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Having already pulled off trades on Thursday to add reliever Mason Miller and starter JP Sears in a blockbuster with the Athletics and catcher Freddy Fermin in a deal with the Royals, Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller stayed busy in the hours before the trade deadline, pulling off swaps with the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Brewers. San Diego has added lefty-swinging outfielder/first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and righty-swinging outfielder Ramón Laureano from Baltimore in exchange for a six-prospect package of 2024 draftees, and lefty-swinging infielder Will Wagner from Toronto in exchange for catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela. They also acquired lefty Nestor Cortes from Milwaukee in exchange for outfielder Brandon Lockridge, a move that Davy Andrews will cover separately.

The 32-year-old O’Hearn and 31-year-old Laureano have both rejuvenated their careers with the Orioles, albeit on different timelines. O’Hearn had totaled -1.4 WAR in parts of five seasons in Kansas City before being traded to Baltimore for cash considerations in January 2023. After back-to-back seasons with a 117 wRC+ and 1.5 WAR for the Orioles, he made his first All-Star team this month and is currently hitting .283/.374/.463 (134 wRC+) with 13 homers and a career-high 2.4 WAR. Laureano, who was released by the Guardians last May and then turned things around in part-time duty with the Braves, has hit .290/.355/.529 (144 wRC+) with 15 homers and 2.3 WAR — his highest total since 2019 — for the Orioles. Both players have been bright spots on a 50-59 team that’s been carved up in recent days, with infielder Ramón Urías heading to the Astros, center fielder Cedric Mullins going to the Mets, with starter Charlie Morton dealt to the Tigers, and relievers Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge to the Blue Jays and Cubs, respectively.

The six 2024 draftees heading from the Padres to the Orioles are second-round pick Boston Bateman (a 19-year-old lefty), third-rounder Cobb Hightower (a 20-year-old shortstop), fourth-rounder Tyson Neighbors (a 22-year-old righty), 12th-rounder Brandon Butterworth (a 22-year-old middle infielder), 15th-rounder Tanner Smith (a 22-year-old righty) and 18th-rounder Victor Figueroa (a 21-year-old first baseman/outfielder).

The lefty-swinging O’Hearn has made impressive strides since his tenure in Kansas City, improving his posture and focusing on “staying connected,” as he told colleague David Laurila earlier this year:

“I think it’s just been an evolution of hitting… It’s been taking something from every hitting coach I’ve had over the years, learning something different from all of them. When I got here in 2023, the three hitting coaches — Cody Asche, Matt Borgschulte, and Ryan Fuller — had a plan for me. They showed me something I was doing wrong. It was focused around my posture. I would land hunched over, and that was one of the things we worked on.

“Dan Hennigan — he was the director of hitting for the Houston Astros — has also helped me understand a lot of things,” added O’Hearn. “I’ve worked with him every offseason for the past three years. We’ve worked on hitting breaking balls. He taught me what staying connected means… I’m turning with the barrel of my bat and my left [back] shoulder, and the distance remains the same until contact. Then my hands release through the ball. That’s staying connected. If the hands start to go, that’s not connected.”

The input from those coaches has helped O’Hearn trim his strikeout rate from 26.8% as a Royal to 17.5% as an Oriole, and to earn a chance to face more lefties. In a career-high 64 PA against southpaws, he’s hit .232/.328/.339 (92 wRC+), up from .190/.254/.301 (51 wRC+) in 237 PA from 2018–24. Meanwhile, he’s raked at a .294/.384/.490 (143 wRC+) clip against righties this year.

O’Hearn’s contact profile isn’t flashy. His 8.8% barrel rate ranks in just the 48th percentile, though his 90.8 mph average exit velocity is in the 65th percentile and his 49% hard-hit rate in the 82nd percentile. He’s got average bat speed, but his 29.2% squared-up rate places him in the 78th percentile.

