The San Diego Padres will be selling anything and everything as the trade deadline approaches if the opportunities arise.
On June 4, when the San Diego Padres sent pitcher James Shields to the Chicago White Sox for two minor league prospects, it was a not-so-subtle way of admitting that last offseason’s spending spree had failed.
General Manager A.J. Preller added Shields; outfielders Wil Myers, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton; pitcher Craig Kimbrel and several other pieces prior to the 2015 season. The flurry of moves raised a lot of eyebrows and added intrigue to the upcoming season. Would the new outfield play any defense? Would Shields have the same leadership influence he did in Kansas City? What was the offensive potential of a lineup constructed with previously disparate parts?
After showing early promise with a 10-5 record through April 21, the experiment quickly unraveled and the Padres finished fourth in the National League West with a 74-88 record.
The team went into 2016 with many of the same pieces as last season, but this time there was little optimism that the team was going to contend in the NL West. Not when the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants bolstered their starting rotations and the Los Angeles Dodgers had made the playoffs each of the past three seasons.
Upton and Kimbrel, however, were gone, and this season the Padres have been as hapless as projected. They are last in the NL West with a 28-42 record and entering Friday were second to last in on-base percentage (.293), 26th in slugging (.386), 23rd in earned run average (4.54) and 21st in Fielding Independent Pitching (4.30).
With the current group of players providing little hope for the future, the Padres are clearly in sell mode. So what do they need?
Next: What the Padres need