San Diego was bumped from the postseason by the Cubs in the Wild Card round. Despite the early exit, the club is not looking to make major leadership changes on the field or in the front office. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that both manager Mike Shildt and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller are expected to maintain their roles heading into the 2026 season. Shildt has two years remaining on his contract after signing an extension last offseason. Preller is entering the final year of his deal.
The Padres have reached the playoffs in both seasons under Shildt. They beat the Braves in the Wild Card round last year before falling to the Dodgers in the NLDS. San Diego had earned a postseason berth just twice in the 21st century heading into the shortened 2020 season. They’ve now done it in four of the past six seasons.
Shildt took over in 2024 after Bob Melvin jumped ship to manage the Giants. He’s piled up 183 wins with the team. Shildt had previously helmed the Cardinals from 2018 to 2021. He first took over in an interim capacity after Mike Matheny was fired midway through the 2018 campaign. Shildt guided St. Louis to a 41-28 record and shed the interim label before the season ended. He took the Cardinals to the playoffs in the next three seasons, but was fired after 2022. He latched on with San Diego as a player development consultant and interim third base coach in 2023.
Preller has been with the team since 2014, first signing on as general manager. He was handed a contract extension ahead of the 2021 season and given the title of president of baseball operations. That previous extension came when Preller was entering the final year of his contract, which is the situation he finds himself in once again. Acee mentioned that some of the same sources that said Shildt and Preller would be back in 2026 also expect an extension for the latter to be announced soon.
Preller made waves immediately after taking over as the lead decision maker in San Diego. In his first offseason, he completely retooled the Padres’ outfield through trades for Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, and Justin Upton. Preller then secured an elite closer by dealing for Craig Kimbrel. While the transaction-heavy winter didn’t translate to positive on-field results, as the Padres scuffled to a 74-88, it set the tone for Preller’s tenure. He’s been one of the more active executives over the past decade, both in the trade market and in free agency.
San Diego had its first winning season under Preller in 2020. The Padres received a Wild Card bid after going 37-23 in the shortened season. They dispatched the Cardinals (and Shildt) in the first round, their first postseason series win since 1998. Preller was back at it that offseason, revamping the pitching staff by trading for Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove.
Preller has inked some of the biggest contracts in history, including Manny Machado’s 10-year, $300MM deal and Xander Bogaerts’ 11-year, $280MM pact. San Diego’s payroll exceeded $250MM in 2023, though the club has trimmed down expenses in recent seasons. After coming in at around $211MM this past season, FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool estimates the Padres’ payroll at roughly $194MM for 2026.
San Diego is set to lose some key contributors this offseason. Luis Arraez and Dylan Cease are free agents, which will subtract from the top of the order and the top of the rotation. Robert Suarez is expected to opt out of the remaining two years on his contract. Preller already acquired a replacement for Suarez when he landed Mason Miller at the 2025 trade deadline, but he’ll need to find fill-ins for Arraez and Cease. The potential loss of Michael King, if either side declines their end of his mutual option, will press Preller to find multiple rotation options behind Nick Pivetta, Darvish, and eventually Musgrove (recovering from Tommy John surgery).
Trade Preller for Brian Cashman please. As a Yankees fan.
Not for all the marbles in Manhattan! Hard pass. As a Padre fan.
Fine! Take Anthony Volpe too. He’s a shortstop btw.
Well you can never say that Preller is shy about making a move so I’m not even sure this was a thought at all? He’s done a lot of crazy things but for the most part put solid talent on the field when he had the owner behind him. But then the owner passed away and now the vultures rule the roost so IDK. Schildt is as solid as it gets so they should be good. Preller doesn’t function well on a leash.
I’m not seeing any vultures. He still has the #6 payroll.
Aloha Gwynning, my father would love Preller and Shildt with his Yankees! Not happening! You folks have a good team mixed with vets and strong youth. Gotta keep things in place so that the success continues. Enjoy your Aloha Friday! Mahalo!
Cardinals were stupid for getting rid of Shildt. Especially since Marmol has been an unmitigated disaster. Moseliak really screwed up that franchise.
Amen to that CubFan36 !!!!
It’s Fantastic Mozeliak is now Gone!!!
However —- What makes Cardinals Nation hate Mozeliak even worse —- he Refuses to take any Blame for the Cardinals hitting Rock Bottom his watch!!!
(How in Hades does the man think the organization got this bad off from the minor leagues to the major league club???? He was the president of baseball operations —— and he has no clue as to why this team has no Star players, No Ace pitchers, and not even any Semi -Star players or pitchers on the team!!!!
“IF” he had accepted at least some blame —- he could have left with some dignity!!!
Padres window was closed as soon as they traded for Soto. Gore, wood, Abrams all controllable cheaper players which padres badly need right now. Trying to hotshot your way to a World Series never works. Slow build.
@69th rounder, 420th HOFer But think of all the pitching they could have spent the difference in Bogaerts and Abrams’ salaries on!
fWAR and bWAR both say Gore > Vasquez
Those extensions would pay them peanuts during what would have been their pre-arb years.
Making more starts and pitching more innings matters a ton. Especially when Shildt would regularly yank Vasquez the moment the lead-off hitter came up for the third time or at the first sign of struggling.
I love how you left out the “during what would have been their pre-arb years.” The real money wouldn’t kick in until what would have been their free agent years but you already know that and just wanna troll. They would have plenty of money to spend on pitching.
Gore had more bWAR and fWAR. As they say, the best kind of ability is availability.
Never works correct that’s what I said I’m correct. It never works see Mets as well. Dodgers success comes from the farm.
Maybe not 1-3 year deals but 5 is doable (Snell). And all-in-all there’s no way Wood and Abrams would have cost them more than Bogaerts in an extension, especially when taking into account the time-value of money (granted there’s no way you know anything about that).
