With the trade deadline just ten days away, San Diego is nearing decision time. Two young Colorado Rockies could put the stress of the Padres’ search for a catcher and left fielder to rest.

Three more series are all that stand between the Padres and the MLB trade deadline on July 30. With no outside transactions on the board yet, the stress of multiple holes is growing. Although difficult, solving both the catching and in left field situations through a single team would be optimal.

Left field and catcher continue to be a plague to the Padres’ offense. With the failure of the Luis Campusano experiment(s), there appears to be no internal solution behind the plate. Additionally, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune reported recently that Martin Maldonado is “highly valued” by several within the clubhouse, indicating that he likely won’t be going anywhere. In left field, Gavin Sheets has made a plethora of starts to try and free up the DH spot. However, none of San Diego’s bench players have performed well enough to justify Sheets’ move to the outfield. With that said, San Diego will likely target an outfielder, and attempt to acquire an upgrade for Elias Diaz behind home plate.

There are very few teams who could pull off a deal to satisfy both of the Padres’ needs at once. Perhaps Arizona’s Randall Grichuk and backup catcher James McCann could be a package. In Baltimore, a struggling Adley Rutschman and surging Ramon Laureano could also be on the table. There are several possibilities, but few may be as well-knit as a young duo in Colorado.

2025 All-Star Hunter Goodman and San Diego native Mickey Moniak could be an intriguing pair of targets. Goodman would clearly be the centerpiece, but that’s not a knock on Moniak’s surge in production. In terms of cost and control, the payout would be golden for San Diego. Both players are under control through 2027 and would combine to cost just $2.1 million before arbitration.

The factor of money will be very important to San Diego, which is looking to keep the payroll close to where it is. With recent offseason efforts to reduce payroll, acquiring two players who aren’t yet locked into larger contracts would be pivotal. With budget concerns suggesting that big names like Jarren Duran and Luis Robert aren’t options, pivoting to young breakout players seems to be the Padres’ next step. Therefore, acquiring Goodman and Moniak in a stunner would accomplish just that.

What would a trade package look like?

In short, it would be large. The Padres wouldn’t be taking on any money and would gain control of two young players through 2028. Because of that, San Diego’s prospect package would have to do the heavy lifting to get a deal done. The Rockies’ farm system is heavily weighted towards older and more developed prospects. Meanwhile, San Diego’s farm system contains a strong group of raw, young prospects with loud tools. Even without No. 1 Prospect Leo De Vries, who’s believed to be untouchable, the list runs deep. Among the prospects who could be included are Victor Figueroa, Boston Bateman, Humberto Cruz, Kruz Schoolcraft, Kavares Tears, and Kale Fountain. If the Rockies could pick and choose from this group, it would balance out the flow of their farm system.

The primary reason that Colorado would shop the pair would be to capitalize on potentially “unrepeatable” seasons. Both Goodman and Moniak had a sub.650 OPS in large sample sizes last season, making the reality of a true breakout a cloudy one. Clearing both players could make way for more intriguing prospects who are far more projectable. A trade package of San Diego’s young prospects could better match the Rockies’ realistic window of competition.

What would San Diego be getting out of Goodman and Moniak?

Hunter Goodman will be the harder of the two players to acquire. Goodman made the All-Star roster, has an OPS of .842, and has the 10th-most WAR of any catcher in 2025. He’s only 25 years old, and is in line to become a cornerstone behind the plate, if he continues producing. However, the question of whether he can maintain this production in future years will lower his value. Regardless, a surging 25-year-old playing a premium defensive position is nowhere close to cheap. He’ll warrant a large price of prospect capital.

Goodman’s approach emphasizes gap-to-gap power, characterized by a fast swing speed. However, Goodman has deficiencies in both his plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills. His chase rate of 36.7% and whiff rate of 33.5% indicate that he’s essentially relying on only his power ability for production. In 2024, this principle failed to serve him well. He bat just .190 with a .645 OPS over 224 plate appearances, further illustrating the risks of Colorado relying on him to repeat his 2025 success in future years.

Hunter Goodman’s HR makes it TEN runs for the @Rockies! pic.twitter.com/C4e96lujLQ

— MLB (@MLB) July 20, 2025

Meanwhile, Moniak was signed by the Rockies for just $1.25M after being released by the Angels in March. Although his tenure as a Rockie started slow, he picked things up in the summer months. Now 266 plate appearances into 2025, he’s striking out at a career-best clip of 24.4%. What was once a strikeout rate just under 40% has now become merely a downside to his game. As a result, he’s putting balls in play far more often, and it’s rewarding him.

Like Goodman, Moniak features plus power through a hard swing that plays well at Coors Field. His home and away splits suggest that he’s benefitting massively from playing in Colorado. Especially during the hotter months, the La Costa Canyon alum’s 1.002 OPS at home proves that his value would likely tank if he were to play elsewhere. However, Moniak is still a true outfielder and a clear offensive upgrade. Even his road splits— which are far less intimidating— would still be an upgrade to the Padres’ current situation. At worst, Moniak could still be useful as a bench bat and make spot starts against righties. His 127 wRC+ against righties would give the Padres some additional firepower.

Mickey Moniak has 10 HR in his last 27 games.pic.twitter.com/fIV6tDps7k

— Kirk Snyder (@dynastyinfo411) July 6, 2025

Lastly, Moniak grew up in San Diego and was drafted first overall by the Phillies in 2016, straight out of high school. There are several within the program and many who covered him in San Diego who believe he was rushed in his development. The theory would explain why his inability to produce at the MLB level tis ied to prospect-like struggles such as his strikeout rate. A move back home, with the pressure of his first-overall status off his shoulders, could do wonders for his mid-career development.

The big issue may simply be that they are division rivals and the Rockies operate differently than most sellers. The Padres and Rockies have not worked out a trade together since 2011, when the Padres acquired Huston Street. History isn’t on the side of the Padres making a deal here, but desperate times may call for desperate measures.

Willy Warren

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a public baseball media account covering around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X. Willy is set to attend the Cronkite School of Journalism in the fall of 2026 at Arizona State University, where he’ll pursue a major in sports journalism.