Dodgers fans ripping Padres for trade deadline that neglected their biggest problem

Ahead of the trade deadline, Padres GM AJ Preller did what he does best: he gutted San Diego's farm system to bring in a grand total of seven major leaguers (and one prospect).

The headliner was trading No. 1 prospect (No. 3 in baseball) Leo De Vries, among others, to the Athletics for closer Mason Miller and starter JP Sears, but they also added Ramón Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn from the Orioles for six prospects, Freddy Fermin from the Royals for starters Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek, Nestor Cortes from the Brewers for outfielder Brandon Lockridge, and infielder Will Wagner from the Blue Jays for top-30 prospect Brandon Valenzuela.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, had a far more under-the-radar trade deadline. They traded three major leaguers and two prospects for a handful of prospects, backup-backup catcher Ben Rortvedt, reliever Brock Stewart, and outfielder Alex Call.

Both Padres fans and national outlets alike were heralding Preller and the Padres for a successful trade deadline — maybe the most successful — but Preller seemed to forget about one pretty important thing: where's San Diego's rotation depth?

Dodgers fans laughing at Padres fans claiming they won the trade deadline while still missing rotation depth

The Padres' rotation is full at five, but they're still missing Michael King and Joe Musgrove and will probably be without them for the rest of the season, and Cortes still won't be available for a few weeks, as he was traded in the middle of a rehab assignment with the Brewers. They're left with just a single starter with a sub-3.00 ERA (Nick Pivetta), a pitcher who just came back from the IL and has a nearly 6.50 ERA (Yu Darvish), a struggling Dylan Cease, a decent but not lights-out Randy Vásquez, and mercurial former A's starter Sears.

All of that, and they gave up eight top-30 prospects, including their Nos. 1 and 3. Congrats to the Padres, we guess?

San Diego is 2.5 games behind LA and are semi-comfortably in a Wild Card spot (the Reds are 3.5 games behind). All of these new pieces could help them win the division for the first time since 2006, but history tells us otherwise. Preller infamously made the deal of the century to get Juan Soto with two and a half years of team control left, and then they missed their World Series window entirely and traded him a year and a half later.

The Padres always do this — they buy, buy, buy at the deadline and have zero rings to show for it. Having little-to-no rotation depth isn't going to help them. So good luck with that, San Diego.