If he was available why did they send him down?
Mets now have a top 5 farm, they resisted moving prospects during this deadline. It showed on the field this season, but will be a huge help in the long run because their farm system is now stacked.
Preller is awful. He trades everyone’s signs big contracts and goes nowhere.
Yet they are competitive in the same division with the Dodgers, and have made the playoffs four out of the last five years. Also your grammar could use a little work.
You should add a comma after “Also.”
You’re correct. I did see that after I posted, Thank you for pointing that out. I guess I should have been more specific about ALLCAPS comment.
Or just don’t be a jackhat about it.
I will try to be less of a jackhat in the future. Nice walk-off error tonight. Go Phillies.
Use periods more appropriately and do not abuse commas and capital letters…..
Says the Philliesfan being a jackhat.
Ok Mr punctuation police
Anyways Preller is like the anti hero of GMs I feel like every year its either very good or very bad moves but never in between
Other than Bogaerts, what bad moves?
@nonchalanto What was the fourth year of the last 5 that they made the playoffs????
I stand corrected, 4 out of 6 years. And it was right there in the article.
Yet they have never won a championship
Is that all you want? I thought SD wanted to win the WS? I guess winning August was enough for you.
Padres have 13 postseason wins under Preller and 12 postseason wins from 1969-2014.
You’re not paying attention. Did you not read the article? 4 out of the last 6 years in the playoffs. They are winning more games than they’re losing. That’s a big improvement. They also sold out 70 something homes games out of 81. That’s second in MLB. That’s pretty impressive.
He’s just angry about Corbin Burnes.
The Padres attendance was the highest percentage of capacity in MLB.
Do they have an attendance trophy?
The Padres are not going to age well. Too many big contracts for guys on the wrong side of 30.
Dodgers are older, averaging over 30 years old.
Phillies are older.
Cubs are older
Blue Jays are older
Mets are older
Rangers are older
The Padres will be fine, especially with contracts for younger players like Tatis and Merrill locked in long term.
Yeah there are three deals that won’t age well. Darvish, which’s we are seeing right now. Manny and Xander. Both I believe have 8 years left on their deals. Should be able to cover it the next 5 years. Then we will have to wait and see.
Xander in particular could be an issue. Though the padres could dfa him the last couple of seasons like they did Hosmer.
Simm – Darvish salary drops a good chunk to offset. manny has shown zero decline so far so, I’m giving him a longer window.
X – he actually showed improvement in 2025 – likley because of being healthy – no wrist issues, etc. so, while I agree and have always agreed, his last years are going to be bad, by then his salary can be offset by some more young talent arriving in 2-3 years.
Having 1 “Hosmer” type contract to dump at the end isn’t crippling.
The problem isn’t the age of the players, or giving out the odd backloaded contract. Everybody does that. The problem is the staggering amount of money they have allocated to players who will be non-functioning MLB players, or bench players that will be drawing huge salaries at 37-41 years old. (Machado and Xander)
They will likely be paying out roughly $300 million to those two alone for years they will either be awful or not even playing.
That’s a massive amount of money, way more than those other teams you listed have on their books long term, to players who will be toast..
It’s 100% dead money. If Tatis doesn’t age well, they will be a dumpster fire payroll-wise as he is signed on for 5 years, $37 million per season for his age 30-35 seasons.
Then you’re talking about setting close to half a billion dollars on fire.
The runs
One element that you have not factored into your position is how much less $37 mil will be in 10-12 years from now (I know it’s hard to type that but time value of money is a thing and just looking back 10 years for evidence of how much difference an average player was paid then verses today is helpful to get the concept).
I’m not sure where 300 mil comes from but yeah, there are a couple of years of X for sure and maybe 1 or 2 of Manny but again, what is an average utility player making in 10 years?
If you assume that Xander and Machado will be not be very good at baseball in their age 37-40 seasons, that’s around $270 million of sunk cost.
And to be honest, I would wager that both of those guys are going to be in serious decline well before that. Xander moreso than Machado but who knows.
I get the price of talent keeps going up but I just can’t believe that any organization is not going to be impacted by setting $300 million on fire.
And to me, that’s actually a low estimate in terms of how much dead weight they’re going to be carrying… not hard to envision a scenario where it’s close to $400-500 million depending on how Tatis ages.
(And whether or not a guy like Xander just falls off a cliff in 2-3 years.)
Manny has actually been on a up trend so, until he stabilized or declines from here on (see Mookie and Freddie for comps), I’m going to hold out reasonable hope.
X actually may be healthy and give an up 2026 but yeah, he is sooner than later.
So, if they would have paid out the money each of earlier years which would have reduced your bonfire theory but also would have prohibited acquiring other players, that would have been better?
Sure, the year you eat the money is tough on paper but it’s money spent years ago if you broaden the business scope.
Darvish was the ideal contract when it was signed. Low AAV and annual salaries decreasing as he ages. In 2025 Darvish had family issues so severe that he took time off without pay. That had to have a negative impact on his play on the field. While I don’t expect a 39-year-old Darvish to pitch at his career best, a return to around a 4 ERA over 20-24 starts would make him well worth the $15 million he will earn. He is an extremely solid #4 starter.
In all long-term contracts the last few years favor the player. The teams expect and normally get large surplus value early in the deal. Manny is a great example of that. He provided $23 million in surplus value on his $17 million salary in 2025. By 2029 when he is making $39 million you can expect that to reverse. You can be sure that the team understands that.
Bogaerts has a low AAV contract. He is 56th in AAV in 2025. If he continues to provide 2+ WAR like he did in 2025, no knowledgeable fan will have much room to complain.
Riz – see Web’s details – your point is useless as it may be accurate, that is just the result of building teams for a period of time (see all of the other teams older than SD) trying to win. Now, if you get luck with some youth and a couple of extra years of an older vet, you can trade away a player or two and manage to extend the window. If not, you have to endure the tear down / rebuild process.
