Major League Baseball released its first All-Star Game voting update this week, revealing one side effect of an anemic offense: San Diego Padres hitters are lagging in the polls, too.Only Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Miguel Andujar appear among the National League’s leading vote-getters, with none of those players higher than sixth at their respective positions. The initial balloting update for last year’s All-Star Game included eight Padres position players. San Diego ultimately sent Machado, Tatis and a record three relievers to the game.This July, it might be closer Mason Miller … and no one else. The last time the Padres sent just one player to the All-Star Game was in 2019, when Kirby Yates was leading the majors in saves.Let’s get to your questions, which have been lightly edited for clarity.What should the Padres prioritize at the trade deadline in your eyes? A good starter? Another bat? — Gilbert V.They could use a lot: starting pitching, offense and perhaps bullpen reinforcement. I’d rank their priorities in that order. The rotation might be an injury away from disaster. The Padres’ best hope is that Tatis, Machado, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts finally start hitting closer to their career norms. In the meantime, a left-handed-hitting outfielder would help. Additional relief would be a luxury for a team that struggles to score, but it should be cheaper to acquire than a solid starter.What are the chances of the Padres trading Ethan Salas? (For the record, it’s a very bad idea.) — Greg H.Low, with the obligatory caveat that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller regularly defies expectations. The Padres value Salas similarly to the way they valued Tatis, Merrill, James Wood and Leo De Vries as prospects. Of course, Wood and De Vries wound up being traded as part of the returns for Juan Soto and Mason Miller, respectively. Merrill might have been traded for Shohei Ohtani in 2022 had Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno not pulled Ohtani off the market.This summer’s trade market is likely to include Tarik Skubal, a rental. It doesn’t appear to include a player of the caliber of Soto or Miller. Remember, though, that Miller wasn’t really available last season until Preller made repeated requests to the Athletics. Maybe another unexpected trade target will emerge.The more likely outcome: The Padres hang on to Salas. After a lost 2025 season, he has re-established himself at Double A as one of the best prospects in baseball. In this organization, that also means he isn’t far from the majors, and the 20-year-old catcher happens to play a position Preller has never fully solved.James Wood is rolling, can he maintain it through the second half?Derek VanRiper and Stephen J. NesbittIs current/future ownership really going to let Preller dry out the farm system for a team this uncompetitive? — Adam S.We won’t know for sure until the Aug. 3 trade deadline, and the franchise’s sale to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones remains pending. But the Padres are already pot-committed. Machado turns 34 in July. Bogaerts is only three months behind him. As disappointing as their production has been, a turnaround might be likelier this summer than next season, when the two infielders will be squarely in their mid-30s.Meanwhile, aside from Salas, the farm system doesn’t contain many projected big-league regulars. If ownership continues to trust Preller’s evaluation skills, the Padres might not be all that attached to their remaining prospects. Plus, Preller has demonstrated, year after year, that he can always come up with more prospects to trade.