3 San Diego Padres players who will survive the trade deadline but won't be back next season

3) Padres DH Matt Carpenter will survive the trade deadline but won't be back next season

For the last couple of months I've been expecting the notification that says Matt Carpenter has been designated for assignment and just haven't gotten it. He lost his spot as the primary DH against righties, and has been limited to just seven games in the month of July. In those games, he has one hit in 19 at-bats. Not great.

To put into perspective just how bad Carpenter has been, he's slashed .128/.262/.197 with one home run and 11 RBI in 117 at-bats since May 1 after a strong start to his season. He came in with rather lofty expectations after setting the world on fire with the Yankees last season and signing a two-year deal this past offseason. He's failed to meet them spectacularly.

He's slashing .166/.296/.302 with four home runs and 27 RBI this season. He has an OPS+ of 69. He's been absolutely brutal. The Padres got rid of Nelson Cruz who was hitting better than Carpenter has, but the difference is that Cruz was on a one-year deal while Carpenter has a player option for the 2024 season and the team clearly doesn't want to get rid of him.

While he shouldn't be here, I do believe Carpenter survives the deadline and believe he'll play in the limited bench role he's been in over the last month. If they have any hope of competing next season, Carpenter can't be on the roster barring a crazy turnaround.