Even though he’s kinda happ hazard and flys by the seat of his pants at times.
A lot of Fans of other teams would love to have Preller and the Padres Owners —- to back him up —- in charge of their favorite teams!!!
Cardinals Nation Would love to have them!!!!!
Preller has kept the Padres in the playoffs and continually competitive with the billionaire Dodger Players!!!
Cardinals Nation Would love to have them!!!!!
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The magic doesn’t work quite as well if you don’t have the $270M to spend like the Padres have. According to Cots, SD outspent StL by $105M and finished 12 games ahead of them.
I’m not choosing sides here, but if Moz was given an extra $105M, how many more does he win?
Not sure if the Padres will do much better under those two.
They should make Preller hire a GM as a condition for an extension. He needs to be reeled in some.
GM won’t reel him in. Only the ownership group can do that. They care first about money. Preller has put a club on the field that is bringing in solid revenue especially for a team with very little tv money.
Fans either love or hate Preller but at least he isn’t boring.
Maybe ownership will catch on when Leo De Vries becomes a superstar and they moved him for a relief pitcher
It’s Mason Miller at the end of the day. He’s a stud.
Is he going to become a starter? Every team can find good relief pitchers without trading the #1 prospect in baseball
Miller was arguably the best pitcher in baseball after the trade. 0.77 ERA, 54.2% SO rate, 1.4 WAR in 23.1 IP over 22 appearances. He threw the fastest pitch in history in the playoffs while not giving up a hit or walk over 2.2 IP. Whether he is the Padres closer for the next 4 seasons before he reaches free agency or he is transitioned back into starting, his value is secure. He is one of the best pitchers in the game.
De Vries is going to be a really good player someday. That day is not today. You have to give to get. The Padres gave up one of the top prospects in baseball, De Vries was #3 at the time of the trade. They got one of the best proven pitchers in MLB.
Not every team can find a pre-arb closer that throws 104+ and strikes out nearly half of the batters he faces. How much is Edwin Diaz making? How much is Hader making? Miller is better and will make less over the next 3 years than either of those two will make in one year.
Remember, the Padrs also got Sears in that trade. Not a pitcher I like, but one that Preller obviously liked enough to ask for him,
The Brewers closer is a waiver claim from the Cubs. Padres have good relief pitchers thst came from waivers and Japan. Louie Varland on Toronto was a great trade acquisition without giving up the farm. Mariners best relief pitches came from the Padres for Austin Nola and Taylor Williams. You flat out don’t need to trade a player of Leo De Vries caliber for a RP. If they wanted to trade him should have done so for a bat that would fix their anemic offense
Love this measured viewpoint. Miller immediately steps in as the lead dog in the pen, one that you can build around. Sears isn’t perfect, but he is controllable, and can be servicable. Some players struggle to adjust post-trade. I think he will be fine as a backend rotation option in 2026. He will eat innings.
Padres prospects are young, and they have a knack for promoting them aggressively, which enhances their value. They also have a knack for international scouting & finding value in the draft, one of the better teams that do it, and that is a benefit from Preller’s leadership.
They will always find a way to find value. Preller is fantastic at that, look at how they
Or Joe Ryan.
You have exactly one example? One that has been with the Brewers 3 years and is making 3 times what Miller is earning or will earn until 2027. Totally laughable response.
Munoz was a minor leaguer that didn’t start pitching for the Mariners for 2 seasons after the trade.
You need to give up value to get value, and the value of Miller is at the top of the charts. He will still be providing the Padres with value for at least 1 more season before De Vries plays his 1st major league game. He will continue to provide the Padres with top of the charts value for 4 more seasons.
I gave a bunch of examples of cost efficient ways to get relief pitching. Mason Miller is great but it’s a coin flip chance he blows out his arm. He already had a UCL sprain which is not a good sign. How did throwing 104 work for Ben Joyce? De Vries isn’t in the majors now so he must be traded is the awful logic that Preller keeps setting the Padres back with. They would have the best roster in baseball if they stayed the course and never went for Soto. Keep going all in to peak at a 4-1 NLCS defeat
Its a coin flip whether any pitcher blows out his arm. Are you saying no team should ever trade for a pitcher because of that.
You gave exactly no relevant examples because neither of those players stepped into the role they are in today immediately.
Every team in baseball not named the Dodgers or Yankees wishes that they could be set back to only win 90 games and make the playoffs in successive seasons.
Now go away. I have limited time for trolls and you have exhausted all of yours.
This is a non story. Why wouldn’t they keep both? They’re under contract and have been winning.
Fully agree
The new owner did promise a “thorough review of our organization” in a recent letter to fans. Reading that at least gave me a little pause.
This could of been stated in a few sentences…
This could have been an email!!!
Winning some games. Not much else. Why wouldn’t MLBTR do the same type of manager/ exec status update that they have been doing for every team ?
Geez that’s an ordinary history. I didn’t realise. No wonder their fans are all so sensitive.
I think you might be confused. This isn’t a team outlook/ update Fopsy. I look forward to those. This is a non story as there haven’t been even rumors about the team not retaining the manager or GM. There are rumors about extending AJ, and I’m guessing those have legs.
Nah. Not confused at all. It’s just the usual story of a Padre gang member finding a reason to dump on MLBTR. It’s pathetic. So insecure. There have been numerous similar articles on other teams. Preller has 12 months to go. I didn’t know that and I’m sure plenty of others didn’t either. They never run it down. That alone is reason to write the article. Cmon. Grow up and leave them alone.
I’m grown up, but thanks for the kind suggestion. It would be like having a headline “Giants decide to retain Posey”” despite no rumors to the contrary.
Non-story.
Preller is negotiating his extension with FO this month and meanwhile is active signing international players as we speak. Figure it out.
