Padres president of baseball operations and GM A.J. Preller received a strong vote of confidence from ownership, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic (subscription required). San Diego Chairman Peter Seidler told Lin that Preller’s job is “as safe as a GM’s job can be.” Seidler added: “I one-hundred percent believe in [Preller], one-hundred percent trust him. And that’s not because I’m blindly loyal.”
That Preller is likely to continue leading the team for the long term hardly qualifies as a surprise. It was just eight months ago that the club extended Preller’s contract through the 2026 season and added the PBO designation to his title.
The Padres, of course, are looking for a new manager after firing second-year helmer Jayce Tingler yesterday. Last year, Tingler led San Diego to their first playoff appearance since 2006 and first postseason series win since 1998. But the club’s second-half collapse in 2021, along with reports of tensions in the clubhouse, led to his dismissal. Tingler was offered the opportunity to remain with the team in an as-yet-undetermined capacity, and Seidler said he hopes Tingler decides to stay. He added that the rest of the coaching staff has been given permission to look for opportunities elsewhere.
Seidler also told Lin that Preller alone will decide who the club’s next manager will be. He said that while he and Preller recognize the value of major league managing experience, that won’t be a prerequisite for the new hire. “As we did when we hired Jayce, we put a premium on people with experience,” Seidler said. “But I would rather get the right 34-year-old than the wrong 64-year-old.”
Seidler’s comment regarding a new manager not needing prior big league managing experience is sure to raise eyebrows among at least some Padres fans. Since being hired as GM in 2014, Preller has tabbed two permanent managers, Tingler and his predecessor Andy Green. Neither had managed an MLB club prior to joining the Padres. There’s been plenty of speculation the Padres could zero in on a more veteran skipper this time around, but it doesn’t sound as if ownership or Preller consider that an absolute necessity.
Padres’ Chairman: A.J. Preller’s Job Is Safe
Why though?
This team Sux!
Because the moves he made fills the stands.
Ohhhh well, Huzzah for the shopkeep.
You hit the nail on the head. It’s a business so if profitability is up then he’s doing his job. Also I wouldn’t sleep on them next year. They have the talent to be way better than they were this year.
not as long as they play dodgers and giants 40 times a year and don’t win on road.
Maybe he’s good with a reacharound. Who knows? As much as I rag on some pads fans though for the swagger that’s been premature, I feel bad for yall.
At a point when a rebuild rolled so long, and players, coaches. And managers have cycled through a couple times there’s really only one guy left linked to all the years of failures and bad signings/trades.
His trombone skills may be rusty, but he plays a mean rusty trombone.
A few days ago I asked how long the owner would let Preller spend the money he wastes.
A poster straightened me out. He wrote that the Padres finished 3rd in attendance.
San Diego is an affluent area. It lost its professional basketball team – the Clippers – decades ago to LA. Recently it lost its pro football team – the Chargers – to LA. San Diego State is a nice college, but its basketball and football teams are not nationally ranked. Its baseball teams have been good…..but who follows college baseball?
The Padres are the only draw for sports fans in the area. The fans have money, and they’re turning out to watch the name players Preller brings in. Most Padre fans that post here don’t seem to be much in the critical thinking department regarding the game. They buy the sizzle and want entertainment. Preller is the most entertaining GM in MLB. As I wrote, the Padres are like the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFL – they get a lot of pub during the off-seasons; the national media declarers them a championship contender; the team starts off well then at some point runs out of steam because player reps don’t count – how they play on the field does.
So the poster that set me straight was correct. Preller may be squandering money, but the owner if getting it back multi-fold. Plus he gets notoriety (look at Jerry Jones). Preller is Gold (or Bitcoin) to the owner.
SDSU’s football and basketball teams have both been ranked. Football is ranked right now and basketball was top 10 in the country just two years ago. It’s just not much of a college sports town.
San Diego State is undefeated in football and ranks 25th. Last season the SDSU basketball team ranked 16th and went to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 for the 7th time in the last 11 tournaments.
The Padres are the only PRO game in town. They are getting sponsorship money that they have not seen ever before. They are also getting $70 million more in national TV revenue that started in 2021. Forbes estimated that their revenue would have been $360 million this season if not for COVID. That amount is probable for 2022 if there is a complete season. Even higher if the players agree to an expanded playoff format.
$360 million in revenue means that they have about $180 million to spend on player payroll. I am quite sure that for a short period the owners would be willing to go a little over that if they thought they could recoup that investment with a playoff share. A run to the WS, whether or not the team wins, was worth $100-110 million from 2017-2019 in terms of playoff share, additional ticket sales for the following season, and increased sponsorship revenue. That would make going over $180 million worth it, but ONLY if the team actually makes the playoffs.
Player performance is the responsibility of two people. #1 – The GM that acquired those players. #2 The manager that provided coaching, in-game decision making, and established team culture..
Preller has failed to put the Padres in the playoffs in 2021. His leash is extremely short. Usually if an owner has to defend his GM in public, the GM’s tenure is very short after that. I can count on my fingers the number of GMs that were back a year later after the owner was forced to make a pronouncement like Seidler just made.
