Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller made an appearance on this weekend and discu sed his thoughts about the roster with the deadline looming at the end of the month. Getting Darvish, King back would be huge, Preller said, referring to injured starters and . The bullpens been strong. Weve got a lot of different weapons in the pen. You could add to a strength. And on the offense side, its probably rounding out the depth of the lineup. I think, Collin Sexton Jersey like you mentioned, the top of the lineup should be strong Youve got to be deep one through nine and I think probably adding a bat or two is something that were going to look at here in the next few weeks to try to help our team get to October. Wanting to add to the offense is an understandable focus, as San Diego has some clear holes. Its been reported earlier in the year that the club is looking for upgrades at and . Behind the plate, the club isnt getting any offensive contributions from nor . The team has a collective .206/.269/.325 line from the catching position. That translates to a wRC+ of 70, which is ahead of just the Guardians, Nationals and Giants. The left field situation is a bit more complex. had the position for a while but struggled and was released. has taken over and is having a great year offensively, currently sporting a .264/.325/.451 batting line and a 119 wRC+. However, hes not an especially strong outfield defender, so the Friars could consider adding a left fielder to push Sheets back to the first base/designated hitter mix. That would take plate appearances away from , who is hitting .200/.231/.400 on the year. How the Friars go about adding to those spots will be an interesting situation to watch. The clubs payroll has been an obvious concern in recent years, which led to the trade. In the most recent offseason, they primarily limited themselves to modest one-year deals. The one exception was s four-year pact, which was backloaded to reduce the financial impact in 2025. On top of that, the club has traded away a lot of prospects in recent years as they have attempted to keep the major league roster stacked with talent. Their farm system is highlighted by two really strong youngsters in and but all reporting has suggested the Padres are reluctant to part with either of those two. Put it all together and it will be a tricky balance for Preller but he should have , at least for the left field spot. The Friars are in , though that might be more of a long-shot po sibility with the Sox hanging in the American League race and Duran controlled for three more seasons after this one. Guys like , , , , , and are some of the other po sibilities. Behind the plate, old friends and could be available. As for the bullpen, as Preller mentioned, it has been a strength. San Diego relievers have a collective 3.25 earned run average, which is third in the majors, trailing only the Giants and Astros. But even a club with a strong relief groups can add another arm or two, and injuries can always pop up and change the calculus, so Prellers openne s to adding there is understandable. The rotation is perhaps a bit more in flux. Starting depth hasnt been the clubs strong suit for a while and it wouldnt be a surprise to see them target upgrades there, though as Preller alluded to, their aggre sivene s in this department might depend on how things unfold in the coming weeks. Darvish has been out all year due to elbow inflammation but will today. He will jump into a rotation mix that also includes Pivetta, and . King is out with a pinched nerve in his shoulder and his status is up in the air. Having a playoff rotation of Cease, Pivetta, Darvish and King would be nice but its still unclear how realistic it is for the Padres to expect that. Vsquez has a 3.79 ERA on the year but fairly uninspiring peripherals. He still has an option remaining, so perhaps the Padres would consider grabbing one more starter and bumping him to the minors, though they would have to weigh that against other needs while also considering their payroll and the prospect cost of making such a move. Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images Matt Mooney Jersey