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- San Diego Padres acquired Robbie Ray from the Giants for two top prospects.
- Giants received right-hander Miguel Mendez and shortstop Joniel Hernandez from Padres.
- Giants and Padres will split the remainder of Ray’s 2026 season salary about 50-50.
Pitching for what turned out to be his last game in a San Francisco Giants uniform before Monday’s trade deadline, Robbie Ray made a strong case for prospective suitors.
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Against the San Diego Padres, the 34-year-old former Cy Young Award winner threw six innings of one-run baseball and struck out six.
“With the trade deadline coming up, I just tried to put everything out of my head leading up to this start,” Ray said postgame, according to MLB.com. “But it obviously comes up now that this could be my last start in a Giants uniform.”
Ray may have thought a trade was possible, but he likely couldn’t have expected that the audition would be quite so … literal.
The Padres acquired Ray from the Giants in exchange for two of the club’s top 10 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline: right-hander Miguel Mendez (No. 4) and shortstop Joniel Hernandez (No. 9), the Giants announced Monday afternoon on social media. ESPN and The Athletic had previously reported the news, among other outlets.
The Giants and Padres will also split the remainder of Ray’s salary for the season, reports said. The Athletic’s Dennis Lin said on X that the split would be about 50-50, including the $1 million trade bonus.
Why did the Giants trade Ray?
Coming into the deadline, the 47-65 Giants were expected to be sellers because they were 12 games out of a playoff spot. Thus far, they have upheld that expectation.
Ray’s trade was the third major deal for the Giants ahead of the 3 p.m. Pacific deadline, after three-time batting champion and 2026 All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for two prospects earlier Monday and starter Tyler Mahle was shipped to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
The Giants acquired Ray, 34, in a trade with the Seattle Mariners ahead of the 2024 season while the veteran left-hander was recovering from Tommy John surgery. At the time, he was in the middle of a five-year, $115 million deal, which is set to expire at the end of this season.
Over the last two seasons especially, Ray has performed well, making the All-Star Game in 2025 and posting a 3.08 ERA in 122 2/3 innings across 22 games this season. Ray posted a 1.09 ERA in the eight starts leading up to the deadline, going at least six innings in six of those starts.
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However, his strikeout rate has declined, his walk rate has increased slightly and his expiring contract gave the Giants incentive to trade their No. 2 starter.
Who’d the Giants get in return?
Mendez, 24, was the second top pitching prospect the Giants acquired Monday, after receiving the Phillies No. 4 overall prospect right-hander Ramon Marquez in exchange for Arraez.
With their No. 4 overall selection in the MLB Draft going to college arm Jackson Flora, the club has made it a point to bulk up its farm system’s pitching depth, which had been considered thin before these moves.
In 12 starts this season, mostly with the Double-A San Antonio Missions, Mendez has a 4.79 ERA, though he has struck out more batters (39) than innings pitched (35 2/3). Mendez is primarily a starter, but MLB Pipeline projects that his strong slider and mid-to-high-90s fastball could make him effective out of the bullpen as well.
Mendez has not made his MLB debut, but he was added to the Padres’ 40-man roster ahead of the 2026 season.
Hernandez is a 17-year-old former international prospect who signed with the Padres for $1.4 million out of Cuba.
In 41 games and almost 200 plate appearances for the Padres Gold team in the Dominican Summer League, Hernandez slashed .303/.424/.503 with a .927 OPS, 15 doubles and 32 walks against 31 strikeouts.
Although he is still likely years away from making an impact in the major leagues, Hernandez is 6-foot-1 and has notable speed and the tools to make an impact with further minor league development.
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This story was originally published August 3, 2026 at 12:21 PM.