The Tampa Bay Rays made a big move to acquire Minnesota Twins slugger Nelson Cruz over a week before the trade deadline. The Rays gave up a pair of Triple-A players in Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman, who were two of the better prospects in their system.

Tampa felt the need to make the move because it sensed pressure from other teams trying to make a deal. The San Diego Padres were one of the teams making a big push, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

This despite Cruz being a DH who hasn't played a position since 2018. That didn't deter the Padres, who are trying to add more talent as they battle it out in a loaded NL West. San Diego apparently made the biggest push among the other suitors.

More details:

Multiple Padres players reached out to Cruz to relay the team’s interest in the past week, and Padres officials had inquired about Cruz’s past practice of taking grounders at first and second base, sources said.

The Padres, while not the only NL team to express interest in Cruz, made the most serious push of those clubs, according to an official with knowledge of the discussions. Cruz, who has played only outfield in his 17-year major-league career, would have been used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter. The Padres have only four road games left against AL clubs, limiting the extent of Cruz’s DH opportunities.

Padres manager A.J. Preller knows Cruz from their Rangers days, so he liked the idea of acquiring him to upgrade their bench. San Diego is 57-42 on the season, which is 5.5 games back of the first-place San Francisco Giants and 2.5 games behind the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers.

Meanwhile, the Rays are 58-39, which is a game behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the AL East.