The trade deadline is quickly approaching as the NL playoff race continues to tighten. With a team like the San Diego Padres, they trail the NL West leading Dodgers by six games, but are in the thick of the NL wild card race.

The Padres sit at 49-43 and sit just one game out of the wild card race behind the San Francisco Giants for the final NL playoff spot. With a crowded NL playoff race, the Padres almost certainly will need to buy at the trade deadline at the end of the month if they want to not just make the playoffs, but go on an October run.

In an ESPN article from MLB Insider Jeff Passan, he named one player each team in the playoff race should add before the trade deadline. For the Padres, Passan believes they should go get Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran.

“Left field in San Diego is among the biggest voids in the game. The Padres have tried eight players in left this season, and collectively they barely have an OPS of over .600. A Duran-Jackson Merrill-Fernando Tatis Jr. outfield would be a factory of dynamism that would be under team control through the end of the 2028 season. The Padres might need to get creative -- beyond shortstop Leo De Vries (who's believed to be off-limits) and catcher Ethan Salas, their farm system is middling -- but nobody does creativity like GM A.J. Preller,” Passan said.

Adding a guy like Duran could be the piece that helps San Diego get themselves into the playoffs. Duran is hitting .262 with eight home runs and 50 RBIs. Duran has also caught fire as of the past couple weeks as he is riding a 10-game hitting streak.