Padres’ Juan Soto playbook gives Yordan Alvarez trade dream new life after Astros’ miserable start

A.J. Preller has built a reputation for being a home-run swinger. In his decade-plus leading the San Diego Padres' front office, he's made bold move after bold move in an effort to bring a title to the Friars faithful.

From Craig Kimbrel to Xander Bogaerts to Mason Miller, the Padres certainly haven't been wanting for star power under Preller's watch. Of all his monumental deals, though, one stands out as the true showstopper: the 2022 trade deadline blockbuster involving Juan Soto.

That trade cost the Padres most of the highly touted prospects in their loaded farm system, but it also brought the best hitter of the sport, firmly in his prime, to San Diego with years of team control remaining. With Soto in tow, San Diego advanced all the way to the NLCS for the first time since 1998.

We're now four years removed that historic trade, but as they say, history tends to repeat itself. As the Houston Astros trudge through their worst start in over a decade, it appears that they may place one of the best hitters in the sport, firmly in his prime and with years of team control remaining, on the trade block.

The only question is: Does Preller have the resources to engineer a trade for Yordan Alvarez?

Padres' hopes for a Yordan Alvarez blockbuster rely on factors out of their control

Any time a superstar hits the market, the Padres and Preller have to be mentioned. Heck, Bleacher Report connected them to Alvarez as recently as last month. There's no doubting they'd be banging down the Astros' doors to negotiate a ridiculous trade package.

The problem? The Padres might not have enough left over to actually fork over such a return. All these years of trading prospects for win-now veterans has left their farm system depleted and barren. Houston, which entered May in last place in the AL West at 12-20, is going to prioritize young talent in exchange for their MVP-caliber slugger, assuming they put Alvarez on the trade block at all.

The Friars' best hope is that a batch of their top prospects break out in the first half to become attractive enough for the Astros to covet. Even then, though, they probably couldn't compete with the kind of offers that the Dodgers or Mets would put on the table.

There's also the issue of Alvarez's $27 million salary this year and in 2027 and 2028. The Padres, on the cusp of being sold to José E. Feliciano, may not be in the best position to take on even more hefty contracts.

Then again, Alvarez is only 28, and he's playing out of his mind in 2026. Through May 1, the designated hitter has a ridiculous 1.153 OPS and 208 wRC+. Despite rarely playing the field (and often doing so poorly when he is trotted out), he ranks second in all of baseball with 2.0 fWAR.

That's the kind of player you mortgage the future for. It's not entirely clear how the Padres could afford him, both in terms of money and prospects, but Preller has proven time and time again that he can make anything happen on the trade market. A blockbuster reminscent of Juan Soto would be one heck of a way to get Feliciano's ownership tenure started.

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