All of you Padres critics must be Dodger or Giants fans otherwise you have no credibility. The Padres are improving. Their organization is improving. Their attendance is improving. Their fan base is improving. All of you Orioles fans are just jealous. Are they the Dodgers? No, but neither are you.
Look in the stands when they’re at home. A large portion of the fans are from opposing teams. San Diego has a beautiful stadium……that is all.
No. That is not all. They contended for most of the season. Lost most of their pitching staff to injuries. I’ve been a Padres fan since 1969. They are improving in every aspect. It’s obvious to anyone that is observant.
I’ve been a fan since ’69 too. You either have a weird definition of “improving” or you are simply content with losing. Preller’s had 7 years.
Pitching matters. We lost all but one of our starters to injury. 162 games is a grind for all but it’s something new to these young players. I’m optimistic about this team. We need pitching for sure. But we live in the shadow of LA. It’s the way that it is. You can replace Preller and it would be the same.
I guess you haven’t been there in while.
I was there for the last Giants series.
Are you people not able to see the big picture, Seidler just extended Preller he can’t can him, thus he has to tell the rest of the league that Preller is staying but that he’s not going anywhere WHY ? Because the rest of the league is potential mgrs, free agent signings and development people Seidler might need to take this team to the next level, Seidler DOES NOT want these potential hires to think Preller is on the bubble …. Of course Seidler is going to back his GM… do you people need help getting dressed in the morning??? Seriously…. Think…this is chess not checkers
What? Lol
Padres play checkers good teams play chess.
The Pobres are playing checkers while the Dodgers are playing 3-D chess
Dodgers will compete next year and maybe again for a WS but there will be a considerable amount of turn over as there are some significant pieces on their team that are free agents. At some point the division as a whole will make gains on them.
townagain Don’t count on a “considerable” amount of turnover. The Dodgers will spend and there is a good chance that Bauer will be suspended next year and Kershaw is not coming back at 39 million+ if he comes back. The Dodgers print money starting with a 325 million a year tv contract, the best front office in baseball and ending with ownership worth near 10 billion and more than willing to spend.
30 million not 39.
Of course he can fire him. A GM makes about the same in 5 years as a journeyman backup infielder or a middle reliever. For the Padres that would be about the same as what Pomeranz $6m or Profar $4.5m made in 2021.
They will just reassign him to another position, which basically means stay away from the team and you will keep getting a paycheck unless you quit and go elsewhere.
The reason that they have to support Preller is that if they are keeping him through the offseason, they don’t wan’t him to be a lame duck when it comes to hirings and negotiations. They want him to come from a place of strength.
It has absolutely nothing to do with the extension.
You all act like he hasn’t put a stellar farm system together, drafted fairly well and oh yeah stole Tatis. At the very least the track record with team building he deserves another year
Have you looked at that “stellar farm system” lately?
Probably not.
I don’t dismiss that at all. But you also need a GM to get you over the top. SD had the best farm I’ve ever seen. I don’t remember the numbers, but when Betts was on the block, SD had maybe 12 50FV guys, with some of them 55-60-65.
I know SD had injuries, but part of the reason for a rich farm is for depth. There is no way around the fact that his trades were beyond awful.
“Padres’ Chairman: A.J. Preller’s Job Is Safe”. Meaning the Friers are doomed again. Ahahahaha!
I’m not sure how his moves caused the team to play bad at the end of the season. The GMs job is to build the team not manage it. Has anyone he’s traded away been exceptional?
Has anyone he’s traded “for” been exceptional?
Jake Cronenworth comes to mind. I know it wasn’t inconsequential since they traded Edwards but he’s been pretty spectacular while making league minimum.
I suspect AJ is not analytically savvy enough to make the Padres an elite team, but…
Musgrove, Grisham (injuries this year, but last year he was a gold glove CF who hit a ton), Cronenworth. Davies last year exceeded expectations. Nola (also injuries this year).
And the guys who didn’t live up to their potential were Darvish, Snell, Clevinger and Pham. Nobody could have predicted downturns from Darvish and Snell. Clevinger got hurt. Pham, he should have seen coming though.
… oh yeah and a little guy named Fernando Tatis Jr.
He did trade away a number of guys who have gone on to break out though, so the problem seems to be player development much more than talent identification.
Ty France, Luis Urias, Eric Lauer, Cal Quantrill, Luis Patiño. Padres player dev couldn’t get this out of them and that’s an indictment.
Aside from tatis, seems Preller just keeps shuffling the deck and getting nowhere.. Been there since 2014 and nothing. Can’t count 2020. If you played 60 games in 2021, they would have also been in the playoffs.
good ex is he got Grisham and Davis but gave up Urias and Lauer. Gets Pham and Cronenworth but gave up Margot and Renfroe. Are they really better?
Franmil Reyes is pretty good.
