The Cardinals made franchise history they haven't achieved in 82 years following their shutout win over the Padres on Friday.

A year later, the Padres find themselves in slightly better standing. They are 55-49, one game ahead of their 54-50 record last July 24. They are also entering dangerous territory. The wins and losses tell a story of year-over-year improvement. The recent trend lines do not.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as MLB Mock Trade: Chicago Cubs Rent Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres Land Their Catcher of the Future. It's questionalbe when a team deals for a pitcher with a mid-season winning percentage of .230.

Padres Daily: The Darvish question; offensive uptick; Merrill moves up (Kevin Acee, SD U-T) Padres announce that they’ve signed all 19 of their 2025 Draft picks (AJ Cassavell, MLB.com)

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As usual, Preller will be one of the prime executives to watch at the deadline, pricing every available player, including his own.

The circumstances were, uh, just a little bit different five years ago when then-Padres manager Jayce Tingler called on little-known utility player Jake Cronenworth as a pinch-runner in a game against the Diamondbacks.

The San Diego Padres need to add an outfielder ahead of the trade deadline, and they could look to add one of the better buy-low targets on the open market.