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The San Diego Padres have fallen to three games below .500 after a tough loss to the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, pushing the team 3.5 games back from the final National League wild card spot.
With just 11 days remaining before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the Padres need to show some life and make a hard push in the next few series to convince general manager A.J. Preller to buy instead of sell, but the team is running out of time.
San Diego is in a tough position at 50-53 – become buyers despite having a league-worst offense and thin starting pitching, sell your biggest names (closer Mason Miller, leverage reliever Adrian Morejon) or stand pat and hope for the best.
There was speculation that the pending sale of the franchise wouldn’t allow for Preller to buy at the deadline, but that isn’t expected to impact his decision according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez.
“Preller would still like to buy, and the expectation is he would be allowed to from a payroll standpoint -- but first, his team needs to give him a reason,” Gonzalez wrote Thursday.
The Padres would be one of many teams seeking starting pitching help if they were buyers but they don’t necessarily have the best farm system and prospect pool to outbid other teams, so even if San Diego does buy at the deadline, it will be from the list of lower tier pitchers that will be cheaper to acquire.
But, if San Diego doesn’t play strong enough in the coming days to convince Preller to buy, a bullpen fire sale could be under way in the soon.
“If they don't make up serious ground over this next week and a half -- with series against the Marlins, Rockies and Giants -- Preller might start trading players from his dominant bullpen, with Mason Miller the clear headliner.”
The Padres aren’t under any pressure to move on from Miller, who was an All-Star for the second time in his career this season, especially because he is under team control for several years. However, a team that believes it has a chance to win the World Series could come calling with an offer the franchise can’t refuse.
San Diego traded one of the best prospects in baseball to acquire Miller from the Athletics at last year’s trade deadline, so seeing him get moved at this year’s deadline would be a stunner to say the least.
Morejon is another arm to watch if the Padres indicate to teams that they will do business. Morejon is 7-2 with one save while posting a 3.33 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 61 strikeouts to 13 walks through 47 games (54 innings).
Continue reading...
With just 11 days remaining before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the Padres need to show some life and make a hard push in the next few series to convince general manager A.J. Preller to buy instead of sell, but the team is running out of time.
San Diego is in a tough position at 50-53 – become buyers despite having a league-worst offense and thin starting pitching, sell your biggest names (closer Mason Miller, leverage reliever Adrian Morejon) or stand pat and hope for the best.
There was speculation that the pending sale of the franchise wouldn’t allow for Preller to buy at the deadline, but that isn’t expected to impact his decision according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez.
“Preller would still like to buy, and the expectation is he would be allowed to from a payroll standpoint -- but first, his team needs to give him a reason,” Gonzalez wrote Thursday.
The Padres would be one of many teams seeking starting pitching help if they were buyers but they don’t necessarily have the best farm system and prospect pool to outbid other teams, so even if San Diego does buy at the deadline, it will be from the list of lower tier pitchers that will be cheaper to acquire.
But, if San Diego doesn’t play strong enough in the coming days to convince Preller to buy, a bullpen fire sale could be under way in the soon.
“If they don't make up serious ground over this next week and a half -- with series against the Marlins, Rockies and Giants -- Preller might start trading players from his dominant bullpen, with Mason Miller the clear headliner.”
The Padres aren’t under any pressure to move on from Miller, who was an All-Star for the second time in his career this season, especially because he is under team control for several years. However, a team that believes it has a chance to win the World Series could come calling with an offer the franchise can’t refuse.
San Diego traded one of the best prospects in baseball to acquire Miller from the Athletics at last year’s trade deadline, so seeing him get moved at this year’s deadline would be a stunner to say the least.
Morejon is another arm to watch if the Padres indicate to teams that they will do business. Morejon is 7-2 with one save while posting a 3.33 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 61 strikeouts to 13 walks through 47 games (54 innings).
Continue reading...