Can you really name Davies as a win for Preller when he traded davies away along with 4 other guys? Questionable
Even Tommy Pham has been better than Renfroe or that slapdick prospect for the Rays so far. Tremendously lopsided trade, this coming from a Rays fan.
And now Snell ironically is with the Pads
Trea Turner for Wil Myers comes to mind.
You are 100% correct @mlbh! If MacKenzie Gore was in the Tampa system or Cleveland system, he would have been a major contributor for them at the big league level in 2021. With San Diego he actually regressed considerably in their minor leagues…shameful!
@brickhaus Outside of one game in the Wild Card series this year and one month this year Tommy Pham hasn’t done anything for the Padres. He’s also been a distraction off the field. And don’t compare him to Xavier Edwards. They are completely different players at completely different stages in their careers.
You absolutely could predict a downturn from Darvish. His 2021 is similar to his 2018 and 2019. Similar story with Snell, this is close to other years’ production. Just because fans want to believe a guy is going to keep performing at career best level doesn’t make that realistic.
Renfroe is not that good.
brickhaus12 hours ago
Even Tommy Pham has been better than Renfroe
================================
Renfroe has a 2.4 bWAR at $3.1M.
Pham has a 1.4 bWAR at $8.9M.
So, if you want an inferior player at a more expensive price, then Pham’s your man.
Renfroe is at least league average. 2.4 WAR and 31 HR. What did Pham do again?
Tatis and Cronenworth.
Padres didn’t teach prospects right or traded them away. You could make a good team out of players Padres traded away you should hold onto to prospect. Uraisiwas trade to Milwaukee and now plays every day and looks like a future all-star. Most players get a lot better once they leave the Padres system, why is that?
“Has anyone he’s traded away been exceptional?”
Trea Turner, Max Fried and Yasmani Grandal come to mind. In terms of recent trades, Hunter Renfroe, Luis Urias, Eric Lauer, Cal Quantrill and Ty France have all been good.
Watch out for Luis Patino in Tampa too. He’s just starting to figure it all out. Knowing Tampa, they will turn him into an ace by 2023 at the latest. He’ll make a big jump next year for sure.
Since Preller was hired, he has traded away such future stars as (and by stars, I mean better than, say Lauer and Urias and Renfroe and Quantrill and France and Reyes):
Trea Turner
Yasmani Grandal
Max Fried
Luis Castillo
Emmanuel Clase.
The Braves also picked up Austin Riley in the 2015 competitive balance round A pick for the Kimbrel trade.
The breakout stars the Padres have gotten are:
Tatis
Cronenworth
Musgrove (I consider him better than Quantrill so included him here)
Better than Quantrill that’s typical Padre fan ignorance
I would personally rather have Musgrove over Quantrill but understand if you disagree. Musgrove upped himself into stardom hood with his no hitter and generally dependable starts. He showed himself to be an ace at times. While Quantrill was very good for Cleveland, and may have even had similar to perhaps better sabremetrics for the season, I don’t think many people believe Quantrill had a better season than Musgrove. Musgrove was a star this past season. Quantrill did not feel like one at all.
Better sabermetrics? About as useful as defensive sabermetrics.
Since Quantrill was not traded for Musgrove, that is not a decision that had to me made. Quantrill was part of the trade for Clevinger.
Padres gave up Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias (#7 SD prospect), Joey Cantillo (#9 SD prospect), and Owen Miller (#11 SD prospect).
So you have to compare the production of those 5 now and in the future for the production of Clevinger in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Since this was the 2nd TJ surgery for Clevinger no one is expecting much from him in 2022. 10-15 starts at the most and a 4.50 plus ERA are the projections.
That was a very lopsided win for Cleveland.
Musgrove will be lucky to be average over his contract
Quantrill equals one good year. One
@Barelybreathin So far
Virtually none of the moves Preller made in the 2020 offseason worked out. Snell and Darvish were underwhelming, and outside of them Preller did little to boost the team’s depth. The Giants and Dodgers both made tons of minor league signings to build depth around their rosters. Padres will never win the NL West with Preller, he’s just outclassed by Zaidi and Friedman.
Musgrove worked out well.
One of his first trades – TREA TURNER!
The Ms are happy with Ty France.
Many of the young players Preller has traded away from the Padres have begun to make their marks in MLB: Manual Margot is the starting RF for Tampa in the playoffs.
Luis Patino is in the Rays starting rotation.
Ty France is a starting infielder for the Mariners
Trea Turner SS has been great for the Dodgers.
OF Framil Reyes for the Indians/Guardians
The list is long.
Cal Quantrill is in Cleveland’s starting rotation.
“Has anyone he’s traded away been exceptional?”
Trea Turner comes to mind.
Steve Nebraska14 hours ago
Has anyone he’s traded away been exceptional?
==============================
Here is his recent trade history, aligned by position:
Lost Received
Mejia Nola
Torrens Caratini
Urias Cronenworth
France Frazier
F. Reyes Grisham
Renfroe Pham
Quantrill Musgrove
Lauer Darvish
Patino Snell
Luchesi Clevinger
I’d say the value given up is similar to the value received, but I’d accept an argument either way. But that’s not the important part. The important part is that SD did not get materially better, but added about $56M in payroll, and traded away 10 good prospects.
