With the 2018 MLB trade deadline quickly approaching, here are the top five names the San Diego Padres can use as trade chips.

The days leading up to the 2018 MLB trade deadline have been active and exciting for fans and extremely productive for a number of franchises. The San Diego Padres have already sent Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to the Cleveland Indians for a top prospect in catcher Francisco Mejia. The Padres aren’t done yet, at least they shouldn’t be.

The Baltimore Orioles have done an excellent job of selling off expiring contracts to fill their upper-minors with MLB-caliber talent, while both the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, and Boston Red Sox had added much-needed pitching depth. There are still contending teams with big holes they need to fill, if they want to have a chance at winning the 2018 World Series.

A team like the San Diego Padres can greatly help the odds for contenders or the futures of franchises who find themselves in a similar position to San Diego.

A.J. Preller and company are obviously in the market to buy and sell (connections to Chris Archer and Noah Syndergaard). Whether the following pieces are used to buy or sell, they provide value to a number of clubs.

With that being said, let’s take a look at five players within the organization that could help bring in more pieces needed to contend within the next two-three years. The list is a mixture of veterans on the active 25-man roster and top prospects who are stuck behind a laundry list of other players and might find it difficult to take a roster spot on the Padres’ active roster within the next season or two.

Spoiler: I did not talk about Craig Stammen or Kirby Yates here. They may be the next two guys to go and will bring in a positive return. I skipped them here only because we have discussed these two in previous articles.