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.

Major League Baseball's trade deadline is scheduled for next Thursday (July 31), meaning that teams have less than a week to get their midsummer shopping done. The Mariners made the first notable transaction of the mad season on Thursday night,

Last summer, with a middle-infield prospect crunch, Breslow traded infielder Nick Yorke to Pittsburgh for starter Quinn Priester, whom he then traded to Milwaukee for an outfield prospect and a draft pick after the first round, which the Red Sox used to net right-hander Marcus Phillips this year.

The Boston Red Sox, according to Sean McAdam of Masslive.com, "quickly rejected" a trade offer from the San Diego Padres for Jarren Duran.

Marcelo Mayer's injury is leading to a lot of moving parts for the Red Sox. It could also impact how Craig Breslow approaches next week's trade deadline.