San Diego Padres: Inefficiencies Are All On A.J. Preller’s Shoulders

San Diego fans have a right to feel cheated. I’m not talking about the Chargers moving to Los Angeles.  The individual that deserves your anger resides at PetCo Park. He’s a sick genius when it comes to drafting and finding prospects. He’s a damn fool when it comes to fielding major league-ready rosters. I’m talking about San Diego Padres General Manager, A.J. Preller.

I’m no expert on Padres baseball. However, for all the accolades we want to throw out about Preller, his teams have reached the postseason once ( Covid Shortened season) since his tenure as General Manager began.  That’s a very poor result for a GM who continues to make desperate decisions with his major league roster. We can blame the coaches, scouts, players, the list goes on, but Preller hasn’t done what he needs to do. When is the finger going to point on him?

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In terms of finding elite baseball prospects, Preller might be the game’s best. Let’s look at some of his biggest successes from his tenure

Ty France (34th Rnd, 2015)

(France hit .291 with 166 hits for the Mariners in 2021)

Cal Quantrill (1st Rnd, 2016)

(Quantrill went 7-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 78 K’s for the Cleveland Indians in the 2nd half of 2021)

I’m going to stop right there. Those picks were from the first two drafts of the Preller era. This is just a tiny glimpse into what Preller’s issues are. These players, whom he drafted and scouted, are playing like All-Stars. Yet, these two aren’t doing it in San Diego.

France, a top hitter for the near playoff-bound Mariners, was dealt for Austin Nola and Austin Adams. In addition, Seattle received a top-100 prospect in Taylor Trammell. This was a move deemed to be an all-in, title-contending trade for San Diego. Seattle had a better record.

Quantrill, arguably one of baseball’s best pitchers over the 2nd half, was traded in 2020 along with Josh Naylor (borderline top-100 prospect) and Austin Hedges (possibly the best defensive catcher in baseball), for Mike Clevinger and Greg Allen. It was an all-in move for the Padres to make the World Series. While San Diego did make the playoffs, Clevinger succumbed to Tommy John weeks after the deal was made.

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Those are just two blunders from Preller. Here are some more gems from his tenure to really hammer the point home.

2014-15

Wil Myers, a hardly effective OF for San Diego, dealt for Trea Turner (an MVP candidate)

Justin Upton dealt for Max Fried

2017-18

Dealt Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to Cleveland for Fransisco Mejia

2019

Franmil Reyes for Taylor Trammell

These moves might have seemed harmless at the time. You can’t judge a prospect when trying to deal for a more established MLB option. Although, this isn’t a one-time whoopsie. Imagine what kind of roster San Diego would have had if he’d just have held off on these moves

Now, Preller and his scouting staff (we will get to that later) were behind the Fernando Tatis Jr. deal. That will go down as a complete robbery for Preller. However, taking that out of the equation, it’s pretty one-sided

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Preller is gung ho on signing big names to bring wins. He’s proven to be very ineffective at that.  On the current Padres roster, Preller has signed Manny Machado and Ha-Seung Kim. He’s also traded for Mike Clevinger, Yu Darvish,  Blake Snell Trent Grisham, Jake Cronenworth, and Adam Frazier. He didn’t make the playoffs this season.

I’m not going to judge the Darvish/Frazier deals as of yet. However, those are looking to be major whiffs on Preller’s end. Darvish went to Chicago Cubs for Reginald Preciado and Owen Cassie. If you watch or know minor league ball, you’ll have a good indication that’s going to backfire hugely on Preller.

Darvish at least performed well for San Diego. Frazier, acquired mid-season, went for the team’s 5th ranked prospect, Tucupita Marcano. Regardless of how Marcano progresses in Pittsburgh, Preller has lost that deal. Frazier had games where he wasn’t even in the lineup. He went from baseball’s batting average leader to benchwarmer almost instantaneoulsy.

Look at all of the talent that’s been dealt, fans have seen no real or sustained success because of it? We can use the scapegoats of firing the head coach or choosing not to renew the contract of your head scout (Yeah, that’s a good move), but Preller has failed to put the best team out on the field. That’s his problem, nobody else. Acquire all the talent you want, just look at what he’s had to do in order to be just a mediocre franchise.

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The Padres once again have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. This begs the question of why choosing not to renew the contract of Sam Geaney?  That’s a whole different bag of beans. This is
move Preller can make to make himself look a little better in the eyes of those making the bigger decisions.

Looking at what Geaney has brought to the current Padres farm, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Mackenzie Gore, Josh Mears, CJ Abrams, Luis Campusano, Jackson Merrill.  Perhaps Preller decides to finally develop this talent to its full extent. Maybe he stops trading these elite potential prospects to make all-in moves that get him nowhere.

Doubt it.

As the G.M., you need to take some blame. The direction he’s chosen to go in over these excruciatingly difficult years has been sad at best. You have proven by these trades and free agent moves, that these all-in approaches aren’t anything to write on your resume. It is almost assured that 3 of the team’s top-10 prospects will be dealt for guys who can, in Preller’s mind, make a difference.

They won’t

Since Preller wishes to change the culture of his team, start with the decisions you’ve made. If you want to fire a coach who got you to the postseason just a year prior (Covid Season aside), go ahead. If you want to let the Scouting Director who told you to make one of the biggest heists of your tenure, go ahead.  You just can’t use the same rundown approach you’ve had of collecting an infinity gauntlet of talent, just to have it become a giant turd.

I’m not going to tell A.J. Preller how to run his team. He’s more able to do so than I am, yet, something needs to be done. You owe it to the fans of San Diego to give them a winner. The main priority is a World Series title. How about actually doing something different to make that happen?

Image Source: Getty Images / Denis Poroy

Daniel Gentile

Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288