Casey Mize trade grades: Padres get A for overhauling rotation, Tigers close up shop

The Padres have acquired right-handed starting pitcher Casey Mize and infielder Gage Workman from the Detroit Tigers, the New York Post reports. Left-handers Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf went to the Tigers in the trade, according to The Athletic.

>Mize had been slated to start for the Tigers on Friday, but in a move that presaged a trade, the club scratched him from that scheduled outing and went with a bullpen game instead.

>Mize, 29, is a pending free agent who's enjoying his finest big-league season to date, at least on a rate basis. Over his 16 starts in 2026, he's put up a career-best ERA+ of 159, and he's also notched career-best marks in FIP, K/BB ratio, and strikeout rate. This season, Mize has featured increased use of his slider. For his career, the former No. 1 overall pick out of Auburn has a 107 ERA+. Mize earned his lone All-Star selection in 2025. He's owed the balance of a $6.15 million salary for the current season before hitting the market this coming winter.

>With San Diego, Mize will slot in a contending rotation that already includes Michael King, the newly acquired Robbie Ray and Walker Buehler. Mize does have postseason experience, as he made one brief playoff start in both 2025 and 2024 as a member of the Tigers. Over those combined six innings, he allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and four walks.

>MLB Pipeline ranks Mayfield as the No. 2 prospect in San Diego's system and say he has "mid-rotation ceiling." Wolf is a depth arm who appeared in one MLB game in 2023 and has a 7.05 ERA in Triple-A this season.

>The Padres came into Monday needing at least one starter at the deadline and they left with two pretty good ones in Mize and Robbie Ray. Mize has battled a nagging groin injury this year (it's sent him to the injured list three times) but he's been terrific when healthy, which he is right now. Giving up Mayfield hurts, no doubt, but the Padres are a win-now team and adding Mize is a win-now move. Getting Workman, a decent depth utility guy, is a nice little bonus, not that he's a needle-mover.

>Mize and Tarik Skubal were supposed to front the rotation of a contending Tigers team for years to come, and instead, they were flipped as rentals for four total prospects and a depth arm at the deadline. A disappointing end to an era, this is. Mayfield is a very good prospect, but he's also a pitcher in Single-A, and a long way away from Detroit. In a vacuum, the Tigers made a good baseball field. On the field, you have to wonder when the rebuilding will ever end.