That’s an abject failure, imo.
Then what is the “manager” in GM supposed to mean?
Anyone who thinks Preller doesn’t micromanage to the point of deciding who plays where and when, and who pitches where and when has not been paying attention for the last seven years. They should just go back to checking the box scores every day, wearing their old Padres hat, and telling their buddies how big of a “fan” they are. But don’t do it here, because you’ll be exposed.
France – 4.1 WAR
Lauer – 3.19 ERA with 20 starts
Quantrill – 2.89 ERA
Urias – 3.0 WAR
Clase – 1.29 ERA as Indians Closer
Patino – 4.31 ERA with 15 starts
Renfroe – 2.4 WAR 31 HR
Torrens – 108 games played .730 OPS (.34 points higher than league average for catchers)
Reyes – .846 OPS 30 HR as DH.
Looks like stupid starts at the top. Unreal.
We knew that already.
The 8th times the charm?
Fernando Tatis Jr will play in as many playoff games as Mike Trout if Preller keeps his job.
Guess 2020 playoffs dont count.
No, 2020 doesn’t count.
Dodger fans probably disagree but go on.
Actually, my Dodger fan friends don’t even brag about 2020.
The Angels were in the playoffs in 2014. Trout had 15 AB in 3 games.
So far they’ve both played in 1 post season series and they both were swept .
Games Won an lost don’t matter he has another killed the offseason title to defend ! He’s had a stranglehold hold on that title years running an if that’s what makes his bosses happen who’s anyone to question ! Competing for pennants isn’t for everyone Padres ownership and fans take pride in trades aj leaks to insiders about how he can’t believe he pulled off ! That wins headlines so don’t you dare say he isn’t a winner
A serious question for Padres fans. I e watched the team afar but not enough where I can say I picked up the subtleties of the team. The Padres were playing well through June. Is this a case of injuries? Is there any speculation that maybe a higher percentage of their pitchers had succeeded with “sticky stuff” and were then hit harder? From the outside, it does seem like a tale of two seasons and I’m curious not in what the trolls say but what fans who watched the team daily think.
Honestly, it was mainly injuries.
Snell, Paddack, Weathers all missed time and we had to have a ton of bullpen days. Darvish was clearly pitching through something most of the second half.
Clevinger and Morejon missed the entire season so we had no depth at SP.
Our pen had injuries too. Morejon, Castillo, Kela, Pomeranz, Altavilla, Wingenter all missed significant time or the entire season.
Anyone involved in physically preparing pitchers to take the field should be fired.
Get real. Their pitching was in trouble from the beginning. They were having bullpen games in April. Yeah, such a great staff he built!
They led the NL in era for the first month or two.
Tampa was having bullpen games in April as well, and I bet they’ll have bullpen games in October too! I believe Tampa was either first or second in MLB with the fewest innings pitched by starting pitchers. How did that work out for them? Tampa has a recipe for success and it starts with their bullpen. They seem to find new guys every year who throw 95+ and can give them 60-70 innings over the full season. I don’t know how they do it, but that’s one of the major differences between the Rays and nearly every other team. They also stockpile depth. I believe Tampa used over 40 different pitchers this season! That has to be some sort of record. What they have proven is that it’s perfectly fine to depend on your bullpen and starters who go 4-5 innings for an entire season so long as you have the right guys and enough depth. If they’re not right (see Diego Castillo, Rich Hill, etc.), they move on from them regardless of statistics or success. They are the most unique team in all of professional sports if you ask me. Someone is going to learn from them one of these years…
I’ll say the same thing now that I said in 2019: bullpen games are an admission that you can’t develop starting pitching and have no depth. Then, there’s the fact that it’s not a sustainable strategy.
Until the bullpen got exhausted. Maybe you should check the second half stats.
The Rays use their bullpen to develop their young starting pitching as they stretch their latest rookie starters out.
Obviously, it is a sustainable strategy. The Rays have done it for years and continue to win.
They started it in 2019. It’s a stretch to say they’ve been doing it for “years.” And I maintain it’s not sustainable.
Paddack was the #4 or #5 starter. You expect them to be easily replaceable. Snell started 27 games. His injury was not a big loss. His under-performance, while expected, was a big loss.
Darvish made 30 starts. That is more than he had made on average the past 4 seasons before Preller traded for him. His injuries were foreseeable and Preller should have made other trades to pick up innings eaters or depth.
Clevinger was lost before the season began. No excuse not to replace his innings in the rotation before the season started.
Wingenter, Castillo and Kela were lost before the season began. No excuse not to pick up depth. Altavilla had a 4.08 ERA coming into the season. If Preller was relying on him for a full season of lights out stuff he is an idiot. Losing him to injury was not a big loss.
Morejon was injured in April. Preller had 3 months to pick up some depth.
