Padres News: Friars Change Course, Blake Snell and Josh Hader Likely to Be Traded

San Diego may be selling two of their stars.

It had been an open question around baseball as to whether the Padres would wave the white flag on what's been a disappointing year and sell off their stars, or play buyers at the deadline in an attempt to dig out of a pretty sizable hole in the race for the playoffs.

Just on Wednesday, it looked like the Friars would try to make an incredible turnaround, as ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that San Diego wasn't willing to discuss a trade involving All-Star pitchers Blake Snell or Josh Hader.

Now one day later, it looks like the Padres have changed their minds on that, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Several teams who have spoken with the #Padres in recent days believe that All-Star closer Josh Hader and former Cy Young winner Blake Snell will be traded, particularly Hader.
The struggling Padres (49-54) are in 7th place in the wild-card race, 6.5 games out of a playoff spot.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 27, 2023

Trading either or both of their star pitchers would be a relatively dramatic shift in mentality, as Padres general manager AJ Preller remained optimistic that his team could turn their year around in an interview conducted just weeks ago.

But with the Friars sitting six and a half games out of the last playoff spot after a loss to the Pirates on Wednesday, it seems like Preller will try to get all the value he can out of the two best hurlers the Padres have, with both slated to hit free agency at the end of this season.

If Hader and Snell would up leaving San Diego before the August 1 trade deadline, the Padres could get an excellent return for two of the game's premier pitchers.

Just on Wednesday, the Chicago White Sox acquired the Angels' No. 2 and 3 prospects when they traded away pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. While both have had solid years on the Southside, the duo have each had struggles at times this season.

The exact opposite is true for the Padres duo, as Hader's been the best closer in baseball and Snell has an 0.71 ERA in his last 11 starts.

We'll see what happens, but even though two of San Diego's stars seem to be on their way out, things could still work out for the Padres if they look toward the future.