In 2022, the San Diego Padres came very close to making a blockbuster trade for Shohei Ohtani.
While much attention has been focused on the high-profile Padres’ Juan Soto trade that year, a same core group of prospects discussed in the Soto deal — including CJ Abrams, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, and Jackson Merrill — were also heavily involved in serious trade talks with the Los Angeles Angels to acquire Ohtani, according to The Athletic’s Dennis Lin.
The 2022 season was a pivotal moment for the Padres’ front office, led by president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller, who was determined to build a roster capable of winning now. San Diego’s farm system at the time was rich with promising young players who had already shown the potential to impact the major leagues.
How Close Were Padres To Landing Ohtani?
Abrams was viewed as a future star at shortstop, and Wood is having a dominant season at the plate in 2025. Gore was a highly regarded pitching talent, and Merrill was gaining attention as a versatile infielder. These prospects became key assets that the Padres were willing to trade in order to bring elite established players like Ohtani to the team.
“Angels owner Arte Moreno eventually pulled Ohtani off the trade market, but the Padres came away from those sweepstakes feeling they would have had a legitimate chance of landing a two-way unicorn,” Lin wrote Thursday. “According to league sources, Wood, Gore, Abrams, Hassell and current Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill were among the names that came up in the conversations with the Angels.”
The Padres completed the blockbuster trade for Soto and Bell, sending Abrams, Wood, Gore, and other prospects to the Washington Nationals. The deal energized the Padres’ lineup and helped propel the team to the National League Championship Series in 2022, marking one of the franchise’s deepest playoff runs in recent memory.
Soto’s presence solidified the offense and raised the team’s national profile, while Bell provided veteran stability. However, despite the team’s deep October run, the Padres fell short of winning a championship.
Padres’ Aggressive Strategy Under Preller
The Padres’ aggressive moves didn’t stop with Soto. After a disappointing 2023 season, during the organization made the decision to retool. This included trading Soto to the New York Yankees, a move that brought back young pitching prospects like Michael King and Drew Thorpe.
The depth of San Diego’s farm system was critical in making these big trades possible by Preller.
“It was a super unique time,” Preller said. “I think, again, it’s a testament to our organization that we at least had the ability to have those conversations. There was some talk about how we had traded some prospects the (previous) two years, and we knew our system was super strong. … It was a lot of fun to be able to have those conversations about which player you would rather have — you know, three years of Soto, two years of Ohtani, and then also the guys in our system that we knew were going to go on to be great players.”
The postseason run in 2022 was marked by an upset over the 101-win New York Mets and a thrilling victory against the Dodgers in the NLDS. That season demonstrated the Padres’ willingness to go all-in and put themselves in position to win.
Preller’s tenure as Padres GM has been defined by bold decisions and a willingness to bet big on talent. For Padres fans, it leaves a huge “what-if” on the table.
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