4 players the San Diego Padres can get at the trade deadline who will help them in 2024

The 2023 season has been nothing short of a disastrous one for the San Diego Padres. At 48-51, they're 10.0 games back of the first place Los Angeles Dodgers and 5.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot in the National League.

While they have a puncher's chance, at a postseason berth, the chances of the Padres making up the ground they have to make up the way they've played is certainly unlikely.

2023 might be a lost year for the Friars, but 2024 can still be looked at as a year this team plans on competing. Most of the core is locked up, and we know A.J. Preller will stop at nothing to help his team be as competitive as possible.

The Padres can try to make the postseason in 2023 by acquiring upgrades but they can also look ahead to next season by making sure those certain upgrades are under contract. Here are some players who fit that criteria that A.J. Preller should look to bring in.

1) Oakland Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker can help the Padres win in 2024

The Padres have had a rough season, but the 27-73 Athletics have been far worse. One bright spot on that Oakland team has been Brent Rooker, a player who was claimed off of waivers by the A's this past offseason.

Rooker got the chance to play every day with the Athletics and hasn't disappointed. He's slashed .239/.332/.467 with 16 home runs and 44 RBI. Those 16 home runs at this point in the season while playing half of the time in Oakland with no protection around him in the order is quite impressive.

Rooker has a 125 WRC+ which would rank third on this Padres team just behind Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. While I don't actually expect him to be the third-best hitter on the team, he's certainly an upgrade over the likes of Matt Carpenter and the recently-DFA'd Nelson Cruz.

The Padres rank 29th with an 81 WRC+ from the DH spot this season. Adding Rooker and placing him there will improve that tremendously.

The 28-year-old who did actually play two games for the Padres last season won't even hit arbitration until 2025. With the Padres having a very expensive roster, acquiring an inexpensive player they can have under team control through the 2027 season feels like a no-brainer if Oakland is willing to let him go.