Padres 'Enamored' With All-Star Outfielder in Blockbuster Trade Deadline Move

The San Diego Padres entered the All-Star break with an uncomfortable half-game cushion on the San Francisco Giants for the third and final Wild Card berth in the National League.

Between that, and a couple obvious positions of need, general manager A.J. Preller has every incentive to be aggressive as the trade deadline approaches.

Padres catchers rank 30th out of 30 MLB teams in Baseball Reference's version of Wins Above Replacement. Their left fielders rank 28th; so do their DHs. Their bench is long on fast runners and sure-handed defenders, but low on quality pinch hitters.

Outside of a pair of Top-100 prospects, shortstop Leo de Vries and catcher Ethan Salas, the Padres don't have a wealth of quality trade chips at the minor league levels. Still, they have some clear needs, and one name keeps circling the rumor mill as a likely target: Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran.

"According to team and league sources, the Padres remain enamored of Jarren Duran, who still might be viewed as expendable by the surging, outfielder-laden Boston Red Sox," writes Dennis Lin of The Athletic. "Duran is not an ideal fit for a lineup lacking power and enough ability to combat lefties, but the Padres are not in a position to be especially picky."

From the Padres' standpoint, the trade should be done already.

Left field at Petco Park was a rotating cast of Brandon Lockridge, Jason Heyward, Oscar Gonzalez, Tirso Ornelas, Tyler Wade and Bryce Johnson until Gavin Sheets assumed the starter's job in mid-June.

But Sheets' transition to the outfield corner opened a gaping hole at DH. The cast there has been even more in flux. Since June 1, Padres DHs have a .511 OPS, far and away the lowest in baseball.

Enter Duran, a versatile outfielder who has been squeezed for at-bats in a long Red Sox lineup. When outfielder/DH Masataka Yoshida returned from a season-long IL stint last week, it left four spots for five players — himself, Duran, Cedanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu.

Abreu, the reigning American League Gold Glove Award winner in right field, did not play in the Red Sox's final game before the All-Star break.

The Red Sox are fighting for their playoff lives just like the Padres. A mere 2.5 games separates Boston (53-45), Seattle (51-45) and Tampa Bay (50-47) in the race for the final two AL postseason berths.

But while Craig Breslow might be loathe to deal a multi-tool outfielder with four more years of team control, it's not impossible for Preller to convince his counterpart that the Red Sox need a pitcher more than they need Duran. Through Sunday, Red Sox starters have a 4.03 ERA, 16th in MLB.

The problem: Padres starters are 24-26 with a middling 3.99 ERA, and don't have the depth needed to subtract from a rotation consisting of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish, Randy Vasquez and the currently-injured Michael King.

Unless he's in the mood for an old school, go-for-broke blockbuster swap — the July 2014 trade that sent Jon Lester to Oakland and Yoenis Cespedes to Boston comes to mind — or for getting a third team involved, Preller is not in an ideal position to acquire Duran.

The Padres can't afford to be picky, as Lin notes. They can't afford to wait much longer either. The trade deadline is July 31.

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