According to reports, AJ Preller will push the deadline to the very last minute. If the Padres show even a hint of being a playoff team, he’s willing to go all in once again.

The San Diego Padres are fresh off a series sweep of the Miami Marlins. With this, the Padres are now within 2 games of the wildcard and have surpassed the Marlins in the race.

While buying might still be ill-advised, there is a future where the Padres buy and sell.

Indications show the Padres and Reds have been in contact. While the Padres’ starting pitching is in dire straits, there’s no word on whether they’re willing to give up Hunter Greene or Chase Burns. However, the Padres could always use another high-impact bat. That said, the Padres should consider that JJ Bleday should be at the top of the list. A lefty batter like Bleday could add some latency to the Padres lineup and fill out the bottom holes in the lineup.

In the year, Bleday is slashing .234/.343/.469 with a .812 OPS. So far, this is his first above-1.0 WAR season since his breakout year with the Oakland Athletics in 2024. As an everyday starter with a little under 60 games remaining in the season, he’s likely to see similar success.

They wouldn’t need to rely on someone like Jase Bowen to cover left field, and he could naturally start against left-handed pitchers. That would leave Gavin Sheets as the main bench piece, there to DH against left-handed batters or perhaps even platoon left field alongside Bleday.

A Padres deal with JJ Bleday would fix similar issues that Preller attempted to cover, with his trade to the Orioles for Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn. The only difference is that this deal would have lasting impact and value.

JJ Bleday is signed through 2029 and arbitration eligible in 2027. Control is always the name of the game, and Bleday has a few good years of it.

All that’s left is what the Padres would have to give up.

Right now, despite their impressive starting pitching staff, the Reds have one of the worst bullpens in Major League Baseball. Covers.com ranks them as the third-worst ERA in the National League.

Conversely, the Padres have a rare commodity in their bullpen depth. In the National League, the Padres possess one of the most formidable and reliable bullpens. They also have a good number of guys climbing through the ranks, ready for deployment when needed.

At the moment, outside of some expiring contracts the Padres will shed in the off-season, there are only a few realistic options the Padres could bargain with. David Morgan and Bradley Rodriquez are both free agents in 2032. Both of them cemented themselves as very strong parts of the Padres’ bullpen. They can go multiple innings; they are good in higher-leverage positions. They’re part of what makes the Padres bullpen so great.

These are the likely trade candidates that could make a deal between the Padres and JJ Bleday possible. As stated previously, control is the name of the game. All players mentioned have years of it.

Between Rodriquez and Morgan, however, Rodriquez is the likely player to make the deal stick. Rodriquez has a 2.01 ERA and a 1.119 WHIP in 2026. Morgan is struggling a bit this year, but based on his stuff alone, there’s room for development. At one point, there was a narrative that Morgan could become a starter for the Padres down the road. The Padres are no strangers to doing so. Michael King is an excellent recent example. While it’s true that Rodriquz could be a similar case, his overall profile is likely more attractive to trade partners in general.

As is the case with all trade talks, no one is really untouchable. In the interest of making the Padres a more complete team built around the long-term contracts they’ve already signed, sometimes sacrifices have to be made. The good news is that on the bullpen side of things, that is where the Padres have room to work with.

Fabian Garcia