The only pitcher that whose injury was a surprise was Paddack and the only reason he got as many starts as he did is because Preller had absolutely no depth and they had to start him.
ALL of this goes back to poor planning and execution by Preller. All the problems on the pitching staff were easy to foresee and to forestall.
They were a catastrophe waiting to happen. The pitchers weren’t going but four and five innings at most and they were burning the bullpen out very quickly even early on in the season. Sure, injuries did happen, but they were just not very durable when they were healthy.
Trading for a entire rotation usually cripples your farm system. The game is won with 40 guys not 25 guys nowadays.
Injuries clearly played a major role but certain players also underperformed for long stretches (Darvish, Snell, Weathers, Pham, Grisham, Hosmer, Frazier, Myers, Nola). Some of this underperformance may have been related to injuries, whether disclosed or not, but some was likely not.
I also think the fans, which includes me, got a bit too high on 2020. Here is the part that some of us forget: by the time the Padres reached the playoffs for the 2020 season, they were down to using mediocre/bad starters & relief games. The Padres, barring a few solid trades (which Preller likely would have tried to accomplish), would have had a losing record on a full 162-game season with Lamet and Clevinger suddenly out for the count. It might have looked a lot like 2021. We’ll never know but it is likely they would have faced some major struggles that would have seen their winning percentage crater far below .600.
Myers is not one of the guys that under-performed. He was well above league average for the season.
@lordd99- Observationally speaking, it was a season dominated by injuries which in turn led to underperforming across the board. Tingler never seemed to help anything; his mismanagement (missed opportunities for double-switches, jumbling of the lineup, early hooks, “lost” appearance in games, etc.) was brutal to watch and (eventually) inexcusable.
Preller fooled the media and Padres ownership with flashy moves and parlayed that into an extension. That extension is the only reason he kept his job. Mediocre exec.
Ownership told Preller to produce or get fired.
Preller and his agent pushed for a contract extension based on the Padres 1st half results. Padres ownership, stupidly bit on the contract extension based on only half the season. If Padres Ownership had waited until the end of the season and witnessed the Padres collapse on Preller’s watch, then Preller would not have been extended and fired. by Padres Ownership.
Padres ownership screwed up and now they are “doubling down” on their mistake.
He signed the extension in the offseason.
Fire Preller. The guy is super intelligent, by all reports, but that doesn’t make him a good baseball man. He also seems to be lacking some social cue taking. Maybe he is on the spectrum, but clubhouse chemistry, leadership, human nature all are lacking with this guy. Major acquisitions with serious physical issues like Matt Kemp’s hip and Tommy Pham’s bad eyes along with people like Josh Johnson who was down with Tommy John and he still kept him on for 2 years.
There’s just a severe case of bad judgment and it is really killing the Padres.
As a Cardinals fan I don’t get the hatred toward Preller. He has made a ton of acquisitions to make the team relevant again. San Diego went from being a bottom feeder to being a really good team that fell apart the second half of the season. I’m not sure how that is Preller’s fault. He brought in the talent. He can’t control player success or injuries.
Would you rather be “relevant” or quietly make the playoffs every year like say the Rays?
Well most fans in Tampa I guess would choose relevant. I heard the reason why they don’t have fans is because the team trades away the established players too often. Like who cares which players are on the team, winning is hard enough yet the fans want to make it harder on their team to win.
There’s plenty of fans in Tampa. They just don’t attend games. There’s a difference.
SEVEN FULL YEARS … and counting. That’s why!
Are they a really good team? Or were they a top heavy collection of players that showed the flaw in Preller’s roster construction once injuries and fatigue happened?
Binnington 50
The issue with Preller was he brought in the talent day one and fell flat on it’s face. Then the guy decides to tear it down and call it a rebuild. Then finally they get somewhere (in a shortened season) and the following 162 they buy or trade again and they fall flat again.
This dude has had years to figure this out and hasn’t. Sure the fan interest peaked due to making the playoffs in 20 and the Padres might have a shot at the playoff next year due to a likely Giants regression but if they don’t you’ll see the fan interest fall and the Padres will be back to square one with a new PBO to clean up the mess.
In about 27-28 MLB cities. No way this guy survives this long. Lucky for him the Padres ownership had no other option but to wait on his master plan to succeed or set it up for someone else if it failed.
Thank you for the explanation. I agree that the Giants will likely regress and I would think the Padres should find themselves in the wild card game next year.
If they pick up every option and every player eligible for arbitration, the Giants payroll for 2022 stands at $134 million. They are a top 5 revenue team in the game, so spending $200 million is not a big deal. They will reload and be a contender again.
This clown Preller is actually the fourth longest tenured GM in MLB. Figure that one out!
May want to rethink that.
2014 – 77-85 3rd place. Second year in a row in 3rd place and 3rd year with almost an identical win-loss. Payroll was a then team record $90 million. Preller was hired at the end of that season.
2021 – 79-83. 3rd place. Team record $174 million payroll.
