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LTtxfan

By LTtxfan
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Beau Vine
Beau Vine

Laughed until I cried...So how do I walk?  really got me.  

shadow_operative2.0
shadow_operative2.0

This throw deserves the MLB thread.   

Beau Vine
Beau Vine

So in 2009, my daughter and I were in Omaha at the CWS.  I got an email from her softball coach saying that they had a kid drop off the All-Star team and would she want to replace her?  But she'd have

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53984

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Lobo said:

The baseball gods have a funny way of working out their shit. 

I haven't found an updated wild card schedule for Tue/Wed.  ? 

PLAYOFF MATCHUPS
AL Wild Card Game, Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Yankees at Red Sox

NL Wild Card Game, Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET on TBS
Cardinals at Dodgers

AL Division Series (starts Thursday)
Best-of-five format
Wild Card Game winner at Rays
White Sox at Astros

NL Division Series (starts Friday)
Best-of-five format
Wild Card Game winner at Giants
Braves at Brewers

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

Posted
Posted

Thanks fellas.  When will the Astros gametimes be announced?  As much as it will sadden my brother and sister to see the White Sox lose, I enjoy watching the Astros succeed.  

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TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10481

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Lobo said:

Thanks fellas.  When will the Astros gametimes be announced?  As much as it will sadden my brother and sister to see the White Sox lose, I enjoy watching the Astros succeed.  

With Boston or NY playing TB, it’s a pretty good bet that the Astros  will be playing day games. 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53984

Posted
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57 minutes ago, Scraps said:

Not sure if any of you listen to mlb network radio but i want to fucking beat the shit out of Martin Hoke

Fuck Navage bitch. And quit talking like a pussy.

Sorry had to get that off my chest


 

I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

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huge

huge 3788

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, Scraps said:
17 hours ago, Beau Vine said:
I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

If you listen to mlb network radio you would

Would they tell me what "navage" means?

  • Hook 'Em 1
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Guadaloopy

Guadaloopy 10918

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

He gone. 

 

So is San Diego a cesspool?

Athletic article from last week seems to point to yes. 

Spoiler

The message revolved around connection and unity. The image suggested the beginning of an especially well-coordinated partnership.

On the final day of October 2019, A.J. Preller and Jayce Tingler sat beside each other on a dais at Petco Park. Preller, the Padres’ general manager, wore a light-blue dress shirt underneath a tan blazer. Tingler donned the same colors for his introduction as San Diego’s newest manager. After five years spent in different organizations, the two men had joined forces again in a bold attempt to bring the city its first World Series title.

Preller touted the “passion” and “energy” of the former minor-league outfielder he’d championed with the Rangers — first as a Rule 5 draft pick, later as a rising instructor. Tingler credited Preller as “one of the drivers in developing me” while acknowledging he still had significant room for growth. He was, after all, a first-time manager with limited name recognition. Preller, who had recently fired Andy Green, another first-time manager, fielded a pointed question: Why should anyone think Tingler, with whom he had extensive history, wouldn’t be a puppet for the front office?

“Anybody who knows Jayce knows he’s definitely not that,” Preller said. “That’s not a bad thing, to have alignment. I think it’s probably a crucial thing in any organization being successful.”

For a rare and rollicking summer, the Padres would look the part. They returned from a pandemic-induced shutdown last July to sail through a 60-game season. They won their first playoff series since 2006. In the winter, owner Peter Seidler doubled down by authorizing a flurry of moves that sent the payroll and expectations soaring.

Then 2021 happened.

The Padres, who were eliminated from postseason contention last weekend, spent most of the summer in free-fall. Rival executives are struggling to remember a bigger collapse by a projected World Series contender built to win now. The Mets, another major disappointment, were perhaps just as ambitious but less talented, and they were not coming off a playoff appearance. San Diego, despite a franchise-record $175 million payroll and an estimated number above the luxury-tax threshold, has fallen from a club that was 67-49 on Aug. 10 to one in danger of finishing below .500.

 

The players, many of whom have underachieved, are the most responsible for the Padres’ failings. But most, due to their contractual statuses, cannot be conveniently discarded.