I don’t want to figure out Padre business. I want to read it here. Much easier for a Giants fan. Hence my defence of their efforts.
Grown up in body maybe. Lot of evidence suggesting the opposite when it comes to the mental. The non stop criticism is as childish as fark.
Not criticizing the article, I just find the title suggestive without cause. I’m allowed to speak to that despite your interest in policing here. You on the other hand are being critical, whiney, insulting, and really saying nothing much at all. As per usual.
Ha ha. Yes you are. It’s non stop. You can’t help yourself. Zero discipline. Like a child.
This place is awesome. I’ll always defend the people who enjoy it, but childishly criticise it non stop. It’s called showing respect to people that do something for you.
Oops.
Replace defend with attack.
Ahhh the irony in seeing a poster tell others (who are being forthright in their opinions) to grow up as they resort to ad hominem name calling. Expect nothing less from ya, Fopps!
Go Pads
Ad hominem for sure. The frequency is childish. It’s virtually every Padre article. Brew and the gang find something to get butth&rt about. The people that provide this service deserve way more respect. I’m not backing down from that. Saying you have respect for people and then acting the opposite is what children do.
Each and every writer throughout mankind’s history has bore witness to criticism and/or opinionated blowback. I’m pretty sure the grown men that write here not only take it in stride, but can defend themselves when necessary. Carry on though fopp, you’re fighting a good fight as long as you’re having fun.
I think they might be too busy to bother. Have you noticed how many articles they pump out for us. It’s all rather impressive.
It’s a cultural thing, but it’s also fun. Down here there is 2 types of people. Sh&t Carnts and Good Carnts. You might have seen the viral video that illustrated that simple cultural view recently. Good Carnts have responsibilities when it comes to people being Sh@t Carnts. It’s a hard getting out of a lifelong habit. No doubt about that.
“I think they might be too busy to bother”
Exactly. It’s us poor chaps with too much time on our hands that tend to nitpick or find a fight when we should be too busy to bother as well! Cheers fopps 🍻
Ha ha. I’ll try and stay busier…..cheers.
Like any GM, Prellar has strengths and weaknesses. Time shows he routinely has one of the best, if not the best drafts year in and year out which is why their farm system is so stacked with talent before trades. The Padres will always have a steady stream of young valuable players as a result. And he is bold, bold enough to win.
But his shortcomings are obvious. He makes terrible trades the result in losing guys like CJ Abrams and James Wood. And his long term deal for Bogaerts was ill advised.
The Soto trade was for old man Seidler. Just like old man Illitch prematurely extending Miggy. PoBOs/GMs can’t block a dying man’s wishes to want a ring.
How’d it work out for them though?
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretsky
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. — Wayne Gretzky” —Michael Scott
How was that a bad trade? The Padres are still up on that trade in terms of WAR and now you have to add in several more years of the players they got for Soto in trade.
Signing Bogaerts was only ill-advised in hindsight. At the time they got the best hitting SS in the game knowing they were moving Tatis off the position. Signing a 5+ WAR SS for $25.5 million AAV was a bargain based on past performance.
When you trade a handful of promising prospects the chances are one or more of them will be good.
When you have traded away as many as Preller has then there are a bunch.
Teams generally like trading with Preller because he is known to get good prospects in his system. They also like trading with him because he will actually pull the trigger.
Pivetta and Sheets might have been the most savvy moves of the offseason, Laureano the best move at the TD
The Cubs series still bugs me. But at the beginning of the season I didn’t expect this team to win 90 games. And if you told me they’d do it with Cease in a down year and without King, Merrill, Cronenworth and Darvish for a big chunk of the season, I’d expect them not to make the playoffs. They look fine next year. The lack of slug needs to be fixed at 1B/DH, and they need to add a #2/3 type SP (or two). Healthy Laureano, Merrill and Tatis will equal best OF in baseball. Money available with Hoz contract done with, and FAs off the books. The bullpen Without Suarez will still as good as it gets
One of the great things is the Padres have so much money coming off the books that they can easily add a SP and a 1B/DH.
People also forget that they have a few guys in the minors that WILL impact the major league team in 2026.
Campusano was the best hitter in AAA. He will get a roster spot. Most likely backup catcher/DH/1B.
Eguy Rosario got hurt twice, a broken ankle in winter ball in the Caribbean and then surgery for a sports hernia that put him out until August. He was expected to make the opening day squad in 2025 at the start of the offseason.
Tirso Ornelas had a cup of coffee and then got injured as well. If you saw him down the stretch for El Paso, you know he can hit. With a good spring he may make the Padres squad as the #4 OF.
Bryce Johnson is another player that has done everything he was asked in the minors and showed well in his short stint with the Padres in 2025. He could lock down that 4th Of spot.
Bradgely Rodriguez showed late in the season that he belongs. He should stick in the pen next season.
Padres need a middle of the rotation SP, a 1B or DH with serious pop, and some infield depth.
As you said Brew, the OF and bullpen are as good as it gets. Manny, Bogaerts, Cronenworth, and Fermin are locked in at their positions. Sheets is either the DH or 1B.
Good points Web. I’m one of those people who tends to forget about the Eguys and Tirsos out there, and they could definitely play a role in 2026. It will be interesting to see what becomes of Campusano, the Alex Pujols of AAA. If they end up trying to covert Morejon back to SP, BradRod could step up big time in the pen. He will anyway.
Campu is a sad example of a guy who really needs a change of scenery. No way a guy with that kind of bat in AAA gets only 20-30 innings in a year, in clumps of 5-6 innings, and inning at a time, on other teams. And, his catching must be come kinda horrible not to get an opportunity in 2025, considering what the Padres had in his place. Either Niebla or Schildt or both, have real problems with him. I think Campu will end up in a “trash for trash” kinda of trade, which I fear the Pads will end up losing. However, that’s the breaks of minor league development.