It is Preller’s job to be responsible for player success and injuries. If he brings in player after player that under-performs then its 100% on him.
The GM is responsible for player success and injuries? No. Not either one of those and not even kind of.
If players under-perform, that’s not HIS fault. He’s not throwing the pitches, swinging the bats and playing the field.
His job is to build a successful, cohesive team. He can’t control their every move and their injuries. Come on man.
You know it’s bad when they justify it by saying “that’s not because I’m blindly loyal”
They hire A.Boone when the Yankees move on.
Yikes
Bring Back Bruce Bochy.
And find a young up and coming bench coach to learn from a 3x World Series winner. Boch did more with less!
The guy who retired?
“Never is a big word,” he finally said (2019). Sure, he retired, Remove, but hasn’t definitively ruled out a comeback. You keep making this claim but I think full context is necessary. You may be right, but we shall see. I doubt he’d come back to the Padres but what a story that would make. And boy would it drive up ticket sales even further.
Yeah, he retired, but so did Tony LaRussa.
Shumaker back as bench coach?
Lol
Manny Machado, Blake Snell and possibly Clevenger will be traded in the off season
No one is taking Manny or Clevinger
I can see a team in New York willing to take that deal
Except for when they already had the chance to do that and both took a hard pass and Manny is now 3 years older with 3 of his prime years flushed down the toilet.
No one is taking Manny? Sure, because the Padres aren’t trading him. If they did, there would be plenty of seekers. There is nothing Manny cannot do.
@Steve Garvey’s Son Except you’re forgetting the part where the 29 other teams all took a HARD pass on paying him $30m/yr through his age 36 season when he was a free agent. And let’s not pretend that Manny Machado was some unproven guy at that point. All 30 GM’s knew what he was capable of and they still weren’t interested. Why would they be now that he’s 3 years older with 3 years of his prime straight up evaporated into the sun?
LOL, Remove. Thanks for the chuckle. Did you know that you LITERALLY just described how the free agent process works? Teams bid and ONE team “wins out.” What you say above about Manny could therefore be said about EVERY SINGLE free agent in the history of the game. And it isn’t like there weren’t interested parties. The White Sox interest was quite public and they thought they would win the bidding in the end.
It defies logic to say 29 teams took a hard pass on Machado, and then he signs for $30M a year. I’m no fan of Preller, or his moves, but I seriously doubt, even he would have signed Machado to that contract, if every other team was taking a hard pass. Preller signed Machado for what he did, because that is what it took to top the next highest bid.
And I think there are a couple of teams willing to take Machado, even with that contract. The Marlins found 3 teams willing to take Stanton’s contract. Hosmer and Myers are more untradeable than Machado.
@Steve Garvey’s Son It was also quite public that the White Sox had ZERO interest in guaranteeing the 2027 and 2028 seasons for Machado. I mean, they threw everything but the kitchen sink at Machado. Apparently, the kitchen sink for them was guaranteeing the 2027 and 2028 seasons. If they wouldn’t do that then, what makes you think they would do it now?
@tad2b13…
“It defies logic to say 29 teams took a hard pass on Machado, and then he signs for $30M a year.”
They took a hard pass on giving him 10 years guaranteed. There were other offers out there for similar AAV, but not term. Not total guaranteed money. Machado’s agent said at the start of his free agent offseason that they wouldn’t even consider offers for less than $300m and the Padres were the only ones who offered that so he signed with them. This is not a difficult concept.
“Preller signed Machado for what he did, because that is what it took to top the next highest bid.”
Actually he did it because that is what Machado and his agent were asking for at the very start of the offseason.
“And I think there are a couple of teams willing to take Machado, even with that contract. The Marlins found 3 teams willing to take Stanton’s contract.”
Not the same. Stanton was an extension. We don’t know what other teams would or wouldn’t have been willing to offer him after the 2014 season because they never got the chance. Other teams did get the chance to make offers to Machado and no one offered more than the Padres. And Stanton was coming off a better season when he was traded than when he was signed. Machado, on the other hand, was coming off his career best season when he was signed. That means in order for teams to take his contract his production has to improve from what it was in 2018 and it has to improve enough to offset the fact that he’s now 3 years older with 3 of his prime years straight up evaporated into the sun.
In the end, no matter how you cut it, slice it or dice it, no team is interested in trading for Manny Machado unless the Padres eat some of the contract and they don’t have to give up anything in return. And it’s going to stay that way whether you like it or not!
MY FACTS > YOUR OPINION
@Steve Garvey’s Son LOL aren’t you the same guy who said Pedro Avila ABSOLUTELY wouldn’t have signed with the Padres if they hadn’t traded for him first? More delusion from you LOL
There are a dozen teams that would take Machado instantly.
@sdbaseballguy If that is the case why didn’t they offer him that contract when he was a free agent?
Waiting for an answer…
Manny Machados contract is underwater
Padres would have to pay money and get nothing back in order for him to be traded-
This is not NBA2K folks
I doubt you could find more than 3 or 4 teams even willing to consider taking on Manny’s contract.
