Padres Already Pursuing Trade at Surprise Position, Per Latest Report

Despite all the offensive problems that the San Diego Padres have seen this year, the team has found different ways to win games.

San Diego has used a strong bullpen, mixed with some surprising performances from the starting rotation, to maintain itself as a contender.

And it seems that due to this fact, the Padres' front office may already be looking ahead to the trade deadline for some upgrades.

According to Padres insider Dennis Lin of The Athletic, San Diego is surprisingly looking into adding more bullpen help, despite that being the team's biggest strength.

"Still, more than two months before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the Padres are exploring the market for relief help, league sources told The Athletic. The Padres have one of the sport’s best bullpens and more obvious needs for starting pitching and offense, but they are wary of overworking a bullpen that has fueled a [winning] record and already might be feeling some strain — Miller in particular," Lin wrote.

While the Padres do have one of the best bullpens in baseball, the team has relied fairly heavily on its relief arms to open the year. When this happens, it tends to cause some fatigue as the season goes on, and the front office is looking to minimize the damage.

Mason Miller has emerged as one of the best pitchers in the game, but he can't do it alone. Miller has even discussed a heavy workload potentially impacting him to open the year, as he has not been as dominant on the mound in recent games.

Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller has been known to make aggressive moves at the trade deadline in the past, so nobody should be surprised by his activity. However, it would appear that San Diego has bigger problems to address, both in the lineup and starting rotation.

The Padres are sitting in second place in the NL West after losing two of three games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the team has shown that it can compete with anyone, and this could push the front office to be active at the trade deadline.

The Padres' farm system isn't ranked as high as it used to be, but that hasn't stopped Preller in the past.

San Diego wants a World Series title, and this could lead to them being major players at the trade deadline once again, even while adding to a strength.

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