Padres Expected To Be One of the Most Aggressive Teams at MLB Trade Deadline

Sam Garcia | Jul 24, 2024

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Less than one week remains until the MLB trade deadline. USA Today's Bob Nightengale predicted four teams that will be the most aggressive at the deadline. Among the four teams were the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres.

Although the Padres have limited trade options in their farm system and refuse to trade two of their top-100 prospects, San Diego has expressed interest in making big roster moves by July 30.

"General manager A.J. Preller probably doesn't know what the word sell means. They've already made the two biggest in-season acquisitions this year in Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez. They probably have another big one coming," wrote Newsweek's Noah Camras, who included predicitions about all 30 MLB teams' actions.

Some of the Padres' biggest needs include a reliever, a starting pitcher, and outfielder with a strong bat according to MLB.com.

The San Diego bullpen is already well equipped with Robert Suarez, Jeremiah Estrada, and Adrian Morejon. But, Estrada is nearing his career-high innings and Morejon has struggled with injuries throughout his career. Therefore, the addition of a fourth arm will help deepen the bullpen so the Padres do not have to rely too heavily on the trio.

Similarly to the bullpen, the rotation needs another arm for stability. Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove are sidelined with injuries. The Padres have four healthy starters remaining, but another pitcher is essential for a deep postseason run.

The Padres' outfield is strong when Fernando Tatis Jr. is healthy and able to join Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar. But, with uncertainty surrounding the return of Tatis Jr., San Diego may look to add another outfielder to the mix.

With three big desires at the deadline, the Padres will have to be willing to make sacrifices.