Defensively, O’Hearn has played 48 games at first base with another 18 games in right field, two games in left, and 31 at DH. Small sample caveats apply — he’s played 329.1 innings there — but this is the first season that both his FRV and DRS are in the black (4 FRV, 3 DRS) at first; he netted 2 FRV but -6 DRS in 918.2 innings there over the last two seasons. His numbers in right field suggest he’s got little business out there; in 618 career innings, he’s totaled -3 FRV and -10 DRS. Where he best fits into the Padres lineup is at first, which would bump Luis Arraez to DH. Arraez, who’s won three straight batting titles, is having a comparatively mediocre season with the bat (.295/.331/.405, 110 wRC+) and has -5 FRV (but 1 DRS) in 745.2 innings at first. The Padres have used a rotating cast at DH since deciding Gavin Sheets was solid enough to play the field, but they landed on my Replacement Level Killers list earlier this month; updating the numbers, their DHs have hit just .214/.278/.319 with a 72 wRC+, fourth-lowest of any team.

As for Laureano, he’s making $4 million this year and has a $6.5 million club option for next year. He’s suddenly turned into a much more disciplined hitter, chasing a career-low 23% of pitches outside the zone (down from 30.4% last year) and swinging at just 45.5% overall (down from 52.3% last year). Both his 12.6% barrel rate and 48.4% hard-hit rate are career highs, and his 89.5 mph average exit velocity is his highest mark since 2019, though just 0.3 better than last year. He’s played far more right field than left in his career, including 49 games in right this year compared to 29 games in left, but he’s not going to bump perennial All-Star and former Gold Glove winner Fernando Tatis Jr. out of his position. Padres left fielders made my Killers list as well. They’ve hit a combined .229/.283/.330 (75 wRC+), and while Sheets initially made some positive contributions there, he slumped to .198/.278/.284 (65 wRC+) in July after hitting a respectable .264/.322/.464 (121 wRC+) through the end of June. Laureano should provide a solid upgrade there as well.

The 27-year-old Wagner, the son of 2025 Hall of Fame inductee Billy Wagner, was an 18th-round 2021 pick out of Liberty University by the Astros, who sent him to the Blue Jays in the Yusei Kikuchi trade last summer. After batting .305/.337/.451 (125 wRC+) in an 86-PA trial with the Blue Jays last season, he entered 2025 as a 40+ FV prospect, with a potential 60-grade hit tool but just 40-grade game power. He’s hit just .237/.336/.298 (85 wRC+) without a homer in 132 PA, but despite just a 2.2% barrel rate, his quality of contact suggests he deserves better (.279 xBA, .352 xSLG). He’s a bench guy who mainly played second base during last year’s cup of coffee and third base this year. Having already shuttled between Toronto and Triple-A Buffalo this year, he still has minor league options remaining, and could wind up at Triple-A El Paso sooner or later.

As for the prospects, Valenzuela is a switch-hitting 24-year-old from Mexico who placed 22nd as a 40-FV prospect on the Padres’ Top 38 Prospects list in early June. He was hitting .229/.313/.387 (106 wRC+) at Double-A San Antonio at the time of the trade. The six-foot, 225-pounder profiles as a backup catcher, with Eric Longenhagen writing about him, “He’s a quiet pitch framer who is strong at the catch point, as well as an agile thrower with a quick exchange and plus accuracy, and his ball-blocking has improved. Valenzuela is a strength-over-bat speed type of hitter who has some low-ball pull power from the left side… With two below-average offensive tools, his ceiling is limited.”

As for the six 2024 draftees, here’s a table pulling together a lot of their data from The Board:

Cribbing from Eric, here’s what he had to say about Bateman, who’s struck out 25.8% of the hitters he’s faced while posting a 4.08 ERA in 68.1 innings at A-Level Lake Elsinore:

“Bateman is built like the drawbridge of a medieval Transylvanian castle at a hulking 6-foot-8, and was signed away from an LSU commitment with a $2.5 million bonus. His build is more sturdy and durable-looking than it is projectable — think Sean Manaea — but Bateman’s velocity is up this year, and he’s pretty consistently been in the 93-97 mph range so far in 2025. Bateman has a standard three-quarters delivery with a typical, easy-to-time arm stroke that imparts tailing movement on his fastball. It’s not an especially nasty heater even though Bateman throws pretty hard for a pitcher his age. He’s athletic for his size but average overall, and his secondary stuff (an 89 mph changeup and a 85 mph slider) is only fair, both in terms of its raw nastiness and Bateman’s execution of it. He has an innings-eating starter’s frame and mechanical consistency, but Bateman’s ceiling feels relatively low because there are elements capping the projection of his stuff.”

