a t-shirt as he speaks with reporters during a news conference Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Garrison Gibson, a Liberian man who has lived in the U.S. for around three decades, speaks with reporters during a news conference Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Garrison Gibson, a Liberian man who has lived in the U.S. for around three decades, speaks with reporters during a news conference Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

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