The Padres have extended general manager A.J. Preller through the 2026 season and given him the title of president of baseball operations, the team announced. President of business operations Erik Greupner has also been given a promotion to Chief Executive Officer and a similar contract extension through 2026.
“Erik and A.J. have earned their promotions by assembling strong business and baseball operations groups within our organization while working together towards our singular goal of winning a World Series championship,” Padres owner Peter Seidler said as part of a statement released by the team. “Erik is a steady hand and multi-talented leader, and he has been the driving force behind our innovative business growth in a continuously evolving sports landscape. A.J. has skillfully built both a playoff-caliber Major League club and a top tier minor league system. I look forward to working with Erik and A.J. towards an exciting future for our deserving and extraordinarily supportive fans.”
This is the second contract extension signed by Preller since he was originally hired by the team in August 2014, and his previous deal was set to expire after the 2022 season. Clearly the Padres wanted to act quickly in committing to an executive who, despite a lot of ups and downs, now seems to have positioned San Diego to contend for the better part of the coming decade.
Preller’s first offseason in charge of the Padres saw the team load up on established veterans, an aggressive strategy that backfired with another losing season in 2015 and, eventually, led to another rebuild. Preller spent the next few seasons overseeing the development of arguably baseball’s minor league system, setting the groundwork for a multi-year effort to again obtain star players in various trades, while also hanging onto many of the most highly-regarded members of this farm system. Combine this with Padres ownership’s willingness to break the bank on expensive free agent signings like Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer, and the Padres have suddenly amassed a very deep and talented roster intent on overthrowing the Dodgers atop the NL West and finally bringing San Diego its first World Series title.
It has been quite a turn-around for Preller considering that he was reportedly close to being fired back in 2016 after a 30-day suspension issued by Major League Baseball. Preller was punished for failing to disclose medical information about Drew Pomeranz when the Padres dealt him to the Red Sox for prospect Anderson Espinoza, and multiple other teams also spoke to the league about similar alleged actions in other Padres trades.
2020 was the Padres’ first winning season of Preller’s tenure, as the team went 37-23 in the regular season and defeated the Cardinals in the Wild Card Series before falling to the Dodgers in the NLDS. With a playoff berth finally under his belt, Preller was again aggressive this winter, adding Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove in newsworthy trades, re-signing Jurickson Profar to a three-year deal, and signing Korean star Ha-Seong Kim to a free agent contract.
The addition of the president of baseball operations title doesn’t materially change Preller’s duties, as he was already the team’s top front office decision-maker. Teams use various designations (whether president of baseball ops, chief baseball officer, senior VP, general manager, etc.) for the person in charge of their baseball operations department, though the new title just cements Preller’s position and perhaps keeps other teams from trying to lure him away in the future with offers of a promtion.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
I’m good with this!
Can’t say he didn’t earn it.
He’s had 1 winning season since 2014, for starters. So he’s guaranteed 12 years of Payment as San Diego’s top executive with one winning season under his belt
His owner and their TV deal earned him this extension. We haven’t even seen how most of his moves will pay off. 2020 offseason is more or less his 2015 strategy done over, hoping it goes differently. But hey. Headlines are headlines
Wow. One winning season in six full years. And THAT was in a bizzarro world 60 game “season.” Yet some people still think this clown is some sort of baseball genius?
The signs of the apocalypse are upon us.
Good PR and optics will land you an extension if you are a GM, warranted or not.
Also can’t say he didn’t earn the Pomeranz suspension.
Haters will say he’s still the leagues worst GM and lucked out in all his moves!! Should’ve extended the man through 2031!
Actually, haters would say he’s only had one winning season in San Diego and that was a 60 game one. He does have a winning record in multiple off seasons though!
How did he earn it? 7 years won a WC round against weak .500 Cardinals at Petco?
Because he’s potentially built a juggernaut of a team and one hell of a farm system and used the deeper parts of that system to acquire quality starting pitching.
So he’s potentially earned it.
Flyingblindsquirrel….Exactly
Do you have a clue? The Padre franchise was the bottom of the barrel when he took over.