Firings already have taken place at multiple levels of the organization, from the scouting and player development departments to pitching coach Larry Rothschild, the 21st major-league coach or manager to depart since 2015. Now, more instructors likely will lose their jobs. And Tingler, the 2020 runner-up for National League Manager of the Year, occupies the hottest seat.

Meanwhile, the team’s unraveling is bringing scrutiny to the GM who handpicked Tingler and who has yet to oversee a winning record in a full season. Almost everyone speaks highly of Preller’s talent evaluation ability, work ethic and creativity, but in interviews with more than 20 current and former Padres staffers, players and rival officials, almost all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, a number of criticisms emerged. The most common involve Preller’s reputation as a micromanager, his track record of dubious roster construction and a perceived tendency to shift blame.

Preller declined comment for this story, as did Seidler, saying they would speak publicly after the season ends. Some of Preller’s chief lieutenants took exception with another complaint, that he frowns upon dissent. He often opens meetings, they said, by telling staffers he wants their opinion right then rather than after a decision is made, and routinely solicits input from employees at all levels, asking for their “takes.” “A.J. listens to everything,” said Logan White, a senior advisor to Preller and the Padres’ director of player personnel. “I don’t know anybody that listens to more shit than that guy does.”

However, one former staffer said, “Every one of us has a blind side, a weakness we don’t see. You’d better get people around you to cover those weaknesses. And what he is consistently doing is removing the people who tell him he has a weakness and going to people who will not speak back to him about his weaknesses.”

Tingler is widely viewed as belonging to the latter camp, yet it might not matter. Less than two years after his arrival, he could become the third full-time manager fired under Preller, who took over in August 2014 and, after the shortened 2020 season, received an extension through ’26. Many inside and outside the organization believe Preller, now listed as both president of baseball operations and GM, will seek a candidate with major-league managing experience. The pressure to win will be perhaps even greater next season, with the Padres increasing season-ticket prices by an average of 20 percent.

But, if Preller does make a change, would he be willing to cede some of the control he has exerted over an entire organization? And would an accomplished manager such as Bruce Bochy, Buck Showalter or Ron Washington, the other finalist to replace Green in 2019, be willing to helm the Padres if their authority would be in question? Multiple people expressed doubt that Bochy, who managed the Padres from 1995 to 2006 and led them to their last World Series appearance in ’98, would come out of retirement to work for a GM as hands-on as Preller.

“There’s no way fucking Bochy goes in and deals with all that,” said one former big-league manager. “There’s no way.”

USATSI_13598220-scaled.jpg
Jayce Tingler, right, with A.J. Preller at his introductory news conference (Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)

The mood in the home clubhouse at Petco Park shifted dramatically on July 30, 2019, and not because San Diego had settled for a series split with an overmatched Baltimore club. Hours before the trade deadline, the Padres had agreed to a three-team deal that would send Franmil Reyes and Logan Allen to Cleveland.

“Basically, there was a pin put into the balloon,” said one person who was inside the clubhouse. “You could feel it. It was so evident that people were just like, ‘What the hell? Why?’”

The trade was not without logic. The Padres were seven games below .500. After three consecutive rebuilding seasons, they had exhilarated the fan base by signing Manny Machado to a $300 million contract and promoting Fernando Tatis Jr. on Opening Day, but they also featured an inexperienced starting rotation with strict workload limitations. Contrary to public declarations, they were not equipped for a playoff run. And in a sudden move, they were about to receive top-100 prospect Taylor Trammell.

In Reyes, they also were shipping away arguably the team’s most popular player, a bilingual slugger with 27 home runs and the personality to match his massive frame. Allen, a young left-hander, was only eight appearances into his big-league career. Neither player had received any warning. Nor had anyone else in uniform.

Unlike Tingler, Green did not have a relationship with Preller before he was hired in October 2015. Initially, they seemed to mesh. But as the Padres began to transition out of a rebuild, sources said the two men increasingly disagreed on how to handle a roster that included a few veterans and far more young players, some of whom had spent little time in the minors. The tension led to a gradual breakdown in the back-and-forth between GM and manager, exacerbating what some continue to describe as a lack of concern on Preller’s part for the inner dynamics of a major-league locker room.

