was announced in early May<\/a>, but what is said to be a complex deal remains contingent on approval by at least 22 of MLB\u2019s other 29 owners. A vote that some thought might happen in June didn\u2019t, and the current hope among Padres officials is late July, though these timelines have a way of moving.<\/p>\nThat could complicate things related to San Diego\u2019s deadline planning. For now, John Seidler remains the club chairman, and if the sale doesn\u2019t close before Aug. 3, some people around the team believe there won\u2019t be much room to take on additional payroll.<\/p>\n
Technically, is there a third option that is neither buy nor sell? Hold? \u2014 Lucila D.<\/p>\n
Holding might be the least advisable path. Yes, an underachieving offense has improved \u2014 since June 17, San Diego is 12th in the majors in OPS \u2014 but the starting rotation is razor-thin, and the Padres know they can\u2019t bank on Nick Pivetta or Joe Musgrove as they build toward potential late-summer returns. This team should either commit to trying to make the postseason or turning much of its attention to 2027, as painful as that would be.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a fourth option: Since they don\u2019t have many prospects who are both highly regarded and performing, I could see the Padres trying to make the postseason through a combination of buying and selling. Which leads us to the following question\u2026<\/p>\n
What players are the Padres most likely to dump if they decide to sell? \u2014 Colin E.<\/p>\n
Miller could become one of the biggest chips of this deadline if the Padres so choose. Every contender would love to have Adrian Morejon, a pending free agent, in its bullpen. Michael King can opt out of his contract this winter, but until then, he could be at least a mid-rotation starter for other clubs.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, there aren\u2019t many players who would fetch a lot in trades. Jeremiah Estrada and David Morgan are promising relievers on the injured list. Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui are having fine seasons. Gavin Sheets and Ty France have proved they can at least be useful role players. With Morejon and Jason Adam nearing free agency, the Padres might prefer to hang on to Bradgley Rodriguez.<\/p>\n
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill could also be big trade chips. But Tatis\u2019 full no-trade clause would limit his market, and the Padres would be selling low on either star, especially Merrill.<\/p>\n
If the Padres end up buying, I could see them simultaneously considering trades of one or two of their relievers. That might be one way to fortify weaker positions or acquire prospects who can be flipped for major-league help.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2238629642.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Adrian Morejon could draw significant trade interest this month. (Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
When is A.J. Preller finally going to get fired? Even after the luxury of a multi-year rebuild and then consistent $200-million-plus payrolls, he demonstrated he can\u2019t build anything close to a championship team. And his strategy of constantly trading away prospects has resulted in a team of mercenaries with inflated contracts and no overarching team identity. \u2014 Jed W.<\/p>\n
To be fair to Preller, he hasn\u2019t been allowed to take on much payroll since Peter Seidler\u2019s death after the 2023 season, and the late owner was a driving force behind the extension of Machado and the signing of Bogaerts, two deals that have hindered efforts to build a more complete roster. This has prompted Preller to rely even more on his tendency to continually exchange future value for immediate help.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also fair to point out that Preller has had far more resources and managers than any former Padres general manager. He\u2019s traded away multiple All-Stars while failing to fully develop more than a few homegrown regulars. And in what was supposed to be a golden era, San Diego is staring at the prospect of only three postseason berths in six years.<\/p>\n
Preller\u2019s aggressive style has helped produce arguably the most exciting period in franchise history, but with their backloaded nine-figure contracts and shallow system, the Padres are facing a grimmer outlook than most organizations. The Padres extended Preller<\/a> by at least two years in February, but his future likely will be decided by the next ownership group.<\/p>\nAre there any discussions among the front office regarding what it would take to offload Bogaerts and\/or Machado in terms of prospects, cash and major-league players? \u2014 David B.<\/p>\n
Over the last year, there has been at least some exploration of what it might take to move Bogaerts\u2019 contract, but I\u2019m not aware of any significant traction or much talk involving Machado. It would be a surprise if both infielders play out the rest of their deals in San Diego; by that time, they would both be 41. It would also be a surprise if either player is moved this year; the Padres would have to eat a ton of money.<\/p>\n
What organizational prospects outside of Ethan Salas have any true trade value? \u2014 John H.<\/p>\n
In terms of prospects who could be swapped for impactful big-league talent, it doesn\u2019t appear to be a long list. A lot of rival scouts like Tucker Musgrove. Kash Mayfield could become a back-end starter, with the potential for more. Kruz Schoolcraft has had a bumpy start to his professional career. Ty Harvey is intriguing, but a hand fracture has sidelined him since late May. Ryan Wideman has produced, but the underlying numbers are less flattering.<\/p>\n
Of course, the Padres could again attempt to trade quantity for quality. That\u2019s what they did last summer when they sent six of their 2024 draft picks to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Ram\u00f3n Laureano and Ryan O\u2019Hearn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plenty of signs this summer seem to be nudging the San Diego Padres to sell ahead of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75,2611],"class_list":["post-394752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-padres"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}