BALTIMORE — The Padres shook loose the dust two days before the trade deadline. They chased down a late-innings setup arm in the Rays’ Jason Adam, someone to help bridge the gap to closer Robert Suarez.
As the clock ticks until Tuesday’s deadline, it’s still not enough.
The Padres need a starter or risk reliving 2021, when whispers about Max Scherzer and others led nowhere.
That’s when Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Chris Paddack and Ryan Weathers all finished as sub-100 ERA+ starters, meaning all were considered below-average big-leaguers that season.
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Everything imploded during a 46-game finish — the fourth worst train wreck of that length by a winning team since the 1800s — to kneecap a once-promising season.
“You want to round your team out,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said Sunday in a hallway of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. “We’re still in conversation. We feel like we have internal options that we like. (Adam) Mazur coming up the other day and battling through, getting us in a position to get a win. Jhony Brito.
“We’ve got some guys that we feel good about from that standpoint.”
Internal options?
No, they don’t. Not real, bankable ones.
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The Mazur Experiment has been a bust to this point. Preller tried to polish the pseudo-opener role he played in the first game of this series against the Orioles, holding things together.
Faint praise, that.
It was 2 2/3 innings, allowing an earned run in a game that began with back-to-back walks and an ERA that now stands at 7.49. No active arm outside of locked-in starters Dylan Cease, Michael King and Matt Waldron has thrown more than 45 2/3 innings for the Padres this season.
They now have one fewer internal option after this season, considering former first-round pick Dylan Lesko became part of the price tag for Adam.
The Padres could have been guilty of living an illusion that they had four starters because of the recent run of Randy Vásquez. That was before he coughed up six earned runs in two innings Sunday during a wild 8-6 loss to the Orioles.
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Padres starter Randy Vasquez throws Sunday against the Orioles in Baltimore. (Terrance Williams/AP)
A few weeks ago, you know the conversations in Camp Padre felt more like this: We have three starters, so we’ve really got to beat the market bushes and find another arm or two.
Then Vásquez rode the wave of historic Padres pitching on this road trip, jumping in the wipeout Conga line with Dylan Cease, Michael King and Matt Waldron.
And if you think you suddenly have four starters, it’s easy to convince yourself that you’re not that far from five.
Momentum math can be dangerous math.
“The starting pitching, the offense, we’re shutting teams down late in the game,” Preller said of the team, which has roared out of the gates since the All-Star break. “We’re playing good teams. You have to play well, so that’s a good test for our group.
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“I think we knew it was gonna be a test coming out of a break, and these guys have answered it.”
Now, it’s time for Preller to answer.
The Padres have done too much on the field, especially without platinum All-Star Fernando Tatis Jr., and starters Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, to watch this thing wither on the vine as innings pile up.
When Tatis returns, when Musgrove returns, if Darvish returns, patching up the rotation now could pay playoff-level dividends later. Preller is enough of a baseball junkie to understand the precarious pitching ledge his team is walking.
Adam represents a piece, but should only represent a start.
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The ex-Rays reliever fills a hole the Padres have struggled to patch beyond Jeremiah Estrada and, at times, Adrian Morejon. Adam also is not a free agent until 2027.
Lesko, outfielder Homer Bush Jr. and another prospect represent a hefty price. It also illustrates how many teams are scrambling for arms.
Wrangling a starter will require some elite needle-threading. There’s still the competitive balance tax reset the Padres have worked so hard to reach.
Creativity in the face of roadblocks is Preller’s specialty, however, as early-season deals for Cease and hitting machine Luis Arraez illustrated.
Doing nothing, though, could derail it all.
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The 2021 deadline became known for a major swing and miss on Adam Frazier of the Pirates, who promptly forgot how to hit when he arrived in San Diego after leading baseball in hits before the trade.
The year also should be known for skipping the arms and a stretch run too thin on pitching.
This team three years later has shown pop and promise, outstanding yet taxed starting pitching and an ability to fight back that recent seasons lacked.
Short-circuiting that potential now with Tatis and Musgrove waiting in the wings would be tough to swallow.
Trade partners and deals need to make sense, of course, and decisions cannot be driven by deadline panic. Preller, though, has shown the ability to make seemingly complex things happen.
Two families were displaced from their Carmel Valley townhome after it went up in flames earlier this afternoon.
This happened just before 3 p.m. on Moratalla Terrace. Fire investigators said the fire started inside a garage unit because of faulty electrical equipment and robotics projects. One neighbor said she’s thankful for the quick response.
“The people that own the house were in the driveway calling 911, and within, I think within five minutes of me smelling the smoke the fire trucks were here,” said Nikki Briggs. I’m just thankful that everyone was okay, and that it didn’t keep spreading. Like if it would have been a wildfire, that would have been terrible.”
Firefighters say most of the damage was contained in the garage. A total of nine people were displaced by the fire. Five people lived inside the unit that burned. Thankfully all of them made it out safely without any injuries.
Shares of Gossamer Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOSS) have received a consensus ‘Hold’ rating from the 10 research firms currently covering the company, according to a report from MarketBeat. The average 12-month price target among analysts is $5.43.
Why it matters
Gossamer Bio is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing therapies for immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases, as well as oncology. The ‘Hold’ rating and mixed analyst views could impact investor sentiment and the company’s ability to raise capital for further drug development.
The details
The analyst ratings for Gossamer Bio include two ‘Sell’ recommendations, four ‘Hold’ ratings, and four ‘Buy’ recommendations. Some firms have lowered their price targets on the stock, with HC Wainwright decreasing its target from $10 to $5.
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Gossamer Bio released its latest quarterly earnings report on March 17, 2026.
The players
Gossamer Bio, Inc.
A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California that is focused on developing oral, once-daily therapies for immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases, as well as oncology.
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The takeaway
The mixed analyst views on Gossamer Bio highlight the challenges facing the company as it seeks to advance its pipeline of drug candidates through clinical trials and regulatory approvals. The ‘Hold’ rating could make it more difficult for the company to raise capital and fund its operations.
Oceanside Harbor Beach. (File photo courtesy of @CityofOceanside via X)
A man apparent drowned in the waters near the Oceanside Pier Saturday morning, despite efforts by lifeguards and paramedics to revive him.
The Oceanside Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division and the Oceanside Police Department responded to a report of a missing man at about 4:30 a.m.. Officials said the man was last seen swimming in the ocean about a half-hour earlier.
Lifeguards and police immediately initiated a coordinated search effort using pier vantage points, surveillance cameras and watercraft, but the search was suspended at approximately 5:30 a.m. after no one was found, fire officials said.
“At approximately 10:50 a.m., lifeguards discovered an unresponsive adult male, matching the earlier description, in the water near Lifeguard Tower 12, at Oceanside Harbor Beach,” Division Chief Blake Dorse said in a statement. “The individual was removed from the water, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was immediately initiated.”
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Fire and rescue personnel continued efforts to resuscitate the man on the way to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He is believed to be the one who was reported missing near the pier.
Authorities did not release the man’s name.
“The Oceanside Lifeguard Division reminds the public to exercise caution when entering the ocean, especially during early morning hours or when lifeguards are not actively monitoring the water,” Dorse said. “Always swim near an open lifeguard tower and avoid entering the water alone.”
