The San Diego Padres acquired left-hander Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants in a trade that sends right-hander Miguel Mendez and 17-year-old shortstop Joniel Hernandez to San Francisco. The Giants will pay half the money owed to Ray, including half of a $1 million assignment bonus. Ray, 34 and an impending free agent, has a 3.08 ERA in 122 2/3 innings this season and will slot atop the Padres rotation alongside Michael King; San Diego had been operating with a temporary two-man rotation of King and Walker Buehler while going 8-1 over their last nine games. Miguel Mendez, a development success who signed for $10,000 from the Dominican Republic in 2021, broke out in 2025 at High-A Ft. Wayne, sits on the Padres 40-man roster, throws an upper-90s fastball that can touch 100, and has shown an effective slider and developing changeup while battling shoulder issues and a 4.93 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in 11 Double-A starts. Joniel Hernandez was a top-20 international prospect from Cuba who signed for a $1.4 million bonus in January and was hitting .303 with a .424 on-base percentage in 38 Dominican Summer League games. Ray is a former 2022 AL Cy Young winner who earlier in his career signed a five-year, $115 million contract with Seattle and underwent major left-arm surgery before reestablishing himself with the Giants, posting a 9-3 record and 2.63 ERA in his first 19 starts last season and making an All-Star team.
