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.

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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)

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.

After being released by the team in September 2023, Ahmed signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants, but was later designated for assignment by the Giants that July before finding himself back in the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting a home run and batting in two runs while posting a .229 average.