As trade deadline arrives, Padres acquire Nestor Cortes — and keep Dylan Cease

One of the most forecasted moves came down to the wire.

And it didn’t happen.

Dylan Cease remains a part of the Padres starting rotation.

Moreover, the team acquired left-hander Nestor Cortes from the Brewers just before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.

Cortes, an All-Star with the Yankees in 2022, has spent much of this season on the injured list with an elbow flexor strain. He made two starts at the beginning of the season, allowing eight runs in eight innings, and has yet to return from the 60-day IL. His return is anticipated in August.

Cortes is due $2.4 million for the final two months of the season, but the Padres will be paying roughly $241,000 of that after the Brewers agreed to pay down Cortes’ salary to the MLB minimum as part of the trade. The Padres sent outfielder Brandon Lockridge, who was in Triple-A, to Milwaukee.

The Padres also acquired minor-league shortstop Jorge Quintana as part of the deal. Quintana, 18, played in the Arizona Complex League this year.

The trade of Cease had been widely viewed as a possibility for weeks and had become anticipated over the past several days.

Word of talks cooling circulated on Wednesday and again Thursday morning, but the Astros and others continued to check in on Cease. Multiple reports suggested the Padres and Astros were progressing in talks on Thursday afternoon.

The right-hander, who is having arguably his worst season but is considered to be among the toughest pitchers to hit when he is right, was a trade candidate in large part because unloading the remainder of his $13.75 million contract (about $4.4 million) would help offset other acquisitions.

It was perceived by many around the league that the Padres would have to jettison at least one of their higher-priced players to finance the acquisition of a productive offensive piece. Team sources had indicated the same thing for weeks, though they were vague about how much leeway Preller had.

The Padres earlier in the day acquired first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramon Laureano from the Orioles, who together are owed about $3.8 million.

The Padres also traded with the Athletics for closer Mason Miller and JP Sears and with the Royals for catcher Freddy Fermin, who are due a combined $735,000 for the rest of this season.