A review of the Freddy Fermin trade for the San Diego Padres.

The Padres made a lot of noise at the deadline this year as A.J. Preller once again put on a show in San Diego.

While new acquisitions such as Ryan O’Hearn and “Razor” Ramon Laureano made notable noise at the plate. Potential future ace Mason Miller delivered on the mound as well; one acquisition has had less clear-cut success.

Freddy Fermin brings a much-needed upgrade behind the plate in what has been an otherwise lackluster season for Padres catchers; however, the question that will ultimately be asked is whether, in a season where ace Michael King has struggled to stay healthy and Dylan Cease cannot stay consistent, was it worth giving up two starting pitchers under long-term team control?

Let’s take a closer look.

Fermin’s Performance in August
A.J. Preller gave up a lot for Freddy Fermin in trading away both 25-year-old RHP Ryan Bergert and RHP Stephen Kolek to the Royals on July 29, but how has Fermin looked?

At the plate, in his first 18 games, Fermin is hitting .271 with five RBIs. This far exceeds both Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado, who were hitting .198 and .204, respectively. While he has nearly 33% more RBIs than Martin Maldonado, who slashed in 12 across 64 games, he just slightly exceeds Diaz, who produced 24 in 92 appearances this year. He has been an obvious offensive upgrade, batting over  70 points better than Elias Diaz. Let’s look at their defense.

Neither Diaz nor Fermin looks outstanding defensively, but Fermin’s pop time to second ranks 4th in the entire MLB in 2025, whereas Diaz ranks 10th. Fermin is a slight upgrade over Diaz and a massive upgrade over Maldonado, who, despite being known for his heroics and talent behind the plate, struggled defensively. It is also worth noting that Fermin is under team control through 2029, which represents a significant upside to the trade for the Padres.

Was the price worth it?
Preller dealt Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek for the catcher.

Kolek, a former Rule 5 pick for the Padres, produced well for the Padres in 2025. Despite his struggles last year, posting a 5.79 ERA as a reliever, he settled down into a backend rotation role with injuries to Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, and Michael King.

While he did not look like an ace out on the mound, Kolek gave the Padres a chance to win in most games he started. Kolek looked particularly good early on this season, producing exciting and promising performances in May, including, of course, a complete game and posting an ERA of 3.38 in the month of June. The wheels, however, appeared to begin falling off the bus in July as Kolek, a former reliever, outworked his previous marks and began to appear fatigued. 

The real centerpiece of the trade was RHP Ryan Bergert. Bergert was promoted back in April of 2025 and immediately impressed. While he had struggles in Double-A, Bergert showed massive upside as a strikeout pitcher. His overall repertoire looked nasty from day one in the show.

In seven starts with San Diego, Bergert posted an ERA of 3.12 and impressed with his strikeout abilities, showcasing yet another Ruben Niebla masterpiece. Since his trade to the Royals, Bergert has started four games in the month of August, logging quality starts in each game and lowering his ERA to 2.79. With team control through 2029, the Padres gave up a 25-year-old starting pitcher with massive upside.

The Padres presently have starting pitching woes
Additionally, it is of note that deadline acquisition JP Sears has struggled in two of his first three starts for the Friars.

With Michael King still nursing an injury and Dylan Cease posting a near 5.00 ERA, trading away two starting pitchers may not age well—especially Bergert, who may have been able to immediately contribute in October this season.

Now the Padres’ best hope in the postseason may be a shortened rotation featuring King, Darvish, Pivetta, and Cortes, given Cease’s proven inability to show up in big games.

El Paso Hall of Famer
Perhaps one of their alternative options could have been to promote Luis Campusano, who has looked like a minor league hall of famer this season.

While he has struggled in the show this year, logging zero hits and 11 strikeouts on 21 at-bats, he has an OPS of 1.054 in El Paso this year, along with 23 home runs and 80 RBIs, hitting .327. While he has struggled in the majors, perhaps an extended look and every day starts could have been what Campusano needed.

The jury is still out
While it is too early to conclusively determine in August, recent poor outings by Dylan Cease and JP Sears, as well as the injury to Michael King, raise questions about the value of the Freddy Fermin trade. Ultimately, we may not know until the playoffs if this trade was worth it. For now, the trade has indeed rendered mixed results.

Billy Seidlitz

Billy has spent a majority of his life following San Diego sports and worked in San Diego for many years. Now residing in Newport Beach he recently obtained his Juris Doctorate degree from Chapman University and now works as an Associate Personal Injury Attorney. Billy enjoys supporting the Padres and SDFC from Orange County and making the drive down for big games. He is passionate about analytics and writing about sports.