McKeon Looks for Light at Tunnel’s End

HOUSTON —  Rather than trade for somebody else’s players, Padre General Manager Jack McKeon plans on taking a closer look at his own guys.

“Maybe I’ll have to sit back and reflect on this team,” McKeon said Thursday, one day after the Padres were swept by last-place Atlanta. “Maybe some players I thought were good aren’t good anymore. I’m not seeing any change in the way we’re playing. You know we’ve got a better ballclub than this, and we’re not playing that way.”

The Aug. 1 trading deadline has come and gone, so McKeon said it is unlikely he would complete a deal. After Aug. 1, players must clear waivers before being traded.

“I’m really disappointed, no question,” he said. “I thought at the beginning of the season, we’d be a better ballclub, and I still do. But the players have got to realize they must take pride in their game. Whether they like things on the club or even if they don’t, they’re the ones on display. They’re the actors on the field. They’re judged by how they produce. . . . We keep hoping there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We keep saying it, but we don’t see any results.”