These Padres, after all, are in a much better spot — eight games over .500 — than the team was in 2023 (three games under) when Preller decided to keep Blake Snell and Josh Hader and hope that the most expensive team in franchise history had something left in the tank.

But, in an update from USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Padres' plans surrounding Cease got an interesting update. While the rumors only started within the last week, Nightengale revealed the Padres have been exploring trades for much longer.