MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa pinch-hit for the main section of this week’s Padres newsletter, taking a look at the Trade Deadline philosophy – and the overall aggressiveness – of general manager A.J. Preller. |
They’re going for it. And they have been for years now. That would be the Padres, who have shown an indefatigable willingness to make bold moves to bolster the roster as San Diego pursues a World Series title that has eluded the franchise since its inception 56 years ago. The club has committed nearly $1.5 billion to its top eight players in terms of contract value -- Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Jake Cronenworth and Nick Pivetta. It has also stunned the baseball world by parting with several blue-chip prospects in order to land some of the biggest names in the game -- most notably Blake Snell and Darvish in 2020, Juan Soto and Josh Hader in 2022, and Mason Miller about six weeks ago. But how -- and why -- do the Padres do it? Despite the big spending and blockbuster trades, they haven’t won the World Series yet, and although they reached the National League Championship Series in 2022, they’ve alternated strong and mediocre seasons since 2020. |
“If we’re getting a team that, year in and year out, competes for a world championship,” said general manager A.J. Preller, “that’s the goal -- to give the fan base of San Diego a chance to do it.” In other words, it’s the notion that you’ve got to pull out all the stops, and not just occasionally -- not with the current postseason format, where pitfalls abound over four rounds to a championship. If you reach the dance consistently, the chances go up that you’ll win it all someday. Preller, known as one of the more bold and perhaps even daring GMs out there, obviously has the backing of ownership in that cause. But it takes more than being adventurous to make it happen. The Padres reduced payroll in 2024. But according to CEO Erik Greupner, that’s not going to stop them from being aggressive moving forward. “We're not backing away from the plan to try to win a World Series championship,” Greupner said last February. “And we're doing everything we possibly can, putting every resource we can into fielding a competitive team that can compete for that championship.” |
That includes a willingness to exceed the competitive balance tax threshold this year after San Diego signed Pivetta to a four-year, $55 million contract this past offseason. So, here we are again. It’s September, and with under three weeks left in the regular season, the Padres are again chasing the Dodgers in pursuit of the first division title in franchise history. Last weekend, Preller was on hand as the Padres took two out of three from the Rockies in Colorado. As he sat in the visitors’ dugout and looked out at the group he assembled warming up prior to the second game, he smiled when asked whether all this was sustainable. “I think there are a few things,” Preller said. “You’ve gotta have a farm system that is productive, so you’ve gotta hit the Draft every year. You’ve gotta go international every year. That’s a big part of it. “But the other thing, too, is that we’ve made a commitment to a core group of players. Part of that is philosophical -- that, year in and year out, you want to look up as a fan and say, ‘They have some really quality players coming back.’ We’re not starting from scratch.” |
San Diego has had a strong farm system, one stocked with enough talent to pull off so many blockbuster deals. And through scouting and development, the organization has been able to repeatedly “reload the system,” as Preller put it. Additionally, most of the deals have been for players with substantial team control remaining. “We got three years of Juan Soto,” Preller said. “Multiple years of Josh Hader. Now you’re looking at four-plus years of Mason Miller.” It adds up to a big league roster underpinned by the philosophy that a postseason appearance every few years just won’t cut it. “You take enough shots where you’re there every year,” Preller said, “[because] you’ve gotta actually get in to be able to do it. It’s hard to win a world championship. There’s only one team each year that’s viewed as the team that got it right.” Will this be the year the Padres finally get it right? With October near, we’ll know soon enough. “The more opportunity we get to get in there,” Preller said, “the more chances you have to have that one year to make it special and go all the way.” |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Who is the all-time leader in triples at Petco Park? A. Everth Cabrera B. Mike Cameron C. Manuel Margot D. Will Venable |
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• I took part in an AMA on Reddit on Thursday. Some of the highlights included questions about the playoff rotation and the No. 2 spot in the lineup. • Fernando Tatis Jr. did it again. He robbed another home run on Tuesday -- and afterward said it might’ve been his best yet. • Michael King was solid but unspectacular in his return to the mound on Tuesday. He’ll have three more starts before the truly important ones -- and will the Padres even need him come October? |
FALL LEAGUE ROSTERS ANNOUNCED |
Ethan Salas is back in the Arizona Fall League. After missing most of the season with a stress reaction in his back, Salas will be making up for lost at-bats in the Fall League as one of seven Padres who were named to the Peoria Javelinas’ roster on Wednesday. Salas, the Padres’ No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 82 overall, will be joined by right-hander Isaiah Lowe (Padres’ No. 26); outfielder Braedon Karpathios (No. 29), infielder Ryan Jackson, right-hander Maikel Miralles, right-hander Carson Montgomery, right-hander Johan Moreno and right-hander Tucker Musgrove. It’ll be a fascinating month for Salas, who has seen his stock plummet a bit as a result of the injury. He dropped nearly 60 spots in MLB Pipeline’s midseason Top 100 re-rank. The Padres remain bullish as ever on the 19-year-old catcher, despite some of his struggles at the plate. Following the deal that sent Leo De Vries to the A’s, Salas is now the jewel of San Diego’s system. |
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D. Will Venable Venable had 17 triples at Petco Park across his nine big league seasons. (Jackson Merrill, who added two more this week, already has eight.) |
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