As memorable Petco Park’s turn as an All-Star Game host was, this tells you all you need to know about the state of baseball in San Diego: Their All-Star left-hander couldn’t get through a festive week without having his name run through the trade rumor mill.
That’s because the Padres are further off the pace in the NL West than they’ve been in four years and were at one point as many as 15 games under .500, their deepest standing since the fall of 2013. A resurging offense has allowed the club to play .500 ball since the start of June but early struggles have again made the second half of a season much more about positioning the Padres for next year and beyond than anything else.