As the San Diego Padres continue to nip at the heels of the spiraling Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the West, general manager AJ Preller has been hard at work trying to creatively improve the team.

Despite their need for starting pitching depth heading into the stretch run, the Boston Red Sox recently rejected an offer from the San Diego Padres for a deal involving Jarren Duran and Dylan Cease.

With victories in three of their last four games, including back-to-back, come-from-behind wins over the defending World Series champion Dodgers, the Red Sox currently occupy the second of three wild-card spots. They should obviously be buyers.