Padres declare prized asset 'untouchable' as they look to buy before deadline

The San Diego Padres are buyers heading into the last phase of July, but there's one player in their system that they will refuse to include in a trade.

San Diego entered Sunday just one game back of the third-place spot in the National League Wild card. The Padres have the talent to gain momentum in the second half and earn a playoff berth.

General manager A.J. Preller will be on the phone all of next week looking for ways to productively add to San Diego's roster. On the other end of the line, Preller will get a lot of questions about the Padres' star catching prospect Ethan Salas. Every time Preller is asked about Salas, however, he'll have the same response: no.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported on Sunday that San Diego is keeping Salas completely off-limits in any trade discussions.

"The San Diego Padres are aggressively looking for help, but are telling teams that prized catching prospect Ethan Salas is untouchable," Nightengale said.

The Padres -- and the rest of Major League Baseball -- are extremely high on Salas, who turned 18 in June. He's widely considered one of the best catching prospects in the last decade, which is why San Diego felt comfortable giving Salas a $5.6 million signing bonus when they inked him to a deal in January.

The Padres have seen a load of star players enter and just as soon exit their franchise in recent years. Perhaps San Diego's handling of Salas is a sign of a new direction.

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