Struggling Padres get Hill, Choi from the Pirates in 1 of 3 trades before deadline

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The big-budget San Diego Padres, desperate to turn around their disappointing season, obtained 43-year-old left-hander Rich Hill and a left-handed bat in first baseman/designated hitter Ji Man Choi from the Pittsburgh Pirates in one of three trades prior to Tuesday's deadline.

A year after acquiring star Juan Soto in a blockbuster trade on deadline day, general manager A.J. Preller chose to address some glaring needs, including adding to a bullpen that's susceptible to coughing up late leads and an offense that struggles to get clutch hits and is among the worst in the majors at driving in runners in scoring position.

Preller thinks the Padres are capable of returning to the playoffs a year after they made a stirring run to the NL Championship Series. He was able to hold on to All-Star closer Josh Hader and left-hander Blake Snell, whose 2.50 ERA is second-lowest in the majors. Both are in the final years of their contracts.

The Padres also acquired reliever Scott Barlow from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for right-handers Jesus Rio and Henry Williams, and infielder Garrett Cooper and minor league pitcher Sean Reynolds from the Miami Marlins in exchange left-hander Ryan Weathers.

“Ultimately we felt the deals made more sense to give our team a chance ... to solidify some spots that can help us play in October," said Preller, who has just one winning record in a full season since he was hired during the 2014 season. “We just have to be more consistent. We think we're more than capable and that's what the next 60 games are about.”

The Padres are led by stars Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Soto and Xander Bogaerts yet are buried in fourth place in the NL West, 8 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, and five games out of the third wild-card spot, with four teams ahead of them. The Padres entered this season with World Series aspirations and increased their payroll to nearly $250 million, third highest in the majors.

The deal with the Pirates came six days after Choi homered in a 3-2 win at Petco Park that left the Padres 1-5 in the season series against Pittsburgh. The wildly inconsistent Padres then swept the AL West-leading Texas Rangers over the weekend before suffering an almost incomprehensible defeat Monday night at Colorado. The Padres had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th inning but failed to score, and they dropped to 0-10 in extra-inning games by losing 4-3.

The Padres released DH Nelson Cruz on July 4 and Matt Carpenter is hitting just .166 with four homers and 15 RBIs.

After going 15-10 in July, “I think everybody had the inclination that we were going to keep this group together and try to add, and that was the case today,” manager Bob Melvin said before the Padres played the Rockies. ”So maybe somewhat relief in there but I think everybody thought that was kind of the direction anyway.”

The Padres parted with prospects Jackson Wolf, a left-hander, who recently made his big league debut, and Estuar Suero, an outfielder, as well as first baseman Alfonso Rivas.

Preller said Hill is a good fit in the rotation right now, with Michael Wacha still on the injured list.

The Pirates traded for Choi and signed Hill last winter in an effort to bolster a young roster trying to learn how to win.

Choi strained his Achilles tendon in mid-April and missed nearly three months. He was solid if not spectacular when he returned, hitting .268 with four home runs and nine RBIs in 14 games since July 7.

The league's oldest player, Hill was his typical self, mixing a fastball that can still touch 90 mph on a good day with an array of breaking pitches that sometimes drop below 70 mph. When he was on, he was good. When he wasn’t, starts could occasionally turn into batting practice. Hill went 7-10 with a 4.76 ERA in 22 starts for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh flirted with contention after a 20-8 start but has faded over the last three months. It appears ready to let young players like Quinn Priester and 2021 first overall pick catcher/outfielder Henry Davis, 2020 first-round pick infielder Nick Gonzalez and catcher Endy Rodriguez take the majority of the reps the rest of the way for a team pointing firmly to 2024 and beyond.

“We certainly considered a more passive approach and keeping everybody,” Pirates GM Ben Cherington said. “We weighed that versus the opportunity to get some young talent or access to young talent that we didn’t have a week ago, combined with opening up opportunity for some guys who have a chance to be here for a longer period of time."

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AP Sports Writer Will Graves and freelancer John Perrotto in Pittsburgh, and freelancer Dennis Georgatos in Denver contributed to this report.

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