Toronto Blue Jays at San Diego Padres

About an hour before first pitch on Saturday, Padres general manager A.J. Preller spoke with reporters on a video call from the Petco Park front office. The focus, Preller insisted, would remain on the Draft for at least another 24 hours. San Diego made its first five selections on Saturday. There are 16 more still to come. Only then, Preller said, would he turn his focus to the Trade Deadline. When he does, it’ll come with some difficult questions this year. The Padres are in limbo. They’d like to approach the Deadline as buyers. (Who wouldn’t?) But their recent performance says otherwise. Even after a tense, 8-7 victory on Saturday night, the Padres have dropped 11 of 15. Having spent most of the first half in the National League playoff picture, they’ve fallen 4 1/2 games back of the final Wild Card spot. * Padres' bats break out in much-needed way in wild win over Blue Jays