I see a lot of problems with how preller has built this lineup. Lots of overpaid risk on this team. Hosmer has had one good season as a padre, will Meyers has had one and half good seasons, machado is approaching the back end of his contract in which holds the most risk he’s going to age eventually, and Yu darvish could have the wheels fall off again at any time. That’s too many players on big contracts with too many long and short term question marks.
Bingo flyingblind
Your job as a GM is to best position your team for success… Has Preller done this? Yes so he’s potentially earned every good thing anyone has to say about him at this point. Potentially it all comes down to the games they play on the field that Preller is in no way apart of so yes he potentially earned everything. The rest is up to the players, “potentially”
The thing about Padre fans is…well, they are Padre fans. Preller has done an outstanding job and, yet, padreforlife wants to know “how did he earn it?”
Do you know the definition of “potential?”
They only thing Preller has proven is that he’s not smart enough to not get caught when he cheats.
@libertyfigher … Do YOU have a clue? We had a top 5 farm system when he took over.
AJP!
Who are the top GM’s. Mike Rizzo, Andrew Friedman, Erik Neander, and Billy Beane. Preller not yet because one good off season. Let me know who else in replies.
CHRIS YOUNG!
David Stearns
Preller has had more than 1 good offseason. He certainly has done enough to be considered one of the best.
Preller has NOT done enough to be one of the best. Holy crap. That’s a low low bar you’ve set. He’s done some good things and built one heck of a farm—and a pretty good looking team. But holy hell is that wrong. He’s had 1 playoff appearance in a short season.
This guy was on the hot seat if it didn’t work out last year. He’s done pretty well but he’s nowhere near being considered at that top level yet.
Yeah jbigz on a team that hadn’t been to the playoffs in almost 15 years. That’d be like saying the current Pirates GM is lousy if he did the same thing 4 years from now. Just admit you’re wrong!
You probably think the Hosmer contract is good
AJ Preller has been the GM since august of 2014 so please tell me if I’m wrong but August 2014-October 2020 is a bit more than 4 years, hoss!
I agree. Preller isn’t a top GM yet and he has as many bad trades/signings as he has good ones. If he can, as expected, get the Pads into the playoffs this season then he’ll move into the good category, and then if he keeps that up for another year or two, or gets us to a WS, then I’d put him as one of the top in the game right now. At the moment though it’s too early to tell. He’s done good work, but the games need to be played for proof.
Hosmer’s contract is good I mention this articles many times. First base has a ridiculously high standard behind it to hit home runs or just be a big scary 3-4-5. He is a legit 1B who can do it all at a good level and has been a top 10 1B for a decade (and will be still going at a reduced salary in the next few years in his mid 30s) by the way whatever his home run numbers are for a full season paired with RBIs and batting average is really all that matters on offense
No you’re not wrong but to actually get the pieces the farm pieces to trade and build (by acquiring as much willing sketchy expensive talent as he could gather and trade for value prospects) took a year plus to set up shop. It has taken a lot of his trades and signings from ‘16 on to mature. This team had NOTHING before he signed Shields and got Kemp, Upton. Dude was signing and flipping the last 3-4 years anything good we had too and the talent usually pulled through.. Take notes baseball GMs
Funny how times change. About this time last year, practically everybody in San Diego wanted to hang Preller by his toes from the One America plaza tower.
Yep. What a difference a year makes. A bunch of prisoners of the moment. Last year he was a bottom 5 GM and now he’s “one of the best”
Gotta love it
Only low information baseball fans wanted to do that.
@DrDan75 … No, some of us wanted to get rid of him when his lack of ethics and integrity became obvious. And that’s separate from his questionable trades and poor roster building.
You’re forgetting Brian Cashman. He’s not called the Ninja for nothing
Cashman is the most overrated GM in the game. He wouldn’t be able to last five years if he weren’t running the richest team in baseball.
@Troll Luckily he will continue to run the richest team in baseball as one of the longest tenured GMs in history.
@PinstripedPride he’s not on here because he hasn’t accomplished much compared to past Yankee GM’s. If he wins a WS he will. Espically with Yankees money and their history he is not on this list
Did you say “if Cashman wins a WS? Uh…He’s won six pennants and four WS titles. Regardless of money that’s quite a feat. Why? Because other teams have just as much or more money than the Yankees (LAD, Bos, Cubs, ‘Giants) and haven’t accomplished anywhere near as much. To chalk it up to money or wealth is a straw man.
