Padres Notes: SD Officially Releases Outfielder, 3 Realistic Trade Candidates, Ex-Closer Calls Out AJ Preller

The San Diego Padres released outfielder Nick Schnell amid the All-Star break. The former Washington National and Tampa Bay Ray was hitting .239 with 12 home runs across 59 games at the Triple-A level this season.

In other news, the Aug. 3 trade deadline is coming up quickly and the baseball world is bracing for president of baseball operations AJ Preller to start making deals. With a 48-48 record, it still isn't clear if the Padres will be buying or selling at the deadline, but the staff at Padres On SI selected three Friars that are most likely going to be dealt.

It is clear that starting pitching has been an issue for San Diego this season, but they have also been without right-hander Joe Musgrove since October 2024. Additionally, right-hander Nick Pivetta — who had a career year last year with a 2.87 ERA in his first season as a Padre — has been out since April with elbow complications.

Another area that the Padres need to address is the offense. Currently last in MLB in batting average and OPS, the work is cut out for Preller. A former member of the team, however, was quite critical of the president of baseball operations in another aspect of his work.

Former Padres closer Heath Bell called out Preller on Friar Territory for the "project" that is manager Craig Stammen.

"You know if ... you want to follow your manager or not, and I just feel like Craig's made a lot of mistakes and he's not sure what direction he's going," Bell said. "And unfortunately, this is another AJ surprise or another project that just has not panned out.”

“Every project that he's done has not worked," he said of Preller. "And every manager that's had manager experience have left early in their contract. When do we actually look and say, maybe that guy's the problem — not the people on the field, not the people that he puts there?”

Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article):

Padres Officially Release Former Rays, Nationals Outfielder Amid All-Star Break

3 Padres Most Likely to Be Traded After the All-Star Break

Former Padres Closer Calls Craig Stammen Another Failed ‘Project’

Padres' Fernando Tatis Jokes He Could Get Traded at Deadline

Padres Announce Starting Pitchers For Royals Series to Kick Off Second Half

Padres Tweets of the Day

Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. joked even HE could get traded ahead of this year's deadline🤣🤣🤣

You just never know with AJ Preller⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/D1KI7XApIK
— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) July 16, 2026

Mason Miller Can’t Believe What Jacob Misiorowski is Doing. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/tGXthNd8Ds
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 16, 2026

Here’s your first look at the 2027 regular season schedule! pic.twitter.com/8rcwjQwheX
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 16, 2026

New Top 10 San Diego Padres Prospects for #FantasyBaseball.

* = 2026 Draftee

1. Ethan Salas
2. Kash Mayfield
3. Ryan Wideman
4. Coleman Borthwick *
5. Kruz Schoolcraft
6. Joniel Hernandez
7. Kale Fountain
8. Miguel Mendez
9. Kavares Tears
10. Elliot Lascelles *#ForTheFaithful
— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) July 16, 2026

Umpire ejects two Padres coaches three pitches into the game, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/tk62DaWuwH
— Jimmy O'Brien (@Jomboy_) July 16, 2026

YES OR NO - The Padres will trade Ty France at the deadline. pic.twitter.com/45IuCifnBU
— SleeperPadres (@SleeperPadres) July 17, 2026

Good Padres minor league health news: Ty Harvey, who broke his hand in May, began a rehab assignment in the ACL tonight. He homered in his second at-bat.
There's an argument that the catcher, who turns 20 this month, is the second-best position prospect in the organization.
— MadFriars - The source for Padres Prospects news (@madfriars) July 17, 2026

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