As far as Morejon is concerned, if I were anyone who cared about the guy, I’d say “Son, your destiny is as a top of the league closer. You’re finally healthy and successful; ride that horse and don’t look back.”. While moving Miller into the rotation is debatable, unless Morejon himself is demanding it, turning him back into a start would be most unwise.
Personally I hope Miller and Morejon remain RPs, why mess with success?
Campusano’s defense improved greatly in 2025. In 52 games and 406 innings played at catcher in El Paso his Baseball Prospectus based CDA was 1.6. If that was in the majors, it would have ranked him about 20th just behind Elias Diaz and in front of Jonah Heim.
That is still far below Fermin at 3.2, but certainly good enough to be on MLB roster and his bat should get him consistent playing time at DH when not catching and in AAA he had 40 starts as DH and another 12 at 1B.
His CERA was 4.67. That doesn’t sound good until you realize that the team average ERA was 5.68. When he was catching the ERA was a full point lower than the team average. In the minors it’s hard to tell how that compares when the catching the same pitchers, but it does show that compared to our other AAA catchers Duran and Roberts that Campusano was doing a good job calling games. Or maybe during the games he caught, the pitchers or bench made all the pitch calls. No way to know for sure without talking to him, Pete Zamora, or maybe Matt Adams.
Not sure what the issue is that is keeping him off the Padres roster, but it’s not baseball skills related.
Campusano is the dictionary definition of a AAAA player.
Idk abour AAAA. He has hit major league pitching in the past. But he’s been pretty much unplayable on both sides of the ball the last 2 years. Might be a change of scenery candidate. How many options does he have left?
But Mo says Mike Schildt is a serious problem. He had NO CHOICE but to fire him. Cardinals fans are so unfair. So, so, unfair!!!
Shildt has some issue just like very other manager but he has won 90 games in every year he has managed.
Hard to argue that what he does isn’t working. Winning the division will always be a long shot when you have the dodgers in your division.
Padres spent 211 on last years payroll, dodgers after tax spent 500m. Only the Mets and maybe the Yankees have the ability to spend near where the dodgers are now.
Shildt needs to quit being so stubborn in his ways .Throwing out the same lineup night after night when the top of the lineup was struggling to produce was frustrating.
Putting Manny and tatis at the bottom of the lineup wasn’t going to change anything, just rearranging the deck chairs
Arraez in the two hole behind tatis is what I was referring to to
So you are saying San Diego is the titanic?
I’m fine with it. Preller does everything he can to put together a competitive team. He also can restock a farm system in no time. Plus at the trade deadline everyone wants their GM to be as aggressive as Preller. Schildt is a little too cautious sometimes, but other than that I’m good with him. They need a new hitting coach. It always looks like they are lost up there like they did no scouting of the opposition. Whenever they face the guy that’s 1-8 with a 7 ERA, they make him look like Cy Young.
Smart fans want their GM to take a more measured approach at the deadline. What exactly has Preller’s aggressiveness gotten him?
First time in team history btw back to back.
The last few years the Padres have had a roster that was competitive and with a little luck could have won a World Series.
That hasn’t happened yet but even the dodgers had major issues getting over that hump for a while. The Phillies have the issue right now. The brewers who have been to the playoffs a ton of times in recent years haven’t either.
Playoffs are tough to get right but first you have to get there. Preller at this point has been able to do that. They prob should be on 6/6 in making the playoffs but a collapse in 21’ and I still can’t believe the 2023 team did so poorly.
How long until they ban this account too Harrison?
He also can restock a farm system in no time.
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You don’t know that. Many teams have had good runs of prospects, only to see their scouting system go south.
Now that they are regularly contending he can’t restock the farm faster than he can rebuild it. Especially when he refuses to sell on seasons where he frankly should have like 2023. Gotta hope Kavares Tears and Clark Candiotti pan out.
My humble opinion is the Padres are significantly better if Preller is a little more patient with some of the trading.
Trea Turner, Max Fried, Josh Naylor, James Wood, Mac Gore, CJ Abrams, Jarlin Susana, River Ryan, Andres Munoz, E Clase, Comp Pick Braves used to draft Austin Riley, De Vries, Joey Cantillo, Robert Gasser, Xavier Edwards, David Bednar, Kolek, Grisham, Thorpe, Snelling, Weathers.
Pretty amazing.
Since Seidler took over the team prior to the 2020 season Preller is up by 24.3 WAR in trades. That’s pretty good by any measure.
@websoulsurfer Wrong!
@Rally Goose? More like Rally Chicken! Yes you are
Probably would’ve won at least 1 World Series if he was patient
Explain your reasoning. Go position by position. Show us that you are smarter than Preller. Take advantage of hindsight.
I see the train of thought, but its impossible to do. Everything is so interrelated..if they hadn’t traded for Soto…Abrams would still be SS…so they wouldn’t have signed Boegarts….would they have thrown even more $ at Judge? Or Ohtani ? Or just not spent that $…also King wouldn’t have been there…would they have resigned Snell? Or is there another FA pitcher the last 2 yrs? Change 1 big move and you can talk yourself into a chain reaction creating a superteam…
websoulsurfer, considering they couldn’t hit this year, Abrams and Wood would’ve fit amazingly in their line-up. Considering they might lose King and Cease this off-season, the Soto trade(s) turned out to be a big nothing for San Diego.
Yeah! Preller defenders love to bring up how they got 60% of their rotation for Soto but Gore replaces Vasquez, they still probably get Cease without the Soto trades just with someone like Robby Snelling as the headliner instead of Drew Thorpe (Snelling fits the White Sox’s timeline better than Thorpe anyway) and then if they don’t sign Bogaerts they can use that money to sign more pitching in free agency. Blake Snell said in an interview that he would have preferred to stay in San Diego all other things equal but that once he hit free agency they basically just extended him the QO (which was less a genuine offer that they expected him to take and moreso a formality to lock in the extra draft pick) and then never talked to him or his representation again.