The only team that might possibly have as much money as the Yankees is the Dodgers. Everyone else is far off the pace revenue-wise.
My bad, didn’t mean it like that. As of recently he hasn’t been the best especially in the playoffs. Tell me if i’m wrong but I heard he was telling Boone what to do and didn’t let Boone manage, I would’ve expected at least one WS appearance in the last decade
@Luc You’re right that the Yankees haven’t made it far into the playoffs. More often than not, the hottest team with a good SP wins the WS. If you’re referring to Boone opting to use an opener last season in the playoffs, it was a mutual decision from Boone and the front office to do so. In theory it was a good idea but it didn’t work out.
Hold up yankee. The dodgers have had the Yankee payrolls for a grand total of 7 years. Yankees haven’t won crap since LA started spending with the Yankees. La has been to 3 of the last 4 WS’s
Cash man is really a peg below Friedman and everyone knows it
Billy Beane isn’t a GM of a MLB team!
Friedman is POBBOps, not a GM, but the point is taken. Zaidi should also warrant some consideration.
Omg im dumb. Was he part of their WS tho? Just asking
Dombrowski. Rings matter.
Dombrowski is kinda a mercenary though. He guts a franchise going all-in for a short window, then bolts. I think a lot of GMs would look better without the shackles of future planning.
Dombrowski wins. GM’s would kill to have half of his achievements.
I don’t see how any of those guys can hold a candle to Jeff Bridich.
(yes, I’m kidding)
Mike Chernoff. Being able to continually put together a winning team while dealing with those budget constraints makes him one of the best.
Mike Chernoff is close to Erik Neander for sure. Have to put him up there in the top 5.
@Luc 2
Not really A full on rebuild is a painful process. Nuking a losing team and starting over from scratch involves enduring three or four 90 to 100+ loss seasons while young players develop and gain experience at the major league level. And if it’s not done right, a five year rebuild can drag on for over a decade.
Huh what does that have to do with top GM’s
@ Luc 2
Sorry, I meant to tag someone else.
Oh ok u good lol
Lot of good ones out there. I would add Dayton Moore to the list. Took a small market KC team to two straight WS and has them on the cusp of contending again.
you can throw john mozlock in there even though sometimes his moves or lack of moves but for about 10 years he has kept the cards in contention.
Hard to believe after the 2015 disaster that he was going to last 10 years there. I believe this is well deserved though. That team is setup to succeed for a long time.
More like setup to succeed for 3 more years.
if ownership didnt want them to go for it in 2015 he wouldnt have been okayed to make those moves.
He still made the trades and signings. You can’t hide behind ownership as the gm when it goes bad if you want credit when it goes well
I think it’s both. SD’s ownership deserves a ton of credit now for increasing payroll to let AJP field a winner. They also deserve credit for going big in the last international FA class before caps were placed on it, which helped build SD’s farm. AJP deserves credit for those moves too though.
On the flip side, when they were trying to take shortcuts to being competitive, ownership bears some fault for telling AJP to go for it without giving him the resources needed to do so and then AJP deserves blame for making some bad deals.
Unless you have a Tampa Bay situation, where they’ve somehow figured out how to construct a winner with no financial support from ownership, then most of the time the GM and ownership success and failures go hand in hand.
I’m surprised AJP didn’t extend himself while he was at it, but good on the Padres for doing it for him.
He may be a con man, but he’s put together a hell of a team. It’s especially surprising after that horrendous first year when he tried to play fantasy baseball with the roster.
He definitely deserved to be extended based on what he’s done, which is tough for me to say as a lifelong Dodgers fan.
Wasn’t the smoothest journey, but he’s earned the right to see things through to the end.
Congrats padre fans, hope for continued success! It’s clear he was the man behind rangers success and not the overrated John daniels!
I’m impressed that Padres ownership allowed him to take on salary during a pandemic. They’re certainly rolling the dice on winning, and AJ was able to do it without giving up any of the ‘top’ prospects, albeit good ones were dealt. He’s come a long way since his controversial Marlin deal.
Seidler is the man. He wants to win. He’s giving Preller all options. Gotta love having a good owner for a change.
So now Luis Patiño wasn’t one of their top prospects?
Patino is the pitching version of Trammell.
