What the Padres are and what they want to be is no longer as far as the East is from the West.

But the distance between better and best is such that the team will not get ahead of itself.

Look, the past month or so has been encouraging. Nothing more.

It has revealed that the Padres have a few players who are better than many people thought. The team is more enjoyable to watch and gives the sense that it actually can win any game, any series.


Since finding themselves 12 games under .500 and 11 games out of first place in the National League West at the start of play on May 12, the Padres have gone 20-14 and achieved a level of decency.

They approach the season’s midway point six games under .500 (34-40). They are in last place but also just 6½ games behind the leader in the division.

In no way has any time frame been accelerated or any window opened just yet.

The Padres might be slightly better than they anticipated. They are happy to have seen improvement in certain areas. They expect more — a little now and a lot later.


The people who have the blueprints and are pulling the levers know what a championship team looks like. They know they are not looking at one.

And a championship team is all they are interested in being.

In the grand scheme — which is still the best way to view this season — the disappointing end to the Padres’ recent road trip wasn’t all that disappointing. Just like the promise of the weeks that preceded the two weekend losses in Atlanta were not all that promising.

The Padres remain a work in progress, albeit with a little more to show for the learning of late.


There are no internal limits placed on how good the Padres can be this season. There is an internal understanding of how good they probably will be this season.

They will not mortgage the future.

They love their farm system as much as — if not more than — everyone else does. But the reality is that they are a season away from knowing what they have in a lot of their teenagers.

They won’t be trading the young prospects too soon any more than they will be acquiring veterans too soon.


There is a plan, and whatever the reality is about the quality of the Padres, they will not jeopardize their long-term success by making any deal that may or may not work out in the short term.

The “buyer” and “seller” labels are too easy to apply from the outside, too black and white. So as the July 31 trade deadline approaches, let’s call the 2018 Padres “investors.” In the most general sense, that means they are more sellers than buyers.

They will give up the right veteran(s) for the right prospect(s). They are ready to do exactly that.

The timing of possible deals depends on contending teams, which seem to be gathering themselves, deciding what they need and/or want. Whether anything happens depends on what the Padres are offered.


The more pressing questions involve decisions regarding the 25-man roster, some as soon as this week.

Catcher Austin Hedges and starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi are expected to return from rehab assignments in the coming days. Right fielder Wil Myers might not be far behind, if at all. Outfielder Franchy Cordero seemed to be a lock to return as well, but he exited during an at-bat Sunday night, appearing to be in pain.

The roster moves required to activate those players likely will be position-for-position swaps.

Hedges’ return probably means a painful decision to option Raffy Lopez back to Triple-A El Paso. Lopez has endeared himself to the pitching staff and coaches for his hard work behind the plate, but his hitting line has tumbled to .175/.255/.269, as he has eight singles and a home run in his past 57 at-bats.


The Padres can insert Lucchesi by making a move involving one of their nine relievers. The question, which doesn’t seem to be much of one, is whether Bryan Mitchell finally will be designated for assignment. Mitchell has not pitched since June 5, and opponents are batting .347 against him since he was demoted to the bullpen.

If there is one outfield move to be made this week, expect it to involve Matt Szczur. The veteran has nine plate appearances in June and is the only outfielder who’s readily identifiable as not being a part of the team’s long-range plans.

The second outfield move will be trickier. Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe not only have been hitting better, but they have made adjustments in approach and mechanics that hint at long-term improvement. That would leave the defense and speed of Travis Jankowski to be weighed against the power potential of Franmil Reyes.

The outfield machinations remain most intriguing, because this season remains very much about discovering which current Padres players can help future Padres teams.


Because in the future, the difference between a 5-5 road trip and 6-4 road trip might matter.

kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com