A Padres trade package for some much-needed pitching help alongside Dylan Cease

The San Diego Padres are in a position to buy at this year's trade deadline. The NL West might be out of reach, but at 49-46, they're in sole possession of the third Wild Card spot in the NL.

The Padres are seemingly always a team trying to get better with A.J. Preller being as creative as they come on the trade market. We've already seen Preller strike on the market this season with the Luis Arraez trade, and it wouldn't be surprising in the slightest to see him go and acquire another big name at the deadline. The Padres certainly have the prospect capital for it.

As fun as splashes are, this Padres team could use some extra depth, particularly on the pitching side. Joe Musgrove is injured, Yu Darvish is out and has dealt with injuries, and even Tom Cosgrove is out on the bullpen side of things. Adding depth in the rotation and bullpen would make this team that much better, and a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that has already started to sell some pitching, could make sense.

A Padres-Rays trade to get San Diego some much-needed pitching depth

The Rays are in the strange position of having an abundance of pitching depth and also being in the playoff race. They shouldn't tear things down, but they can also take advantage of what's deemed to be a seller's market. We saw them trade Aaron Civale, and it wouldn't be surprising to see them trade another pitcher with another year of control like Zack Littell, who the Padres might covet.

In this mock trade, the Padres would be acquiring both Littell and Kevin Kelly, a reliever who has posted a 3.89 ERA in 39 appearances and has several years of club control, which would be most valuable for the Padres. Here's what a deal for both of them might look like.

Trading away Homer Bush, MLB Pipeline's No. 8 prospect in the Padres system might be a steep price to pay for the Padres, but there are a couple of reasons to believe why this might make sense.

First, Bush is a prospect with upside, but a lot of risk. He has tremendous speed, as evidenced by his 42 stolen bases in 75 games played in High-A this season, but how much he'll hit remains to be seen. He has just two home runs and ten doubles, lacking much power upside. He's also hitting .268 which as a 22-year-old in High-A isn't earth-shattering. He does have a ton of range in center field, and can always steal bases, but he's not risk-free.

The reason why it'd cost an intriguing prospect is because of how expensive pitching is, especially cheaper pitchers with club control. Littell has another full season of control, and Kelly doesn't even hit arbitration until after the 2025 campaign.

What makes Kelly so intriguing in particular outside of his cheap club control is his ability to throw strikes. He has walked a total of four batters in 39.1 innings of work, which is unbelievable. The Padres bullpen has done a nice job avoiding walks, so Kelly would fit right in.

The Padres made it clear that money can be considered somewhat of an issue given their Juan Soto trade over the offseason and the amount of long-term money they've committed. Adding two solid arms who don't make much at all and have club control would be nice, but they'd have to give up an intriguing prospect to get that done.