Both are highly talented but clearly there’s concerns about Taylor Trammell long term. There’s also concerns about Luis Patino.
Patino is only 20 but the main concern is his ability to develop a 2nd pitch. He doesn’t have one that’s developed enough to be reliable. He has a blistering fastball, but it remains to be seen if he can develop a second and third pitch to be a starter long term. If he can develop a second pitch but not a third his long term outlook is a relief pitcher. He’s 20. So there’s time to do so. But we will see.
1. Patiño is 21, not 20
2. He is nothing like Trammell. Trammell has been trending down since 2018 if not earlier. Patiño was trending up fast before they rather foolishly rushed him to the majors.
not the world’s biggest Patiño fan, but I think he’s much more proven then Trammell and younger.
@ I Beg To Differ
Patino’s slider was considered the best in the San Diego system outside of Dinelson Lamet. It was bordering on double plus. He also has an above-average changeup. He has command. The only question about him is his size.
Patino is only 21. Most pitchers take a while to develop. Check back in three or four years and let’s see how he’s doing.
Where was Max Fried when he was 21? He was a minor leaguer being traded by the Padres to the Braves for Justin Upton. He didn’t make his big league debut for a couple more seasons after that and seems to have turned out okay.
He used his fastball 65% of the time last year and got clobbered doing such.
.298 avg and .824 OPS on his fastball..Hitters knew he couldn’t throw his changeup or slider consistently or effectively to be considered a threat so they sat back on the fastball.
And he didn’t demonstrate command at all last year.
He was wild. 4.15 b/9 to lefties 10.15 b/9 to righties
He needs to work on developing his change up and slider more. If he felt comfortable using them he wouldn’t try to blow major leaguer hitters away with his fastball that much. Clearly he doesn’t feel confident or the staff didnt feel confident in his secondary stuff.
Hes young. So there’s room and time to grow but you’re not going to be a starter or reliever very long if youre trying to blow guys away with just a fastball your entire career.
“nothing like Trammell”
Wild command
No secondary pitch. Pumps fastballs
Concerns over size and durability long term.
Yeah. No concerns at all with Patino. Right.
There’s concerns with all prospects. His stock dipped a little just as Trammells did.
His stock didn’t dip at all. Everyone except Preller knew he wasn’t ready for the majors yet and he wasn’t. He’s still more advanced than most players his age.
No command= stock drop
Let’s not pretend he had any semblance of control, even on his fastball. You don’t walk 10+ b/9 against same handed batters and say he’s close to having command.
No secondary pitch = stock drop. 65% fastballs that hitters sat back on and demolished. Who cares if you can throw 100+ if hitters are getting .800+ OPS. There’s no secondary pitch, at all. He just threw fastballs. Didnt even try to throw secondary stuff. That’s a major red flag. Had he at least attempted to incorporate his change up and slider more itd be one thing, he didn’t.
There’s concerns. Was he ready? No. But the underlying issues why he wasnt ready are major read flags. 1 pitch no control pitcher at this point.
He proves he can get better command and get to a point where he has a 3 pitch mix he might be an ace.
Can he now? No
Will he eventually? Remains to be seen.
Luis Patino certainly isn’t the can’t miss variety that Mackenzie Gore is. Size, Command, secondary offerings are all legitimate knocks.
I’d bet big on Tampa being able to get the most out of him though. What that is, I’m not sure. He may end up being a really good 5 inning starter or he may be a multi inning bullpen weapon or he may reach the top of that mountain and be a legitimate #2. But there’s a ways to go before he’s there. Snell is there right now and should be expected to stay there for the next 3.
Yeah. Definitely a win-now move for the Padres and a win-later move for Tampa. Which is honestly odd considering the situation that Tampa finds themselves in right now. People will scream about how this is how small market teams have to operate and about how it’s better to trade a guy a year too early than a year too late but when your window is wide open like Tampa’s, that is a risk you have to take. Unless the Rays know something about Snell that they aren’t saying.
Patiño is going to be great, eventually. He’ll probably spend more than half of 2021 in the minors, but it’s only a matter of time.
Patiño won’t develop until he gets a full season in AA, and he has an organization that understands how to teach pitching vs. throwing. Is that the RS?
