The Padres took care of every need at the trade deadline, filling the vacancies at catcher, designated hitter, and left field. However, the outlook at one of these positions could have looked a lot different, as the front office originally had someone else in mind.
It was rumored that A.J. Preller and his team had Diamondbacks’ left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on their radar to fill the gaping hole in the outfield. But instead, they acquired Ramón Laureano in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles, and this difficult decision could have determined how the rest of the season would play out.