Padres Rumors: 'Hard to See Them Selling Now', Insider Chimes in on Deadline Status

What will the Friars decide?

The MLB trade deadline is just around the corner, and with two days left until that door shuts on August 1, it's still an unknown as to whether the San Diego Padres will play the role of a buyer or seller before the trading period ends.

After a weekend sweep against Texas, it's looking more and more like this club will be holding on to its top players for the stretch run of the season.

First, the Padres have a number of stars that they could get a big return for -- pitchers Blake Snell and Josh Hader being the main two -- but they're on the bubble of playoff contention as the calender is about to turn to August, sitting five games back but behind four teams in the race for the last wild card spot.

So that leaves one key question that's still looming over the franchise: What will the Padres do at the deadline?

MLB insider Jon Heyman let his thoughts be known after the Friars defeated the AL West leading Rangers 4-0 on Saturday, and he came down firmly on the side of the Padres keeping their stars in San Diego.

Padres beat Rangers again, 4-0. Now 51-54 and 5 1/2 out for Wild Card. Have plus 61 run differential. Hard to see them selling now. So Snell, Hader and Soto all but sure to stay in SD.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2023

I can see Heyman's point here, and the Padres certainly have the talent level on paper to flip the script on their season, but again, San Diego is looking up at four teams in the wild card race.

Bob Nightengale echoed Heyman's sentiment following Sunday's victory over the Rangers.

The San Diego #Padres are sure starting to play like a team who doesn’t want to be broken up. They sweep the Texas Rangers and now are fully expected to hang onto closer Josh Hader and starter Blake Snell, after all. They are 5 games out of a wild-card berth.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 30, 2023

It'd be a big ask under normal circumstances for them to climb out of that pretty sizable hole with their inconsistency this year, but they also have a gauntlet coming up shortly.

They have a combined 12 games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Baltimore Orioles coming up next month, three teams in playoff position at the start of play on Sunday.

That'd be an incredibly hard test to have to pass, and if they fail that set? Then what? The Padres would be staring at not only a lost season, but also at a hampered future to show for it with Snell and Hader set to be free agents at the end of this year.

It'd be a hard pill to swallow given the expectations the Padres had coming into the year, but they have to resist the temptation to try to engineer the most unlikely of comebacks, and sell at the deadline.

The front office has seemed reluctant to do that, but selling now would be much better over the long term for the franchise that hasn't found its stride -- and likely wouldn't -- this year.