“There never has been any communication like, ‘If we trade Franmil Reyes, what do you think that’s going to do to the clubhouse?’” one Padres person said.

There were other reasons the Padres nosedived that summer. Two weeks after the Reyes trade, Tatis, who was close with the outfielder, suffered a stress reaction in his back that ended a dazzling rookie season. An inexperienced pitching staff predictably faltered. A top-heavy offense cratered without Tatis. As the team’s fate became clearer and frustration set in, Green struggled to connect with his players.

On Sept. 21, with eight games left on the 2019 schedule, Preller fired Green. By then, Machado and Eric Hosmer, the Padres’ $144 million first baseman, appeared to be giving up on the season. The following spring, Machado lent credence to that notion.

“There’s no excuse,” Machado said last March. “Strength-wise, I wasn’t there. My swing wasn’t there. I got tired. I got sloppy. I stopped working, stopped doing things. I just thought my talent was going to take over. And talent (alone) is not going to work in this game. You’ve got to continue to do it.”

Privately, many of the Padres’ players expressed hope that the next full-time manager would bring experience and cachet to the position. Publicly, ownership shared a similar desire; Green had played in the majors for parts of four seasons, managed at multiple levels of the minors and coached third base and infielders for the Diamondbacks, but he arrived in San Diego as a relative unknown. Still, Seidler and Ron Fowler, then the team’s executive chairman, allowed Preller to dictate the managerial search.

On Oct. 24, 2019, Preller hired a manager even more obscure than Green. Tingler had never played above Double A. Aside from a stint in the Dominican Winter League, he had never managed above rookie ball. On the day he was introduced to the media, Preller pushed back against the idea that Tingler would operate as a mere extension of the front office. Yet multiple people with the team anticipated there would be less pushback than there was with Green.

“He (hired) someone he feels like he can tell what to do,” one employee said.

Now, almost two years later, Tingler has come under siege. Many of his own players have second-guessed his leadership and decision-making. In an interview this week with MLB Network radio, Tingler said: “I could have done a better job with handling confrontation and tough questions.”

Tingler was involved in assembling his coaching staff but only in a limited way, people with knowledge of the process said. The front office surrounded him with what was seen as necessary experience, including Rothschild and three coaches familiar with Machado — Bobby Dickerson, Wayne Kirby and Ryan Flaherty. Tingler had worked only with Kirby, a decade earlier in the Rangers’ system. Tingler’s closest confidante, longtime friend Brad Flanders, was hired as a bullpen catcher before this season, Tingler’s second year.

The combination of an untested manager, veteran coaches with strong personalities and prominent players with strong personalities has sometimes proven volatile. A pair of confrontations in the dugout two weeks ago — first between Dickerson and Tatis, then between Tatis and Machado — attracted national attention, but according to sources, there have been an unusual number of heated moments this season, including when the Padres were well above .500. Some of the same sources have questioned whether front-office executives have enough empathy for those navigating complex situations inside the clubhouse.

“I don’t think (Preller) feels that at all,” said one former coach.

Elsewhere in the organization, Preller appears to be making his circle even tighter, consisting of those he trusts most. The GM last week reassigned amateur scouting director Mark Conner, replacing him with Chris Kemp, a former Rangers area scout who will continue to oversee the Padres’ international scouting. Preller also fired farm director Sam Geaney and filled the position by promoting Ryley Westman, a former Rangers minor-league instructor who is close with Tingler and Flanders — all three are natives of Smithville, Mo. This week, Preller also hired former colleague and longtime Rangers executive Mike Daly to assist Westman with player development.

For all of his strengths, some say the GM’s recent hiring practices have come to symbolize his weaknesses.

“There are some deep-rooted cultural problems there,” said one former employee. “It’s not always inviting to people with different ideas, perspectives or backgrounds. And it’s not all the fault of the people who are gone, either. It’s pervasive.”

Few in the game question Preller’s scouting acumen, which helped lead to trades for center fielder Trent Grisham, a Gold Glove winner in 2020; infielder Jake Cronenworth, an All-Star this season; and Tatis, the NL home-run leader and an MVP candidate at 22. But it’s one thing to identify and acquire talent, and another to construct a deep, functional roster. The top two teams in the NL West, the Giants and Dodgers, have proven more successful than the Padres at the latter.

