The San Diego Padres are prepared to take two different approaches as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches.

The Padres have struggled despite a number of offseason splashes. The team remains confident in first-year general manager A.J. Preller.

"We think he's done an outstanding job," president and CEO Mike Dee said. "The major league club is one part of it; it's a big part of it. We all wish we were winning more games, but listen, you've got to swing to hit, and (Preller) took a big swing this season with this team.

"This was a franchise that was stuck in neutral for the last 10 years, so I give A.J. a lot of credit for rolling to the dice to see if we could add to this year's team to compete, to compete with this group, and I think we still may. If we don't, then we'll reassess and reshuffle the deck and see if we can find a different chemistry, a different combination, that can improve the roster."

The Padres will remain active, looking for things like an everyday shortstop and more balance for a right-handed-heavy offense, while being prepared to sell free-agents-to-be Justin Upton, Ian Kennedy, Joaquin Benoit and Will Venable.