Remove, I can get conspiratorial, too. Maybe there was collusion going on? You’re not the only one that can cherry-pick anecdotal evidence without looking at the big picture.
@Steve Garvey’s Son Not sure where the conspiratorial part of your comment came from. But I am not cherry picking anything. Manny Machado was coming off his best season so far when he became a free agent and thanks to the Dodgers he didn’t even cost a draft pick to sign. And yet, teams VEHEMENTLY refused to go to 10 years guaranteed on him. It’s not clear why, but what is clear, and what matters, is that the other 29 teams had ZERO intention of going to 10 years guaranteed on Manny Machado. If they weren’t willing to pay him until he was 36 then, why would they want to do it now? Again, Manny Machado was not some unproven guy when the Padres signed him. There was nothing stopping other teams from matching the Padres’ offer except the problems in their own heads.
Waiting for an answer…
Still waiting for an answer to the question of why teams would pay Machado all that money now when they weren’t interested in doing it 3 years ago when he was coming off his best season so far and was 3 years younger.
None will. Least of all Clevinger who had TJ surgery in 2020.
See kids, THIS is how you lie to yourself. – Seidler added: “I one-hundred percent believe in [Preller], one-hundred percent trust him. And that’s not because I’m blindly loyal.”
How many times have we heard ownership say something like, “So and so’s position in this organization has never been more secure.”? Within a year – practically without exception – that individual becomes unemployed. If I was in the media interviewing the owner, I’d put the question this way: “If AJ Preller was a cat, how many lives would you say he has left?”
Was there a “for now” at the end of that sentence?
As a Dodgers fan, this is great news!
6 full seasons Preller is 428-544 that’s sad
It’s SEVEN FULL SEASONS.
he’s done a good job to this point. i think he did his job getting talent, that talent just didnt deliver.
If the talent he acquired didn’t deliver then he didn’t do a good job. His only job is to acquire talent that delivers.
This is one bizzarro team….
STILL waiting for someone to provide actual proof that Manny Machado wouldn’t have signed if they hadn’t signed Eric Hosmer first, all other things equal.
And no, speculation and anecdotes are not proof.
I’m sure it is in the mix. It’s not any one thing (though the biggest thing was clearly the money). Machado wanted to play for a team that was part of a culture of winning. I think the up-and-coming Tatis, though, played a much larger role than Hosmer as Manny has loosely said as much. Remember, Manny sometimes can be media “shy” due to previous comments of his that have blown up. We don’t always know what he is thinking. The best article I’ve seen on the reasons Machado signed w/ the Padres is here:
A February 2019 Sports Illustrated story is the most detailed and nuanced explanation for why he signed with the Padres. I’d post the link but I think I’ll get flagged. Just Google it.
Question: why even bring this up? Did someone claim Hosmer was the reason he signed with the Padres?
@Steve Garvey’s Son…
“I’m sure it is in the mix.”
Your proof?
“It’s not any one thing…”
Actually it is only one thing. That one thing is money. Manny’s agent said at the start of his free agent offseaosn that they wouldn’t consider offers for less than $300m guaranteed and he signed with the ONE team that offered him that. This is not a difficult concept.
“Question: why even bring this up? Did someone claim Hosmer was the reason he signed with the Padres?”
You hear people make this claim on here, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit from time to time. Then when you ask them for proof they either block/mute you, go into hiding or post some speculation about how Lozano wouldn’t have taken Preller’s offer seriously if he hadn’t signed Hosmer first (which, I’m not sure how you don’t take the offer seriously when you are staring right at it but OK)
It shouldn’t be
I always thought Preller was the biggest moron in San Diego. Turns out he is second behind the owner
“I’d rather get the right 34-year-old than the wrong 64-year-old”. In most businesses, just saying that would get you in a lot of trouble. I can’t believe he came out and said that publicly. That’s not going to sit well with Bruce Bochy either if he was actually considering coming back to the game. No wonder why the San Diego Padres can’t get out of their own way! They should want to hire the right person for the job, period!
Remember when the Marlins brought back “Trader Jack McKeon” as Manager at something like 74 years old. He managed them to their 2nd World Series title the same year!
Ageism andAge Discrimination is an ugly and illegal thing.
Padres should try to bring McKeon back. Can’t be any worse than Tingler or Green
Sounds like a prelude to bringing in Brad Ausmus as Manager.
Bruce Bochy is my choice.
I doubt that Bochy would work under micro managing AJ Preller.
That is why Preller must hire inexperienced managers since veteran managers do not want to deal with all the chaos created by Preller…
Bochy is retired and, as you mentioned, won’t want to work under AJ Preller.
Brad Ausmus is basura
Bochy has told the Media multple times this year that he would like another shot at managing an MLB team.
It won’t be the Mets or Yankees or Rangers.