Only pitcher who it would have been tough to get without Soto is Michael King because the Yankees never wanted to part with him in the first place but the Padres’ fortunes never hinged on getting that specific player. He’s a FA now anyway.
Again, go trade by trade, position by position and tell us exactly how they would have won a WS.
So far the Soto/Bell trade turned out incredibly well for the Padres and we have multiple more years to see how it turns out in the end.
Come on web! You know nothing a team can do guarantees a WS title. We do know that A. J. Preller hasn’t won or made it to the World Series in our timeline though.
At this point all that is left from the Soto/Bell trade is Vasquez. I think I take Abrams, Gore and Wood over that.
Jud, no matter what signings or trades a GM makes or how much money they spend, there is no way to guarantee a WS win. Fred thinks he can. So I asked him to spell out exactly how trade by trade, signing by signing, and season by season how he would have done it. He can’t.
Vasquez and Brito are Padres for 4 more seasons. Padres are up on that trade by double digit WAR.
Since that trade at the deadline in 2022:
The Padres have 3 postseason appearances including the NLCS and NLDS since that trade while the Nationals have been mired at the bottom of the standings.
Soto was better in 2022-2023 than Wood has been since being called up.
Vasquez has been as good or better than Gore.
Kim and Bogaerts have been better than Abrams.
Then add in what King, Cease, Higashioka, Vasquez, and Brito have and will bring to the table.
Would you have sat HSK for Abrams? No freaking way.
Would you sit or move Tatis or Merrill for Wood? Even a 2024 Profar? Would Wood even have been called up with Profar hitting .314/.408/.476/.884 with 18 HR through July of that season? No freaking way to all of those.
There are so many variables and almost all of them point to Preller having done the right thing. I question Seidler’s hiring of Bob Melvin, but as far as player personnel goes the only major piece traded for that has been a bust was Bell in that trade with the Nationals.
So if the Padres never trade for Soto they win the same number of NL pennants from 2022 to 2025 as in OTL and are in an infinitely better position for 2026 and beyond. Got it!
Without Soto and Bell would the Padres be a playoff team in 2022? They were 10 games over .500 at the deadline and finished 16 games over .500. Finishing 10 games over .500 wound have meant sitting at home in October. Instead, they went to the NLCS.
How about in 2024 without Cease, King, and Higashioka and Grisham in CF instead of Merrill? Probably not.
It’s tough to predict but the Padres only needed 86 wins to make the playoffs in 2022. The combination of Soto and Bell was worth 1.2 WAR for the Padres down the stretch in 2022. They won 89 games in OTL so without that trade they theoretically win 87 or 88 games. Still make it.
Cease and Merrill are still on the team in 2024 without the Soto trade and then Grisham probably gets traded on his own for whatever 17 y/o Venezuelan Preller likes most at the moment. Abrams, Gore and Wood produced 5.3 WAR in 2024 compared to 6.2 from King, Vasquez, Brito and Higgy. So Padres win 92 games instead of 93 and still make the playoffs.
If they don’t sign Xander Bogaerts (1.2 WAR in 2024) and use some of that money to extend Blake Snell (2.1 WAR in 2024, said he would have preferred to stay in San Diego but they didn’t even talk to him once he made it to FA) that cancels out the 0.9 WAR lost and answers the question you are about to ask of “Where do they fit Abrams and Wood?” They can put Abrams, Merrill, Kim or even Tatis at short, whoever they think is best defensively at the position and the rest go to the outfield.
At a certain point trolls have to be called out and muted. This is that time for you.
So disagreeing with websoulsurfer or whatever he is calling himself on any given day makes you a troll. Got it.
So that’s it then? You’re just gonna mute everyone who DARES disagree with you?
@web Well they can’t have won fewer World Series than they did in the last 11 years, lol!
They could have used Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, Joey Cantillo, Andres Munoz, Brent Rooker, CJ Abrams, Mac Gore and James Wood and got basically nothing by trading them. To say nothing of guys like Trea Turner, Zach Eflin and Max Fried which were bad trades but those dudes would have moved on as free agents by now even if not traded. Jakob Marsee had more WAR than Luis Arraez in 2025. And then I would have liked to see him use JP Sears instead of one of Bergert or Kolek in the Fermin trade (I don’t agree but BTV said at the time than Sears had more trade value than Kolek and Bergert combined).
The last part is impossible to say. Royals may have had no interest in Sears. Perhaps they would have swapped out one of them but who knows.
BTV said at the time that Sears had more trade value than both of them combined. If I had it my way they never trade for him at all and use whatever prospects they sent to the A’s to get Sears or Fermin instead and keep one/both of Bergert/Kolek. I don’t believe in Sears. Sue me.
Royals RHSP Bergerts,
Marlins rookie starting
CF Jakob Marsee the list is very long.
@Chisox35. I know we’re approaching Halloween and it’s the time of year to focus only on the dark side. But it would be sensible to also list the incoming players from his trades.
I can appreciate the positive approach.
I agree with the overall sentiment, but some don’t make sense contextually. Bednar is a great reliever, but I’d rather have a good starter in Musgrove. Xavier Edwards was swapped for Cronenworth; is anyone maligning a 2.5 WAR/yr player as a return? Weathers is still a #5/6, Thorpe and Ryan are recovering from TJ, as did Gasser this year. Of course, many of these guys will get multiple bites at the apple.
Preller is obviously on one end of prospect timelines, but you only have 40 roster spots (including injuries) to protect players before the Rule 5 draft kicks in. A team with abundant minor league talent should consolidate prospect value to supplement organizational/ML deficiencies, provided it coincides with their contention window, payroll, etc. I think it’s a separate and valid question if the players they’re sending out and acquiring are giving them the best shot to succeed now and later.