…and Neighbors, who has posted a 1.85 ERA and a 37.6% strikeout rate in 43.2 innings split between High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Diego:

“Neighbors is a very athletic, tightly wound relief prospect with a plus-plus breaking ball. He struck out 86 and allowed just 22 hits in 48.2 innings as a sophomore at Kansas State, then his performance backed up early in his junior year before Neighbors was really good in the second half. At times he worked three innings per outing out of the Wildcats bullpen, though so far in pro ball (he’s at Fort Wayne), Neighbors has been deployed for an inning at a time. Neighbors is in incredible physical condition, but his super explosive delivery is frequently tough for him to corral; he throws a lot of non-competitive pitches. At peak, his fastball sits 97 with 21 inches of induced vertical break, but he’s more often been 93-95 throughout 2025. His knee-buckling, low-80s curveball has a shape that pairs nicely with the ride of his fastball, and he’ll occasionally show you a mid-80s slider/cutter. Neighbors has a pure middle relief look and should move quickly.”

…and Butterworth, who’s hitting .267/.327/.455 (115 wRC+) at Fort Wayne while playing 62 games at second, 16 at shortstop, four in center field, and one in left:

“Butterworth spent two years at Western Carolina before transferring to NC State for his junior season. He’s barely playing shortstop at Fort Wayne due to the presence of Leo De Vries [since traded to the Athletics], but Butterworth is the best defender on that roster. He’s a fantastic little infield athlete with plus range and beautiful body control. He’s also a plus runner and might be able to play center field, as well as multiple infield positions. Butterworth will probably need to be as versatile as possible to play a big league role because he lacks strength with the bat, so much so that it will impact his ability to make contact at all as he climbs. He projects as a glove/speed-oriented 26th man.”

…and Hightower, who’s hitting .239/.363/.314 (100 wRC+) while playing shortstop full-time at Lake Elsinore:

Hightower signed for a little over $850,000 rather than go to North Carolina, and he broke 2025 camp with the Low-A roster. He is an athletic fit at shortstop, with plus range, acrobatic actions, and a quick exchange. He’s undersized but twitchy in the box, and has lovely hitting hands that tend to produce contact back through the middle of the field. Given Hightower’s size, it takes a little longer than you’d expect for his bat to be on plane with the pitch, and he often isn’t impacting the ball out in front of the plate and driving it to his pull side. He’s a developmental utility infield prospect without big power projection due to his lack of size.

…and Smith, who’s posted a 3.46 ERA and 28.1% strikeout rate in 26 innings split between the Arizona Complex League and Lake Elsinore:

Smith is an honorable mention type on the prospect lists. He’s a college guy beating up on Low-A hitters in relief, an enormous 6-foot-6 righty with a nice arm action but currently pretty generic stuff. His fastball sits 93-94 mph with 6-foot-8 extension; he also has an average curveball, and barely throws a changeup.

…and finally Figueroa, who’s hitting .318/.420/.588 (167 wRC+) in 64 games split between the Arizona Complex League and Lake Elsinore:

Figueroa is a heavy-bodied 21-year-old built like a pop star’s personal body guard. He’s a Trackman darling to an extent, producing a 52% hard-hit rate and a 112-mph maximum exit velocity, but just a 70% contact rate. I’m not buying he can hit; his swing is super long, and he’s a huge slow-twitch guy.

With the exception of Neighbors and Valenzuela, all of these guys are at least a few years away from the majors, which is an eternity in Preller Deadline Years. The Padres, at 60-49, are currently three games out of first place in the NL West and up three games for the third spot in the Wild Card race. Particularly with this Orioles trade, Preller has improved their chances of at least holding onto that spot and perhaps challenging for more given the Dodgers’ apparent vulnerability. As Orioles GM Mike Elias would probably tell you, this kind of wheeling and dealing is a lot more fun than blowing things up.