Anything to keep the narrative clean
The thing about AJ is that he can give up three or four highly touted teenagers with bright futures and then go into the international market and sign three or four more who aren’t much different from the players he just traded.
No player Preller could sign this summer is already as good as Luis Patiño right now
@RemovePitcher
I was thinking more along the lines of those prospects that Preller swapped for Yu Darvish.
@DrDan … Are you seriously saying that Preller is somehow the best international scout in all of baseball, and that makes up for everything else?
No brainer.
#PrellerGonnaPrell
I’m surprised they didn’t wait to see How all the moves paid off. But he did good work with the farm .
Preller and Greupner have made it an enjoyable journey watching the Padres build up their franchise and the future looks bright. And it has been an interesting ride with some of the moves.
On a side note, I do wish the Padres were still on 760AM. I can’t get the new FM station here in Irvine and miss hearing them over lunch and on the evenings.
Yea Greupner is a prince of a guy, he was behind the layoffs of many of the front office employees with the covid crisis. But what made it worse employees who were there 20 plus years he did not even say thanks to them for their service which you should do when you have that title. It does not cost a cent to say thank you for all that you did. Welcome to Corporate America where you’re nothing but a number. The executives at the top get more money and fancy titles while the people who do the real work wonder how they will pay their bills. Only in America baby.
Xalz, I enjoy Ted Leitner. Try SiriusXM or the MLB app. You can get the radio broadcast of every team for every game.
@Angels&NLWest, Leitner was the worst radio broadcaster I’ve ever had the displeasure to hear. He constantly talked over the action and had nothing relevant to say. Glad he is gone. I hate the Giants, but Kruk and Keip and the rest of that team are the best I’ve ever heard. I like tony Jr, though, I think he has the talent and will improve Pads broadcasts next year
Very over-rated exec who can only make splashy moves that gets the media excited. We will see how good he really is in a full season with no more farm depth to trade from.
Hes not going to run out of depth from the farm system for like three years lol
Sure you can believe that after he traded 20 players in the past year and continously trades players in the same year they were drafted. Nope that won’t have any impact on you’re pipeline at all.
Is the Padres Farm system overrated?
If so then he has everyone fooled.
He’s taken a top Farm system and turned it into a top major league team all while still having a top Farm system.
Not sure how that can be deemed over rated.
It’s only overrated if the players produced do not perform at the top.
Padres system is smoke and mirrors. The only superstar on the ML roster that has come thru the system is none, Who was the last player drafted that was HOF Tony Gwynn? Most San Diego great prospect is traded because they suck.
The System has only been a top farm for 3 years, and 3 years ago those were very young players.
@larry48. They turned the minor league smoke and mirrors into talent on the MLB roster; Darvish, Clevenger, Snell, Musgrove, Grisham, Pham, Nola, Cronenworth, Adams, Pagan, etc….
4 top 100, 2 of them being top 10 so yeah it’s a weak farm.
They currently have 7 top 100
Gore/Abrams/Campusano/Hassell/Kim/Weathers/Morejon
But who’s counting?
Prospects are prospects tell they prove themselves many become average to nothing and are out of baseball ask the Houston Asterisks Does Mark Appel ring a bell? Drafted #1 in 2013 he NEVER MADE THE MAJOR LEAGUES and stepped away from baseball. But made 6 million as a signing bonus.
They have a bunch of prospects. Gore has arm issues and clearly NOT ready. All the rest of their prospects have question marks. The one thing that their farm system has not yielded is a lot of major league talent for the lineup. The Padres lineup is weak. It has Tatis and Machado and a bunch of question marks. Where are all of the prospects on the way that are going to fill out the lineup for years to come with cheap labor? The Padres are going to be a mess inside of a couple of years, and are set to underperform to expectations this year.
@ bigalval
Most highly touted prospects either don’t make it at all or disappoint to some extent. Then there are always players who come out of nowhere and have good careers. Player development and scouting is hard.
You don’t know what “depth” means. Their farm after those 4 is extremely weak now and there won’t be any more top 10 picks to get easy blue chippers
Depth isn’t as important when you have 7 top 100 and every position at the ML level set for 3 seasons to come.
AJ will build the depth back in those three years.
You can be sure.