Could have signed Musgrove without trading for him first.
Can’t use the Rule 5 excuse when he’s handing out 40-man roster spots a year or two early to guys like Luis Campusano and Ryan Weathers for 4 PA’s/outs recorded in the 2020 postseason when they lost that series anyway.
Musgrove was drafted in 2011. On rereading, I guess you mean they could’ve signed him after 2023. Would they have gone on that 2022 NLCS run without Musgrove?
The organization is clearly aggressive on timelines. Does it really matter that they started the service clock for two AAAA guys? I will say that whatever they’re doing with Campusano bugs me. Dude could fill a significant RH power hole at 1B/DH/bench right now for this team, and they seem to have either banished him to the organizational depths, or Campusano is the one player Preller is willing to progress at his own speed.
“Would they have gone on that 2022 NLCS run without Musgrove?”
I truly do not care.
“Does it really matter that they started the service clock for two AAAA guys?”
If you are going to defend trading prospects away on the grounds that they were about to be forced out by the Rule 5 draft anyway You bet!
You don’t care that the team made the NLCS for the first time in 24 years 3 seasons ago?
No, not really.
Cronenworth was the throw in on that trade. That was a Hunter Renfroe for Tommy Pham trade.
This site said when it first was announced:
“The Rays and Padres are deep into talks on a trade that would see Tampa Bay outfielder Tommy Pham and San Diego outfielder Hunter Renfroe switch clubs, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Rays would also land Single-A shortstop Xavier Edwards, while the Padres would pick up an unnamed prospect to go with Pham.”
Cronenworth was the unnamed prospect. Pham was coming off a 3.9 WAR season in Tampa.
Both Pham and Renfroe provided negative WAR in 2020. Edwards was unlikely to be protected in the Rule V draft and didn’t start to produce until 5 years after the trade.
If not for the extension, Cronenworth would be a FA this season. The Padres have received 15.4 WAR from him since the trade. That trade was a HUGE win.
Rays lose every trade they make with the Padres lol
Hello darkness my old friend…
Just like the chicken
So many fans only look at the flaws they see in management–field and front office. Preller and Schildt are as competent as any in the game at what they do. (Though I do find Preller’s style a little wild). Many organizations would be glad to have either or both of them.
Not that it matters, but this is from a life long Dodger fan.
Teams would be happy to have Preller as head of amateur scouting perhaps but never as GM/PBO
That’s not true, padres have him in that spot now. You don’t think teams like the Rockies would have been better the last 10 years if they had preller.
I think they would rather go with someone else.
The Rox would’ve been better off with me as the GM. At some point, random picks from the various rating agencies would be better.
Isn’t this the guy who traded 22 yo Trea Turner?
And then tried to re-sign him for $300M – lol
Too be fair he traded him before he even played a single minor league game.
Same with McKenzie Gore LHSP traded to Nats in Soto deal that Preller tried to get back @ deadline.
Gore went in IL after deadline.
A new writer. Did Nick Deeds go away?
Charlie Wright is Nick Deeds’ pen name.
The biggest Padre move in the upcoming off season will be that they are finally no longer paying Eric Hosmer to sit around at home. I say extend Preller consarnit!
I think his biggest miss so far has been the deal for Xander and the extension on Manny. Those two deals look terrible for the next few years. However they have some young talent around them that’s promising. Curious to see what they do this offseason
Manny has one of the most sought after baseball abilities. Availability. He plays almost daily. Since going to SD, he has only two years when he played under 150 games, 2020, and 2023. He’s a horse.
Manny will be better than most. Good bet on the Padres.
I’ve never been a fan of that contract, but Bogaerts earned some goodwill after this season. I think he’s got at least three more years of solid production left. Manny’s $40M/year starting in 2027 is indeed terrifying.
Don’t forget paying Yu into his 40’s.
One thing that gets overlooked in preller wild trades.
It keeps the fans engaged and it keeps the players have a belief in him. They know he is willing to trade every prospect away to try and win now. The padres players absolutely love it.
For the fans it an endless ride of what is he going to do next. Most brace themselves for the cost but it’s still exciting. Padres have set new attendance records 3 years in a row and have raised ticket prices each of the last 3 seasons.
The season tickets are sold out again next year (they do limit the amount of season tickets).
Also credit to the CEO and ownership for consistently reinvesting into the team and the ball park. Making petco a great experience to watch a game.
No one cares about fan engagement. I went to a dozen games the year Alexi Amarista had their 3rd highest WAR among position players.
That’s not true, the owners do. That’s what funds the team
Most of a team’s revenue comes from their TV deal.
Not the padres.
So, the Padres had expensive lineup batting #1, #2 and #3 in the ’25 playoffs: Tatis Jr., Arraez and Machado who each struggled in the playoffs to hit in the low 100’s BA?!
(National TV Graphic)
Machado has 1 key hit a home run that won one game, but for the most part, the top of the Padres lineup:
left bunches of runners on base, repeatedly, in the 2025 playoffs?!
Tatis Jr looked completely lost at the plate during the playoffs.
The middle and bottom of the order stepped up, but they could not carry the full load.
There must be a better way to construct a roster that has a better chance of the Padres winning a World Series.
Presently,the Padres and fans are giving themselves “pats on their backs” for just making the playoffs and participating.
The bar has been raised with Padres fans.
In order to sustain the sellouts high attendance,fans and higher revenue streams,fans will be expecting more than just. “making the playoffs” in future seasons.
Ownership (John Seidler?) has promised some changes in a letter to season ticket holders.
The Padres need that yearly infusion of young talent from the farm to complement their veteran core and to be competitive.
