Padres surprisingly linked to NL West rival All-Star ahead of the trade deadline

Most of the talk heading into the trade deadline regarding the San Diego Padres has been centered around pitching. Between the lingering rumors of interest in Jesus Luzardo as well as the very obvious and understandable interest in Garrett Crochet, adding starting pitching is definitely a priority, and bringing in some bullpen help is also on the menu.

However, a very curious connection involving the Padres was just made by MLB's Mark Feinsand. According to Feinsand, Rockies catcher Elias Diaz could be a fit for the Padres as he has helped his trade stock lately.

Padres making a surprise trade for Elias Diaz isn't as crazy as it sounds

On the surface, this is a weird connection to make. While the Rockies being sellers is far from surprising as they are one of the worst-run teams in professional sports, the Padres already have catcher Kyle Higashioka playing pretty well, Luis Campusano coming back, and Ethan Salas on the way from the minors at some point as their catcher of the future. All of that, on top of the fact that in-division deals can be tricky to pull off, makes trading for Diaz a bit puzzling as a viable option.

However, a closer look at the Padres' current situation makes such a move make more sense. While Campusano is young and talented, he also was only hitting .230 before he hurt his thumb and missed time. If the Padres don't have confidence that Campusano can help them this year, a rental catcher like Diaz who has a .753 OPS and isn't owed a lot of money has a lot of appeal as a short-term solution.

That leaves making a trade in the division the biggest hurdle. While trading with division rivals doesn't happen all that often, it's occurred a bit more recenty, and pending free agents are the easiest such deals to make. Those players are about to leave anyway, and the cost to both sides to get a deal done is minimal. With the Rockies needing all the help they can get, the Padres should be able to offer enough to get their attention without overpaying.

Stay tuned, folks. Trade season is definitely heating up.

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