7 is a stretch. Morejon is losing some hype. Name 1 Korean hitter who became a solid big league player.
amk1920 how is 7 a “stretch” when that is literally how many are listed in the top 100?
This isn’t my opinion….you said they had 4….they have 7.
You can disagree all you want.
Morejon is gaining hype rn
@amk1920: Shin-Soo Choo. A 20HR-20SB-285 guy. If they get that from Kim he’s a steal.
Different sources has different rankings.
Choo is the only person you can use an an example as a hitter in the KBO who came over and actually did well. other than Kang who ran himself out of baseball
So sure. If Kim becomes the best player to enter mlb from Korea, you got a winner! So unbiased you are!
Hosmer and Will Myers are on your roster how are you set at every position for the next 3 years. I wouldn’t take Hosmer or Myers this year. Austin Nola? 2B is a dude coming over from Korea in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. These guys don’t typically pan out, but now you factor in language barrier with a pandemic. The Padres lineup is not formidable. Hosmer and Myers in a 162-game season. Yikes! There is a reason why you cannot look at a 60-game sample size with some dudes. Tommy Pham is your 3rd best hitter. Yikes!!! I keep hearing about all the starting pitching they traded for when these guys are gonna be going 5 innings and then it is time for the bullpen. Don’t think so? Guys are not ramping up to 200 innings. Schnell and Darvish are 125 innings max and you have to actually get both of them to the end of the season. Darvish is going to wet his pants if he faces the Dodgers in the playoffs. Darvish and pressure never ends well for him.
@Very Barry. Not “my” team, I’m a Giants fan. But I will admit to truth that the Padres lineup is anything but soft. They were 2nd to Dodgers in hitting last season, and perhaps as dangerous on basepaths as any team. Sure Myers was on fire last season, but so was Pham out most of year and the C position filled by guys hitting 150 before they fixed that. Grisham is only going to get better and Kim is a potential upgrade all around. They’re good top to bottom, with depth now at every position. Add that to their proven list of pitchers and it’s a scary good team. Like it or not.
@Lurking. You asked for one player from Korea to be named. I did. Then you accuse me of bias. Chronically dissatisfied?
@verybarry, your ‘expert’ critique is laughable, almost as silly as someone using “Yikes” several times in a post to describe one’s criticism. They may not win 100 games or the division, but they will push the dodgers this year and your scared ‘take’, bespeaks your concern.
But they won’t play in San Diego.
the Pads could never play all of their prospects on the same ML roster so it was logical to consolidate some assets. Preller has managed to build perhaps baseball’s 2nd best roster while maintaining a strong group of prospects in Gore, Abrams, Campusano, etc
Tatis trade alone is reason to extend until 2037
@amk1920: Yeah the recent trades for key pieces Cronenworth and Grisham and Nola and Adams and Pagan were just him being super sexy headliner splashy. The fact that he built the farm system to #1 in MLB, only to let it plunge in recent year to #2 in MLB also supports your excellent point about lacking depth as well. Meh.
Comments like this are exactly why Preller is overrated. What’s with the irrational love with every move he makes? I have no bias against the Padres but half of what you said it wrong. Their farm is not #2 in baseball. The Nola/Mariners trade was really bad. Nola is a 30 yr old journeyman who had a hot few weeks. Adams has done absolutely nothing and having good peripherals doesn’t make him a good player yet. I know Trammell’s stock is falling but that wasn’t the package to move him for.
Really bad? Taylor Trammell might still develop but not looking too good at this point. Nola is ranked by most experts as a top 5-7 catcher in MLB. The catcher he replaced wasn’t in the top 20. Value gain. Adams was a steal, he projects to being a possible closer his stuff is outrageous. Pay attention.
But that’s beside the point, the point that you made. You nonsensically claim Preller only makes trades to get the media’s attention. Trammell for Nola and Adams is a typical Preller deal, not splashy, getting real and needed value by giving up marginal potential.
I never said he makes trades to get the media’s attentions, that’s just a product of how he operates. Nola might be a top 10 C only because the position stinks beyond the top 5. How hard is it to ask Adams actually produce before we make him out to be a steal? Munoz has better stuff than anyone in that deal and he will be fully recovered by 2022.
