The Padres are right in the thick of the National League playoff race despite having some glaring holes on the roster. The Major League Baseball trade deadline was their chance to plug as many of them as possible. The list of needs seemed to be fairly obvious:

Left Field

Catcher

Bench Depth

Starting Pitching Depth

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller checked off literally every box, and he remarkably did it without trading Dylan Cease or Robert Suarez, which seemed impossible heading into the deadline given the fact he didn't have a whole lot of financial wiggle room. With the Friars sitting right up against the second Competitive Balance Tax threshold, multiple reports suggested John Seidler was not going to allow Preller to go out and add a bunch of high-priced stars so any

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