The San Diego Padres may have traded Juan Soto this offseason but they are still looking to be a competitive team. Their acquisition of Dylan Cease shows that they still hope to compete with the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers and other National League powerhouses. But they still need a little bit more firepower — and they could have found that with a trade for Luis Arraez or Jesus Luzardo.

Cease joins Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove on a Padres team with plenty of big names. San Diego's front office also had its eyes on the two Miami Marlins standouts, according to Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

Rosenthal and Lin write the following: “The San Diego Padres showed interest in Arraez throughout the offseason and made a strong offer for him during spring training, according to sources briefed on the Marlins’ discussions. A Padres source, however, said the team was more focused on Luzardo, who represented an alternative in trade conversations to right-hander Dylan Cease, the pitcher San Diego acquired from the Chicago White Sox on March 13.”

Since the Padres ended up adding Cease to a rotation featuring Darvish, Musgrove and Michael King, one of the centerpieces of the Soto trade, they probably won’t be circling back on a trade for Luzardo. Arraez, however, could still be a trade target.

Padres showed heavy interest in Marlins' Luis Arraez, Jesus Luzardo

In 2023, Arraez made his second straight All-Star team and helped the Marlins make it back to the playoffs. He sported an incredible batting average of .354 and a career-best .861 OPS. The 26-year-old even posted career highs in home-run percentage (1.6 percent) and ISO (.115), though both were well below the MLB average. Arraez is a contact hitter through and through, one of the very best in baseball.

With Tatis, Bogaerts and Machado in the fold to provide power in the lineup, Arraez would fit in very well as a leadoff hitter in front of them. The Padres have moved Machado to designated hitter as he recovers from elbow surgery he underwent last October. The expectation is that he will eventually go back to the hot corner. With Bogaerts playing second base and Ha-Seong Kim and Jake Cronenworth holding down roles at shortstop and first base respectively, where does Arraez fit on San Diego's roster?

Currently playing third base for the Padres is journeyman Tyler Wade, who has plenty of experience playing defense in the infield and the outfield. Once Machado is able to play the field again, that 3B spot is spoken for. But that would open up a place at DH. San Diego could stick with Wade, turn to young third baseman Eguy Rosario or trade for Arraez and put him in that spot.

Arraez may not be a homer-mashing slugger but he would be good as a DH. Relieving him of his defensive duties at second base, which he has graded poorly at over the years, would allow him to focus mostly on his best skill. Arraez can also play first base, giving him a little extra utility should San Diego look to bring him in.

The Padres will likely shake up the roster in a significant way at some point during the season. A.J. Preller, their president of baseball operations, is always one to chase the next big-time player that becomes available on the trade market.

The Marlins, meanwhile, will have to pick a direction. They made no significant improvements to their core from last season and will not have former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara all season. Plus, rising star Eury Perez is on the injured list. They have yet to win a game this season and very likely won’t compete for the playoffs if they don’t look to upgrade. If they aren’t ready to now, they would be best served trading away veteran talent.