Padres Rumors: MLB Insider Believes Only One Prospect is Untouchable for Friars

One young phenom should be a non-starter for A.J. Preller.

With the Padres stumbling out of the gate to open the second half, the trade deadline plan seems a bit murky at the moment. Even with just nine days left until the busiest day on the baseball calendar.

Last season, San Diego went all in on loading up the roster at the deadline, adding two big fish in All-Stars Juan Soto and Josh Hader. The club was rewarded with an NLCS berth but it came at a fairly steep cost in terms of prospect talent.

One year later, A.J. Preller's roster isn't in as good of shape -- or at least the team isn't playing all that well. Internally, players hope the club adds a piece or two at the upcoming deadline. However, after last season, there's not a whole lot of talent left.

Not that the farm system is barren.

One name that is sure to come up is high profile catching prospect Ethan Salas. The 17-year-old phenom is having a great season at Single-A Lake Elsinore despite being the youngest guy on the field most days. Rival teams will want Salas in just about any trade for a star. However, Padres insider AJ Cassavell believes he's San Diego's most untouchable player.

Here's what Cassavell had to say recently in an MLB.com column about potential Shohei Ohtani trades.

Catcher Ethan Salas, the top-rated international prospect in the latest class, appears to be untouchable.

Ethan salas. That is all. #padres pic.twitter.com/KjEYvogWsX

— Allison Edmonds (@aedmondstv) July 19, 2023

Considering the struggles the Padres have endured at the catching position in recent years, moving a potentially can't-miss prospect would be a hard pill to swallow. It would be even worse if Preller sent Salas away in a trade for a rental player, even if that player happened to be Shohei Ohtani.

San Diego would still have three other players among the top-100 prospects in all of baseball if the young catcher was sent away. But the smarter play may be to play a bit down in the market and try to improve the bullpen on the margins over the big splash.