The Padres are not expected to trade Adrián Morejón or Mason Miller on deadline day, even as A.J. Preller keeps working the market for help elsewhere. The update, published August 3, 2026 at 8:20am CDT, leaves San Diego trying to add without touching the two relievers most tied to the late innings.
That matters because the search for a deal is still very much alive. The Padres continue to look for an outfielder or a rotation arm, with Michael King and Walker Buehler already in the current rotation picture and Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta on minor league rehab stints right now. In other words, the club is not standing still; it is simply drawing a line around the bullpen names that draw the most attention.
AJ Cassavell of MLB.com wrote that, despite the talk around both left-hander Morejón and right-hander Miller, the Padres are not likely to let go of either one. Dennis Lin of The Athletic echoed that view. That line of reporting helps explain why the deadline chatter has focused so heavily on what San Diego might move instead, not on whether it will tear down the back end of the bullpen.
The distinction between the two relievers matters. Miller is controlled three years beyond 2026 and has been described as baseball’s best reliever in the discussion around him, which makes him a hard player to move even in a deadline market. Morejón, by contrast, is an impending free agent, and MLBTR’s estimates put the qualifying offer at roughly $23.1MM, so his profile makes more sense as the more movable arm on paper. But that logic has not changed the broader read: both are still viewed as unlikely to go.
The friction is in what the Padres can actually do without crossing their own limits. They are more than $17MM over the tax threshold, so every move has to be weighed against cost as well as fit. That helps explain why the club has been actively shopping Wandy Peralta for the past week or more, and why other bullpen names such as Yuki Matsui and Kyle Hart have come up in the same trade conversations. One comment in the mix put it bluntly: “Could see Peralta or Estrada being dealt.” Another said, “Near zero chance Miller or Morejon are traded.”
There is also outside interest to account for. The Yankees reportedly have interest in Morejón, but Brendan Kuty and Dennis Lin disputed a recent report that the Yankees were willing to part with Will Warren for him, saying no one-for-one scenario involving Warren and Morejón was on the table. That leaves the Padres with interest on one side and resistance on the other, which is usually where deadline talks stall unless a different piece gets pulled into the deal.
So the most likely outcome is less dramatic than the rumor cycle suggests. San Diego appears set to keep its two top bullpen arms while still hunting for a different reliever or a larger piece that fits around the edges. If Preller makes a move before the day is over, the better bet is that it comes from the group behind Morejón and Miller, not from the pair everyone else has been watching.
