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

1) San Diego Padres can screw up the trade deadline by trading Juan Soto

As I stated, regardless of what the Padres do, they need to have an eye toward next season. That starts with not trading Juan Soto. Yes, it has not been the season that the Friars thought they were going to have and he has just one year remaining on his current contract, but with Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Fernando Tatis Jr. back next season, some roster tweaking over the winter can get hopes high again.

Soto's bat is a game-changer and a bat that San Diego needs if they have World Series aspirations in 2024, which they should. Soto's numbers say he's had a good season and he was the All-Star representative in the field for the Padres in Seattle. Trading him would be a mistake.

2) San Diego Padres can screw up the trade deadline by not getting another bat

Give Preller credit, two of his offseason signings didn't work out and he cut ties with them. Earlier this month, he DFA'd Nelson Cruz, and Wednesday afternoon, he did the same with Rougned Odor. Cruz was a long shot on a team-friendly deal, however, it just never worked out for the veteran right-handed bat.

Odor's struggles in the field hit rock bottom last Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader in Philadelphia where his error opend the flood gates for a Phillies rally a tough loss for San Diego to swallow. He was splitting left-handed DH at-bats with Matt Carpenter too, but his bat also slowed down. Getting a bat to fill in the DH at-bats down the stretch is a need they have.