{"id":741448,"date":"2026-07-02T20:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T20:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/741448\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T20:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T20:03:15","slug":"could-san-diego-still-make-a-splash-at-the-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/741448\/","title":{"rendered":"Could San Diego Still Make a Splash at the Trade Deadline?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Diego Padres<\/a> continue to be one of the most interesting teams in baseball. Entering play on Thursday, the club is mired in a five-game losing streak. They\u2019re also about to face the rival Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> and Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> in back-to-back four-game sets. It\u2019s a tough stretch for San Diego and it doesn\u2019t get better anytime soon. The hope is that the All-Star break can serve as a reset for the organization. The Padres have always been better down the stretch (especially in recent years). Hopefully they can do the same again this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to keep in mind that General Manager A.J. Preller is always ready to add to his big-league roster. One of the most fascinating case studies in the sport, Preller has been known to trade prospects with reckless abandon. He often treats the San Diego farm system like his own personal piggy bank. It\u2019s worked out in making the Friars a perennial contender but has drawn the ire of fans by giving up big prospects like CJ Abrams, Max Fried, MacKenzie Gore, Trea Turner, James Wood, the list goes on and on. That said, if Preller catches even a whiff of the Friars being in postseason contention at the August 3 Trade Deadline, he\u2019ll jump at the opportunity to chase a World Series championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Insider Reports That Preller is Signaling Major Financial Flexibility<\/p>\n

Then came a report from insider Ken Rosenthal that executives around the league believe Preller has been signaling a willingness to spend. A big deal could come if the Friars can turn the tide on their recent slump. If not, it would be difficult to justify a major trade unless it was one that helps San Diego for years to come. The Padres have traded for plenty of rentals in the last few seasons that haven\u2019t done much to help the club. Tanner Scott, and Ryan O\u2019Hearn headline that group from 2024-25 but there have been plenty. If San Diego does storm back down the stretch, what scenarios could play out if Preller has his way?<\/p>\n

A Rivalry Reunion<\/p>\n

\"MLB:3<\/a>IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

At the start of the 2024 season, the Friars made the first major trade of the season with the Miami Marlins<\/a>. It turned out to be quite the savvy move, with San Diego trading for the contact-oriented Luis Arraez. Arraez was a fan favorite in San Diego, winning a batting title in 2024 and leading the Padres to the postseason with his elite bat-to-ball skills. He slumped in 2025 (though, to call it a slump is almost rude), hitting .292 on the year. Arraez then entered free agency and expressed an earnest desire to play second base. He wanted to prove himself at the keystone position despite being known as one of the worst defenders in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Giants<\/a> took a chance on him with a one-year contract. That came with a guarantee that Arraez would be the starting second baseman for the club. Under the tutelage of legendary coach Ron Washington, he\u2019s become one of the most elite defensive players in the game. He ranks fourth in Outs Above Average with +11 at the keystone position. It\u2019s been an incredible turnaround for Arraez, who has been the only consistent player on a rocky Giants team. He\u2019s currently batting .326 on the year and has a shot at another batting title. San Diego could desperately use a bat like that in its lineup. <\/p>\n

An Immediate Boost for San Diego<\/p>\n

Excluding Fernando Tatis Jr. (who has spent considerable time at second base this season for reasons beyond understanding), Jake Cronenworth, Sung-Mun Song and Will Wagner have combined for an abysmal .217 batting average. Even with Tatis\u2019s .280 batting average, the combined stat only moves up to .233 between the four infielders. Arraez would immediately fix that problem. He also wouldn\u2019t be too expensive given he\u2019ll be a free agent at the end of the year, and San Francisco is actively looking to sell. <\/p>\n

Probably Not Worth It<\/p>\n

\"MLB:3<\/a>IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Tarik Skubal has been thrown around all year long as the most likely trade candidate. With reports that the Dodgers are backing off to prioritize their farm, the Padres are heavily favored to be in the mix for the southpaw\u2019s services. However, he\u2019s hurt his case a bit coming back from injury. Since returning from surgery on his elbow, he hasn\u2019t looked the same. Skubal has posted a 4.03 ERA across 22 1\/3 innings pitched. That could hurt his trade stock a bit, though he\u2019ll still command a significant return for the Detroit Tigers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why San Diego should avoid making this trade. They would be required to give up too much for just two guaranteed months of Skubal\u2019s services. It just doesn\u2019t seem like enough payoff to trade away top prospects from an already-depleted farm system. The Friars will still probably be in the mix for his services this offseason. But the club has better options to bolster the starting rotation now in pitchers like Sandy Alcantara and Joe Ryan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Big Kahuna (AKA The Pipe Dream)<\/p>\n

\"MLB:3<\/a>IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Regardless of how many prospects it would take to get this deal done, it\u2019s a move that would only benefit the Padres on a championship run. If the club is in contention once the Deadline rolls around, it\u2019s hard to dismiss the possibility of Yordan Alvarez wearing the brown and gold. Alvarez has been a near-lock for the American League MVP this year. Now that Aaron Judge is out due to injury, it\u2019s even more likely that the slugger will receive the award \u2026 unless he ends the season in the National League.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The prospect of Alvarez batting alongside Manny Machado and Tatis is tantalizing, to be sure. That being said, it would take a lot to pry the slugger from the Houston Astros. Alvarez won\u2019t be a free agent for two more years after the 2026 season concludes. The Astros would be giving up not only one of baseball\u2019s best hitters this season but also several years of team control. That would require a major trade haul to acquire the 29-year-old\u2019s services. But Preller has never been one to shy away from a blockbuster deal. If the Friars are truly in a place to contend at the Deadline a trade for Alvarez could be warranted. If not, Preller could look elsewhere to add some thump to the lineup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego Padres continue to be one of the most interesting teams in baseball. Entering play on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":741449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2407],"tags":[5,4,43,137,18,4339,4338,10281],"class_list":["post-741448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego-padres","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-padres","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sandiego","tag-sandiegopadres","tag-trade-deadline"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116852176152199006","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}