The San Diego Padres went all-in this year attempting to battle for a division title and possibly win their first ever World Series championship. The Padres made the biggest move of the trade deadline, acquiring generational superstar Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals. In an interesting twist, they landed slugger Josh Bell in the deal as well. That helped bolster an already strong lineup in San Diego.

They also made a couple other big moves at the deadline. They traded with the Cincinnati Reds for power hitting infielder Brandon Drury. But it wasn't all offense that they loaded up on. The Padres also made the shocking move to acquire elite closer Josh Hader from the Milwaukee Brewers. It was shocking because the Brewers were leading their division and no one thought Hader would be dealt.

Nevertheless, the Padres gutted their farm system to compete with the Dodgers and try and win a title. On paper, it's likely hard to argue they are not contenders. But games aren't played on paper. So, let's take a deeper look into whether or not the Padres should be considered contenders this year.

Are the San Diego Padres Contenders or Pretenders for the 2022 World Series

PADRES OFFENSE

There is no denying that the Padres are one of the most talented rosters in baseball after their flurry of trades. But for whatever reason, they have not gelled so far. Entering play Wednesday, they are just 8-11 since the trade deadline. They are also currently losing 6-0 to Cleveland in the fifth inning.

Soto is dealing with back spasms and has missed the last couple of games. He is currently listed day-to-day.

Since the trade, Bell is 9-for-68 hitting just .132. Drury is not much better, going 14-for-68 for a .206 batting average. That's certainly not what Padres fans were hoping for when they made the deal. But it stands to reason that they will come around at some point.

The problem is, time is of the essence for the Padres. Assuming they do not come back from down 6-0 vs. the Guardians Wednesday, they will only be one game ahead of the Brewers for the final wild card spot. That's despite the fact that new rules allow three wild card teams to make the playoffs.

In seven of their last eight games, San Diego has failed to score more than three runs. That includes scoring one or fewer in five of them. There is little doubt that offense is struggling and needs to find a way to pick it up.

PADRES STARTING ROTATION

Early on this season, it appeared as though the Padres had the National League Cy Young front runner in Joe Musgrove. On June 16th, he was 8-0 with an astounding 1.59 ERA. He was practically untouchable.

That was then, this is now. Two months later and Musgrove is now 8-6 with a 2.91 ERA.

Yeah, he hasn't won a game in over two months. He hasn't pitched poorly, but has posted more pedestrian numbers since the hot start. He's not alone either.

Sean Manaea was a quality start machine the first couple of months. The crafty veteran has since been consistently getting lit up, watching his ERA balloon to 4.64. Padres #2 starter, Yu Darvish, has been the most consistent this season. He's 10-7 with a 3.39 ERA and a very impressive 0.99 WHIP. Blake Snell and Mike Clevinger round out their rotation. Both have been up and down, but are not very trustworthy at this point.

Once again, on paper the Padres rotation can match up with their opponent. But there are too many question marks to be considered an elite group. The Dodgers, Braves and Mets don't have that problem in their rotation.

PADRES BULLPEN

Speaking of players falling off of a cliff, that's what happened to former Padres closer Taylor Rogers. On May 27th, he led the majors with 17 saves and had a minuscule 0.44 ERA. That isn't a typo. He allowed just one run his first 20 appearances. Then the wheels fell off. By the end of July, Rogers had blown seven saves in 13 chances, watching his ERA raise to 4.35.

He was included in the trade for Hader. It was believed that the Padres bullpen finally had a reliable closer. Wrong.

Since joining San Diego, Hader has already been replaced as closer after multiple meltdowns. Luis Garcia, who has had his own struggles this season, is listed as the stopper on the depth chart. That's because he allowed six runs in two appearances, where he got two outs, total.

So the Padres offense should be elite, but has somehow got much worse since landing Soto, Bell and Drury. The starting rotation, which at one point was fantastic, has fallen apart. Finally, their bullpen is a hot mess.

On top of all of that, Fernando Tatis Jr. was suspended 80 games for PED's. All of that makes a strong recipe of a pretender.