4 ways the San Diego Padres can screw up the trade deadline

With each passing day, the August 1 MLB trade deadline inches closer and closer. Most teams have an idea of whether or not they will be buyers, sellers, or standing pat. The San Diego Padres are still in a wait-and-see situation.

As things currently stand, the Friars are 6.5 games out of the third and final National League Wild Card spot and time is beginning to run out. After dropping three out of four to the Philadelphia Phillies to begin their 10-game road trip, they took two out of three from the Toronto Blue Jays. It feels like this weekend's upcoming series against the Detroit Tigers is an almost must-sweep situation. San Diego will not see Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodriguez in the series, which is key.

The next 10 days before the trade deadline is going to be make or break for the Padres and will point GM A.J. Preller toward which direction he's going to go. No matter what way he decides to go, there are multiple ways he can screw up the deadline for his team.

Here is how the San Diego Padres can screw up the trade deadline

To be clear, we still don't know what Preller is going to do in terms of additions and subtractions or just standing pat. Regardless of what he decides, there should be an eye towards the 2024 season, no matter how disappointing 2023 ends up when all is said and done.