Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays — recapped here — dropped the San Diego Padres to 46-48, and the record is now the story. San Diego has lost two straight and seven of its last ten, sits 5.5 games behind the final wild-card spot and 14.5 behind the Dodgers in the division, and has three weeks to tell the rest of the league whether it is buying or selling.
JP Sears took the loss Friday. The larger arc is what stings: San Diego was 43-37 on June 26, then lost eight straight, and the recovery that followed — a skid-snapping win over the Dodgers and back-to-back wins against Arizona that briefly pulled the club even at 46-46 on Wednesday — has now given way to two more losses. A team that sat six games over .500 two weeks ago is two under it today, 3-11 in that stretch.
That context is why the trade chatter has turned serious. MLB.com reports that rival clubs have begun circling closer Mason Miller, less than a year after A.J. Preller paid a premium prospect price to get him — though the consensus among executives, per that report, is that Preller is unlikely to move Miller unless the situation gets considerably worse over the next three weeks. My read: the roster is too expensive and too talented for a teardown, but the wild-card math stops being theoretical if this homestand keeps going sideways. Two more against Toronto this weekend will say a lot.
On the fantasy side, Miller remains a hold — the role is not in question, only the volume of save chances, and a deadline move would more likely improve his supporting cast than his job security. Treat the Padres’ bats week to week rather than set-and-forget while the offense scuffles, and note that the next two games keep them at home against the same Toronto pitching staff that held them to three runs on Friday.
