Padres land Casey Mize, Robbie Ray in deadline blitz

The Padres weren't messing around at the deadline. San Diego waited until the final minutes to strike, flipping prospects to Detroit for right-hander Casey Mize and infielder Gage Workman, capping a deadline day that already saw the club land Robbie Ray in a separate deal with the Giants.

Jon Heyman

@JonHeyman

Casey Mize to Padres

News broke fast once it did. Ken Rosenthal confirmed the deal moments after Jon Heyman's initial report, and the rest of the beat piled on within minutes.

Jeff Passan

@JeffPassan

The San Diego Padres with a big buzzer beater: They're acquiring right-hander Casey Mize from the Detroit Tigers, sources tell ESPN.

The full return: Mize and Workman head to San Diego, while Detroit gets left-handers Kash Mayfield, the Padres' No. 2 prospect per MLBPipeline, and Jackson Wolf, a 2021 fourth-rounder who's already gotten a taste of the majors. Feinsand had the breakdown on both ends.

Mark Feinsand

@Feinsand

The Padres acquire RHP Casey Mize and INF Gage Workman from the Tigers for Kash Mayfield (Padres No. 2 prospect per @MLBPipeline) and LHP Jackson Wolf, per source. @Ken_Rosenthal and @sdutKevinAcee were on the return.

Mize is the story here. The No. 1 overall pick back in 2018, he lost most of 2022 and all of 2023 to Tommy John surgery plus a back procedure, a brutal stretch for a guy who was supposed to be Detroit's rotation cornerstone. He's clawed all the way back this year, pitching to a sharp 2.70 ERA and 0.99 WHIP through 16 starts, and now walks into a Padres rotation that just added Robbie Ray on the same day.

Pairing Mize with Ray gives San Diego two legitimate front-of-rotation arms added within hours of each other, a serious buzzer-beater swing for a team trying to squeeze every bit of upside out of this roster before October. Giving up their No. 2 prospect in Mayfield stings, but for a club all-in on right now, betting on a healthy Mize's second act is the kind of gamble that made this the most talked-about move of the day.