A.J. Preller dropped the A word.

Appetite.

“There’ll be conversations in the next few weeks with the ownership group about appetite to add to this group,” Preller said Saturday. “We’re going to be in a position to know a lot more here in a couple of weeks.”

Appetite implies costs.

Is ownership willing to add to the payroll? To mortgage the farm system?

Those answers will come from Padres control person John Seidler, and also José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones, who head the investor group that’s expected to take over the team next month.

For now, the appetite would seem mild. If that.

FanGraphs.com gives the Padres an 11.3% chance of winning a wild-card berth.

The team is 48-48, exactly .500, and stands fifth in a six-team race for the third and final wild-card spot. Atop the six-team field, Miami (52-45) leads the Padres by 3 1/2 games. St. Louis (50-45) holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Padres. Pittsburgh (50-47) and Arizona (49-47) sit third and fourth. Washington (48-49) occupies the final spot, a half-game behind the Padres.

A sell-off appears no less possible.

“We’re going to go in the process open-minded, whether it’s acquiring players or, you know, kind of looking at, if we have to go another direction,” Preller said.

Padres players will have the biggest say.

Leading up to the Aug. 3 trade deadline, they’ll play 15 games — 10 coming on the three-city trip that begins Friday in Kansas City, followed by five home games against losing teams. When the afternoon deadline falls, the Padres will be in Phoenix, preparing for a series finale against the Diamondbacks.

Seven games remain against Miami, where the Padres will conclude the 10-game trip.

What should Preller and his bosses do if, in the next 15 games, Manny Machado and his mates win often enough to turn on the green light?

Don’t go all-in. They should hedge their bets.

They should not trade Ethan Salas, the Double-A catcher who is also the system’s best prospect.

Preller has traded better prospects than Salas in recent summers. The difference was timing.

The short and medium horizons were better in 2022, when Preller dealt James Wood and CJ Abrams in the blockbuster move for Juan Soto; and last summer, when he swapped teenage shortstop Leo De Vries for closer Mason Miller.

Salas is a good prospect, not a great one. Allowances must be made for his poor offensive season two years ago and a back ailment that limited him to 10 games last year.

But at 20, the Venezuelan has put together a good all-around first half in the Texas League.

Sala has a realistic chance of becoming MLB-average or better as both a hitter and a defender. Few MLB catchers are meeting those twin standards.

There are other ways to improve the team without dealing a top prospect.

Would ownership agree to buying a player, enabling Preller to retain Salas and other key prospects?

According to an MLB executive with a neutral team, the best candidate is Astros closer Josh Hader, who, it must be noted, didn’t leave the Padres on the best terms three years ago amid perceptions he could’ve taken the ball more often.

Hader, 32, remains a very good reliever. In 15 1/3 innings this year, all coming after he returned from an arm ailment that sidelined him last year, Hader has amassed 25 strikeouts and allowed six hits, two earned runs and eight walks.

The financials are stiff. Hader is due $19 million each of the next two years — hence his availability for a talent discount.

Strengthening a strong Padres bullpen is something Preller has done in other trade markets. A relief corps headed by closer Mason Miller and the left-handed Adrian Morejón and Hader would put a lot of heat on opponents to avoid a contest between bullpens.

Another avenue: “Change of scenery,” low-cost trades.

Bargains such as Martín Pérez can be found. In fact, Preller found him once before.

The Padres acquired the veteran left-handed pitcher from the Pirates in 2024 and saw him deliver 52 innings and a 3.46 ERA. Preller and Pérez had become friends from their time together with the Rangers.

If the Padres choose to sell, they could add prospects to a farm system that entered the season ranked 30th out of 30 MLB teams, per MLB.com. Miller, right-handed hitter Ty France and left-handed hitter Gavin Sheets rank among the candidates who figure to interest teams.

A trade of France or Sheets at the deadline action wouldn’t be much fun.

Past competitive Padres teams added these types of players, not dealt them. In 1998, Kevin Towers added veteran hitters in righty Jim Leyritz and John Vander Wal. Assisted by each newcomer, the Padres ran away in the NL West race and advanced to the 1998 World Series.