Padres Rumors: San Diego Enters Hunt for Justin Verlander

San Diego emerges as a mystery team.

As we enter the final few hours of the 2023 trade deadline, the rumors for the Padres had been mostly quiet. However, early on Tuesday morning, MLB insider Jon Heyman changed that with a bombshell tweet.

According to Heyman, the Padres have entered the conversation to acquire Justin Verlander from the Mets.

One mystery team on Justin Verlander has been uncovered: the San Diego Padres

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 1, 2023

Now, whether there is any smoke to this rumor remains to be seen. The addition of the "mystery team" verbiage could mean that the Padres are more being used as a tool by the Mets to get more out of a trade package from teams like the Dodgers or Astros, who are both considered front-runners for the three time Cy Young Award winner.

In a secondary tweet, even Heyman seems to question his own tweet, adding one other wrinkle to the equation which is whether Verlander would waive his no trade clause to be dealt to the fourth place Padres.

No idea how likely it is that a deal could work with Padres. No word on if there’s any real progress in talks, or if Verlander might approve SD. Interesting though that Padres would even investigate this now. https://t.co/5INWQx77Lh

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 1, 2023

The trade deadline cut off is 3 PM PT this afternoon.