As part of a piece about how the Yankees could rebuild their bullpen this offseason, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes that “the Yankees have long eyed” Padres right-hander Jeremiah Estrada. It isn’t specified when or even if the Yankees might’ve engaged San Diego in any trade talks about the reliever, though Estrada was reportedly discussed by the Big Apple’s other team when the Mets tried to line up a deal with the Padres last winter.
Estrada celebrates his 28th birthday in a couple of weeks, and the right-hander has now completed his third successful season out of the Friars’ bullpen. The 2026 campaign came with a lot of health issues, however, as Estrada was limited to 31 regular-season innings due to three trips to the injured list. Estrada missed time with elbow tendinitis, knee inflammation, and a shoulder impingement, and the last of those injuries ended his season in late August and kept him out of the Padres’ playoff run.
The impact of all these injuries could be measured in a bit of a dropoff in performance from Estrada’s 2024-25 seasons. The reliever had a 3.22 ERA/2.47 SIERA over 134 innings in those seasons, as well as a shaky nine percent walk rate but an elite 36.3% strikeout rate. In 2026, Estrada’s ERA and SIERA were both 3.48 ERA, his K% dropped to a still-excellent 30.2%, and his walks spiked upward to a 12.7% rate. His average fastball velocity also lost two miles, going from 97.9mph in 2025 to 95.9mph this year.
While none of his injuries appear to be particularly serious, there’s some natural concern given that Estrada has battled some health woes in the past, including a Tommy John surgery during his minor league days with the Cubs. Estrada tossed only 16 1/3 innings for Chicago in 2022-23 before the Padres claimed him off waivers in November 2023, in what has turned out to be a very canny pickup for San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller.
Estrada is heading into arbitration eligibility for the first time this offseason, with a projected salary of $1.3MM. Since the arb process favors traditional counting stats like saves, closers tend to receive larger year-to-year salary bumps in arbitration while other high-leverage relievers (no matter how effective) get relatively low sums like Estrada’s projected $1.3MM, though all his missed time in 2026 also didn’t help his case.
This kind of bargain price plus three years of team control make Estrada a valuable trade chip, health issues notwithstanding. If the Padres have any concerns that Estrada might’ve already passed his peak effectiveness, the team could bring back a nice return in a sell-high move. Three years of a high-leverage reliever who records a lot of strikeouts could help San Diego address its needs in left field or in the rotation.
On the flip side, the Padres might not want to trade away a reliever when any or all of Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, or (if he opts out) Yuki Matsui could depart in free agency. Between this group and almost a whole rotation’s worth of Padres starters also hitting the open market, Preller might prefer to stand pat with his remaining core of pitchers. Then again, Preller is forever exploring creative deals, and if moving Estrada could fill two other roster holes, shopping the righty could certainly be on the radar.
New York is facing a similar situation to San Diego’s possible bullpen exodus. David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough, and John Schreiber are all slated for free agency, and Fernando Cruz is a possible non-tender as the right-hander is dealing with partially torn UCL and might eventually opt for Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure. As Sherman notes, the Yankees figure to consider any number of pitchers to restock the pen, whether in trades, signings, or looking to re-sign some of their own free agents.