No one thinks Nola is a top 5 catcher. Just stop with this nonsense
@ Lurking. Took me 20 seconds to find one that has him ranked 6th:
mlb.com/news/mlb-network-top-10-at-each-position-i…
@amk1920. You said “Very over-rated exec who can only make splashy moves that gets the media excited”. I’ve simply shown you that those splashy moves are not the only ones he makes
So he isn’t over rated because he lucked into Cronenworth as a Pham trade toss in (yes its luck when the player could have been had for free in the rule 5 draft) Grisham and a relief pitcher who has good peripherals? Wow put him in the Hall right now.
Nola is no Realmuto, but he’s much better than the guy he replaced (Hedges). He’s a decent bridge until Campusano is ready.
@amk1920. Do you frequently explain good decision-making as luck?
No, the Grisham trade was excellent on his part addressing a need. Cronenworth was avaliable to any team at the rule 5 draft. They were trading for Pham and Cronenworth was a toss in.
@Amk1920, Cronenworth was definitely no ‘throw in’. Preeler prized his versatility. He was a key piece in the trade. Remember he was being considered as a two way player? He was expected to win the first bench job, and he did. Then he played so well he became the starter. You can look down on some of Preller’s moves but this was not one of them. This was an A+ trade.
Who from the Padres farm system not named Tatis has actually done something in Major League Baseball?
Tatis isn’t even home grown by the Padres. Dude was recommended to Preller and he lucked out the White Sox made a terrible mistake.
@ V.ery Barry: C’mon, Tony Gwynn, Trea Turner, Dave Winfield, Jake Peavy, Cory Kluber, Ozzie Smith, Roberto Alomar, Randy Jones, blah blah blah
Definitely earned. The way he built such a deep farm system that they could trade for Darvish, Snell, Musgrove, and Clevinger and still have many of their top prospects is amazing. They’ve risen rapidly to the 2nd-best club in baseball. He’s done great the past few years.
How have they risen rapidly? They made the playoffs in an expanded format following a 60-game regular season. You realize the Marlins also made the playoffs right?
Very Barry…they have risen rapidly because they went from 92 losses to the 2nd best record in the NL inning offseason.
Now they’ve added three top starters to their rotation and Kim and have the 3rd beat odds to make the World Series.
Can’t rise much quicker than that.
@V. Barry: I agree that having the 2nd best record in MLB during a pandemic-shortened 60 game season is not a full measure of “rising rapidly”, they need to prove it to you in a non-asterisk year for sure. But if you check out most major sports networks and their power ranking projections for 2021, the Padres are in the top 1-4 in every one of them. Surely the experts see something you don’t. I have a hard time accepting that they’re no better than the teams from 3 years ago, the improvement (and commitment from ownership) is fairly obvious.
They are highly rated with their team projection for 2021 because they are one of just a handful of teams that are actually trying to win this year. Dodgers, Braves, Cardinals, Mets, Padres, Nationals and Phillies are the only NL teams trying to compete. The Phillies are still gonna end up in last place in the NL East because they re-signed all the dudes that put them in the cellar last year. I keep hearing about this minor league system. Where are the fruits of the minor league system? Don’t say you traded them. You took on contracts. Where are the players not named Tatis, and he came via trade, doing big things in Major League Baseball from the Padres system? Urias?
“Arguably” baseball’s minor league system? Well, if not a minor league system what else would it be?
I was wondering that myself lol
LFG!
Oh man, that headshot.
A Night At The Roxbury
Tatis is not a product of their system he is not home grown. In two years he has missed more games than he has played.
Sounds like somebody’s jealous
White Sox loser detected
Tatis also struck out once a game last year. Tatis has potential but hasn’t played full season yet
He absolutely should have been fired over the medical reports. However, it does appear he’s done well with that second chance
Preller has done a great job, but the current SD prospects list drops heavily after Gore, Abrams, Campusano, Hassell, Weathers and Mercano. Their current #7 prospect is a 45 grader. Its now or never for SD and they still have to get by LAD.
The Padres make the playoffs in a 60-game season and you reward the guy with a promotion and extension? This guy has a history of horrendous moves. Eric Hosmer! All the fanfare over Schnell and Darvish. They are paying full salary for two guys who will see 125 innings of work max. The offseason moves made this year by Preller will ultimately set the franchise WAY back. Their lineup only has 2 real hitters. They have a lot of arms and 90% of them already have an injury history.