Bochy would prefer a West Coast team
I did hear interesting speculation regarding the Mets search for a PoBO. With Beane, Epstein and David Stearns all highly unlikely to either be interested (the former two) and the latter unlikely to be made available, that Brian Sabean might become a top contender. Sabean is supposedly looking to return. He helped build the Yankee system that won 4 world championships, and then of course went on to run the Giants, which won three. If he ended up as Mets PoBO, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see Bochy follow.
Padres don’t pay managers. Bochy isn’t working for peanuts
AJ Preller’s resume in 7 years as #Padres GM
465-567
0 winning seasons in a full 162 game year
One fake 60 game playoff run
Fired 3 managers & over 30 coaches
Signed Hosmer to the worst contract in franchise history
Yet Seidler’s trust in Preller “Is as high as it can be.”
Look, Peter Seidler is in a Mike Ilitch-like race to win a title. Multiple cancer survivor. He can’t take it with him, so Preller’s extension is not stopping him from turning the keys over to Theo/Boch if he thought that was superior to Preller/Puppet.
Seidler has said the same thing before about ages 34 and 64. He’s about 67 himself, so it’s a matter of “I can say that because I am one”. I think he was referring to Ron Washington, the media’s pick, last time.
Problem is that they keep hiring the wrong 34-yr-olds over the correct 64-yr-old (the one who lives up the road from the ballpark – and whose wife sits and polishes his 3 rings). No one ran a bullpen like that guy, and he is universally loved, admired, respected by players. Makes too much sense to hire him?
None of what Seidler said seems plausible to outsiders because they’re often too Patriot-like in their secrecy. We don’t really know the critical factors that makes Preller such a keeper after last season’s shameful retreat.
What locals know is that Petco Park is a hopping place every night, a treasured and unique period of fun in Padreland. It’s pretty much all they have there. Titles are better but fun tops dull. Preller made that happen. Next act, Titletown? Doesn’t seem likely, but Seidler’s brilliant mind is banking otherwise.
Preller didn’t have a damn thing to do eith Petco Park and what goes on there.
No, but putting out a team with exciting players and high expectations certainly helps.
Bochy is 66. Washington is 69. Tingler is 40.
Will fans other than Dodgers fans go to Padres games in 2022? Will Padres fan buy Preller lies again in 2022 or realize all he wants is to sell tickets.
Petco is a huge draw for Giants fans. Watching the games on TV, when the Giants are playing, sometimes sounds like a Giants home game.
If you leave a guy in a job long enough he’s bound to win something. Isn’t this the guy who cheated a number of years ago? What else has he done? Handed out huge contracts? Yeah that’s difficult. No results should equal no job.
He was suspended when he was with the Rangers before the Padres hired him. He was then suspended for not disclosing full medical records on players. And he got the Padres fined for holding illegal overseas workouts with underage latin players.
Three strikes. Two with the Padres.
WHAT are you guys complaining about?????
IT’S NOT LIKE.YOU.GUYS HAVE AL AVILA RUINING, I mean running your team…..
If I had to bet on which team has a better future, between the Tigers and Padres, I’d bet on the Tigers. Tigers have a much better farm system. The Padres have been able to keep most of their top prospects, but the system as a whole has been gutted, and now lacks organizational depth. Padres might be better in the short term, but I like where the Tigers are in regards to a season or two down the road.
The Padres haven’t kept any of their “top” prospects besides Gore, Abrams, and Hassell. They’re ranked 13-15 by most publications, including FanGraphs.
Besides the Tigers, look at the White Sox. They’re garm is good and deep.
Padre fan still playing prospect game
The first thing on new managers agenda should be to abolish the swag chain.
Tatis arrived with the sugar cane chop, a salute to workers in the fields of Dominica. A salute to proud hard-working people.
The swag chain is all about: Look at me!!! It sucks. I get the feeling Machado didn’t like Tatis putting his label on the team and tried to re-brand it this year. The difference being the chop was righteous and the swag chain is self-gloating.
Machado works as hard as anyone but the swag chain was a bad idea.
Musgrove will be lucky to be average over his contract and Sneii has only averaged 4.5 innings his whole career.
I looked at The Padres outfielders and compared them to Dodgers and giants., I would not take any Padres Players as better. All padres catchers suck, so the only player that is league average is 2nd base, shortstop, and third basemen. All pitchers are suspect both starters and relievers, maybe overuse. Lamont, I flat don’t know what’s up with him. Down the stretch he looked bad in relief.
There are a few more unpaid interns in the ticket office who are getting fired so Preller can distribute more blame.
He’s a pathetic weasel. Perfect fit to head up this pathetic team’s front office…..
Move on Machado guys, we will find out in 2 years because after 5 he can opt out. Agree Preller has helped put lots of fannies in the stands. But the list of terrible moves save Tatis, Cronenworth and Musgrove is staggeringly bad. Still you wonder if the Pads arent really the “Angels South” the tradition is a killer. Many lament the failure to acquire Scherzer, but no freaking way he comes to San Diego and Doesnt stink it up
Opting out get real no team dumb enough other than Padres to give him more than 30 mil per year
The only reason the Padres can now be considered underachievers instead of afterthoughts.