The Division will be getting more competitive as the Dbacks and the Giants young talent gets acclimated to MLB.
Dodgers will continue to run huge payrolls.
Just look at what the infusion of young talent has done for: the Brewers, Cubs, Tigers etc…
Trade away too much of that impressive young farm talent relying too much on large, longterm contracts of declining veterans could hurt the Padres ability to compete long term.
Preller is great at finding talent, drafting talent, signing under the radar talent.
It is just his roster construction that could use some tweaking and adjustments.
And,some of his trades are good and some bad.
The Laureano addition was on point in terms of roster construction, and they missed not having that RH bat with slug against the Cubbies
Padres really missed Laureano’s bat in the playoffs
Although it was not a FA contract Tatis’ extension should also count as one of the largest contracts
I like Shildt. As a Cubs fan who is trying very hard to like Craig Counsell, I’d love a manager Iike Shildt. Great baseball guy. Players love him. Goes hard for them.
Tim we got them to pay their back ended mortgage. Ballon payments are due
I mean balloon payments are now due
Ya keep prefer so he can unload the rest of your farm system
I’ve cooled a lot on Shildt this year. Best clubhouse manager since Bochy, but his strategizing and lineup inflexibility are frustrating. This team got done in by the Laureano injury, but some pre-game (Arraez 2nd vs 2 lefty starters) and in-game (King throws for 1 IP in an elimination game while the closer goes for 1+) decisions are maddening, and that’s not even getting into the weeds of players/brain trust instilling a dead-ball era mindset for the offense. Preller deserves blame too for constantly pushing the payroll/farm to its absolute limits, leading to some less-than-ideal acquisitions and packages. From a pure entertainment standpoint at least, he’s been the best PBO in the league.
This has been the most successful stretch of SD baseball, and I’m hoping that some fundamental changes to their offensive identity could reverse their postseason woes.
Preller has hired 4 full-time managers now. Then some people count Murphy, Roberts and Barajas. He also inherited Bud Black. There is no way he should given the opportunity to hire yet ANOTHER new manager. At some point you have to look at the common denominator.
I wasn’t lobbying for a new manager as much as a change in organizational philosophy. It seems obvious that Preller, Shildt, and Rodriguez are in lock-step on the offensive identity, and even before the latter two, Preller was signing throwback players like Hosmer to big-money deals. I would prefer to see less of a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
Preller is the best GM in the game
lol
IMO, this is mostly a nothingburger. In the long run, you should be about what your payroll says you are. I’d guess that, over the past 5 years, SD’s record is similar to what their payroll is.
Preller is good for the game. Awesome at the short term. Makes it all very interesting. Curious to see if the new owners want to roll with him long term. Also curious to see if Preller wants to be around when the superstars are 37 plus. Surely he has options.
I think the Preller/Schildt combination is perfect for this Padres team, right now. The team itself? Still a work in progress. I’m sorry, but NO team is guaranteed a World Series (except a team like the Dodgers who have over $1 Billion revenue just on their wholly owned stadium and TV receipts, and not on all the other legacy Dodger revenue they realize. That much money for decades, makes a difference in every calculation they make.).
Now, it’s the off-season, so let’s juxtapose this.
What would make either Preller or Schildt want to leave the Padres for greener pastures, and let’s toss Ruben Niebla’s name into the hat as well. I think Schildt is exactly where he wants to be, so I’ll dismiss his situation up front. Only a major ownership shake up and directional change would lead him to want to go elsewhere, and while his services would be in demand, where else would he want to go? (Perhaps he’d move for a GM opportunity. I haven’t read anything about his longer term aspirations. So I guess if a team like maybe the Rockies wanted him to come build them a legacy, he might interview with them. Or maybe the Cards. I don’t sense that he’s in that place at the moment. With 5 consecutive winning, play-off seasons, I think he wants to ride this train a while and see where it takes him.)
And that’s truly the name of the game, here. All of these three pro’s would immediately be fielding offers if they stepped away from the Pads. The real question is where would they prefer to be, i.e. are there dream jobs out there that would entice them?
Preller was born and raised in New York, educated in Long Island. I’d think either the Yankees or Mets coming to his door with a worthy offer, might get him to jump ship. Niebla is more or less native Californian, who was a minor leaguer in the Dodgers organization. However, he’s made it clear that he wants to manage. I think any West Coast team would interest him for his first managing gig. I doubt he’d jump ship for a bench coach job (i.e. promotion), even with say, the Dodgers or Angels. The managers job? Yeah, he’d have to listen for certain. Getting that job with a team he may have dreamed on growing up, is an opportunity that may never come again.
So that’s how the Padres lose their GM, Manager, or pitching coach, at this moment. Would the Padres allow any of them to interview with other top teams? From their history, I don’t think that ownership (or Preller, in regards to his hires) would hold anyone back from an opportunity. Preller’s move would probably be lateral, i.e. the offering team could try to create a larger role, but he’d be doing about the same thing. Ruben’s would definitely be vertical. The Pads might respond by offering him a bench coach role, to get him more directly on the manager future path.
So, all in all, I don’t think any of the move this year. I think Ruben is most at risk to being lost to the Pads, because he’s one of the best and has earned his shot. Preller, only if it was his dream team. (Would Preller consider the challenge of taking over the Rockies? His ego would certainly make him think about it.) Schildt? Not for a couple of years, unless the Pads made his decision for him and fired him.
Chime in. What do y’all think?
Easily one of the best GM’s in the game….always goes for it.
Defenders of the Soto trade like to bring up players who it had no bearing on to defend it. Like Merrill, Sheets and Pivetta.
“Padres suck … nasty baseball”? Oh my. First you chide Padres fans here for being childish. Then you toss an ad hominem like a middle school playground bully.
Another sign of immaturity is inconsistency, which you were so kind to demonstrate. Maybe, look in the mirror?