There are MLB expert analysts who thought this week would turn the Padres into ancient Rome: All trade roads would lead to San Diego. Given the off-season spree that General Manager A.J. Preller went on, that thinking was certainly not unfounded.
But all the speculation fizzled in to a giant "meh." The Major League Baseball trade deadline passes at 1 p.m. Pacific time on Friday and, despite having multiple pieces to deal, the only move Preller pulled the trigger on was sending reserve outfielder Abraham Almonte to the Indians for left-handed relief pitcher Marc Rzepczynski, who has a lot of strikeouts in a small sample size this season.
At times over the last seven days, the Friars were rumored to be in talks to trade OF Justin Upton, RHP Craig Kimbrel, RHP Tyson Ross, RHP James Shields, RHP Andrew Cashner, RHP Joaquin Benoit, RHP Ian Kennedy, 2B Jedd Gyorko and OF Will Venable. The only guy on that list to leave the team is Kennedy, but that's so he can be with his wife as she delivers their fourth child. On a related note, Odrisamer Despaigne will make Kennedy's scheduled start on Friday night in Miami.
Of course, the lack of a blockbuster deal does not mean the Padres will not make a deal. They have the month of August to swing a waiver-wire deal, which is more complicated but not at all uncommon.
So, for the time-being at least, the Padres are who the Padres are. Perhaps Preller has seen enough during their recent hot streak (10 wins in 14 games) to think the season is not lost and they can make up the 7.5 games between themselves and a Wild Card spot. Or maybe he just did not think any of the offers made would get enough of a return on his investments.
Whatever the reasoning, the rookie GM is once again the talk of baseball. This time, though, it's for what he did NOT do instead of what he did.