@Very Barry
I think one of his best (and most overlooked) moves to date has been brining guys like Bobby Dickerson and Damion Easley onto the coaching staff. Both Hosmer and Wil Myers suddenly got better and Machado found himself after reuniting with his old mentor.
@DRDan75 – you are dead right in the new undervalued asset is coaching.
Really helped when they did nothing against Dodgers in DS
Hosmer useless against lefties major problem
Very Barry your examples of a “history of horrendous moves” is signing one guy?
Only two real hitters?
Myers out hit both Machado and Tatis last year.
Obviously you don’t think Cronenworth,Pham and Grisham can hit either.We’ll see about Kim….but “two hitters”?
Lol
Lol Myers
Myers had one of his patented streaks in a 60 game mini-season, and you’re ready to ignore his entire career and proclaim him a star?
Nah.
Bingo. Their OF is weak also Pham, Myers, and Grisham is average to below
Shields I know got Tatis this just in could of traded for Tatis if liked him so much. Norris, Kemp, Uptons, Got nothing for Brad Hand and Cimber, Richard, Weaver, Kimbrel got nothing, Phil Hughes, Bryan Mitchell, Chase Headley, 24 mil total for Kinsler and Richards, traded Naylor, got burned on long hair trade of Clevinger. Quantrill and Ty France traded will be good players. What’s he done? Good farm system beat weak Cardinals team in WC?
The Padres are a completely different team from a year ago. Preller (and fans) can thank the owners for letting the money flow. Decades of pain looks like it will pay off.
Preller absolutely earned this. I have thought that the Padres were one solid organization, and now they are dangerous. Well done Padres, and very good job AJ Preller
The Padres will regret this one.
He is scum!!! Should have been banned from baseball for shipping players he knew were injured to other teams. Instead just a slap on the wrist. Illegally changing medical records.. having one real record for the team and a fake one for everyone else.. The guy is a POS and committed felonies and basically nothing happened to him. If you falsify medical records you should be banned.
injured? taking over the counter advil? get out of here
MLB thought it was pretty serious. And, you have no clue what the meds were, and it doesn’t matter what they were.
I applaud the Sox but let’s take a closer look at the criticism of Preller. Yes it was merrited. Yes he paid his dues. If you follow that logic than the Red Sox should have received equal criticism for violating a fundamental element of baseball, using electronic devices to steal signs. Cheating is cheating. Both organizations did. Both paid the price. The Sox had multiple years of a healthy Pomeranz the Padres still have yet to see anything from Anderson Espinoza. So which team received damage goods in the trade???I’ll await your response.
More like Dombrowski should be banned from baseball for shipping 2x Tommy John Anderson Espinoza!
@ purplewidow
Preller withheld some medical information from other teams, which gave him an advantage in trade negotiations. This is certainly unethical, but it’s not criminal. Hopefully he learned something from it. He’s lucky he wasn’t fired and bounced out of baseball.
No GM is perfect, but it’s very exciting to be a Padres fan right now, thanks to the work and risk willingness of AJ Preller, and the owners actually spending money to compete.
As a Tribe fan, I couldn’t be more pleased. Keep him on speed dial guys!
He kept 2 sets of medicals for his players. One set was a lie. He was suspended. The teams he lied to were not satisfied with his punishment. This guy is a total slimeball.
Sounds like we need to call the waaahmbulance.
He didn’t disclose some oral medications like anti inflammatories a couple players took.
Since this happened this whole thing has been blown so far out of proportion like he hid X-rays of broken bones for Gwynns sake!
Preller got the bad end of deals more than the other way around.
Traded an All Star Starter for a teenager who pitched one game and hasn’t pitched since due to two TJ’s.
Anyone accuse the Bosox of withholding info?
I’ll accuse them of withholding info. I’ll do the same with the Marlins on Paddack and Capps
It doesn’t matter what the meds were. He intentionally kept two sets of records. What would any rational person conclude about his intent?
And, in case you’ve forgotten, that was his SECOND suspension by MLB. He was also suspended when he was with the Rangers. He was also fined by MLB – again – for violating international rules regarding prospects with the Padres. That sounds like three strikes to me.
Bingo