Injuries contributed to the Padres’ demise — the team ranks first in days missed and fourth in projected WAR lost, according to Baseball Prospectus. But coming off the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, virtually every contender dealt with significant absences. Two other NL clubs, the Cardinals and Braves, are headed to the postseason after addressing their depth in ways that the Padres did not.

The Cardinals for lengthy stretches were without four of their starting pitchers, including budding ace Jack Flaherty. The Braves lost star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., prized right-hander Mike Soroka and others. Both those teams made a series of additions at low acquisition costs and found new life in the final two months of the regular season.

Preller’s success rate with trades, on the other hand, took a hit, at least in the early returns. From Aug. 30, 2020, to July 30, 2021 — essentially, one trade deadline to the other — he acquired 11 players who are either on the Padres’ current roster or injured list. Most of the deals, particularly those for starting pitchers Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove, looked favorable for the Padres at first glance. But the 11 acquisitions have accounted for 9 fWAR as of Thursday while costing the Padres 31 players, most with six years of control. For comparison’s sake, Tatis has accumulated (6.2) fWAR while playing in only 127 games.

After parting with so much young talent, one rival executive noted that Preller seemed almost cornered at this year’s deadline, unable to flex the prospect muscle he had in the past. The Padres’ system, a top-10 mainstay in Baseball America’s rankings the past five seasons, dropped to 17th in the publication’s midseason update in August, mostly because of trades and promotions to the majors.

So, when the Nationals made ace right-hander Max Scherzer available at the deadline, the Dodgers did not necessarily fear the Padres the way they had previously, believing the only way Preller could acquire Scherzer was by trading Double-A shortstop CJ Abrams, one of the game’s top 10 prospects even after he broke his left tibia and sprained his MCL in late June. Sure enough, the Dodgers trumped the Padres, landing both Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner for a package headed by two top-100 prospects, catcher Keibert Ruiz and right-hander Josiah Gray.

Power hitting and starting pitching were the Padres’ biggest needs at the deadline. Preller pursued a deal for Twins slugger Nelson Cruz, one of Machado’s former teammates with the Orioles, intending to explore his viability at first base, a position Cruz had not played in 17 major-league seasons. Cruz might have provided not just an offensive boost but also a veteran clubhouse presence. Instead, he went to the Rays for two well-regarded pitching prospects, Joe Ryan and Drew  Strotman.

The starting-pitching market was not deep — Scherzer was the best available, followed by José Berríos. Preller not only struck out on those two, but he also failed to land lesser pieces such as Kyle Gibson, who went to the Phillies; Tyler Anderson, who went to the Mariners; and Jon Lester and J.A. Happ, who went to the Cardinals. When injuries depleted the Padres’ rotation, Preller had virtually no choice but to turn to two pitchers who had been released by other clubs, Jake Arrieta and Vince Velasquez. Entering Thursday the two had a combined 9.72 ERA with the Padres.

In the end, the only players Preller acquired were second baseman Adam Frazier, reliever Daniel Hudson and outfielder Jake Marisnick. Frazier appeared to be an odd fit initially, and the Padres said they planned to play him some in left field. At the time, Preller might have been thinking he could trade Hosmer, opening up first for Jake Cronenworth and second for Frazier. But such a deal never materialized, and likely would have been unpopular in the clubhouse. “Guys do gravitate to Hos,” one former Padres staffer said. “Younger players gravitate towards him.”

USATSI_13434450.jpg
Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer in 2019. (Joe Camporeale / USA Today)

It turned out Frazier was needed at second when Tatis was unavailable at short while on the injured list from July 31 to Aug. 15, and then while playing right field until Sept. 11. From that perspective, the trade proved fortuitous, the type the Padres could have used to reinforce their starting pitching. But the move proved curious in other ways. Frazier, after batting leadoff almost exclusively with the Pirates, has started in every lineup position but fifth since joining the Padres. Coincidentally or not, his offense has plummeted. After batting .324 with an .836 OPS in Pittsburgh, he is at .268 and .663 in San Diego.

The impact of the Padres’ questionable decision-making and flawed roster construction also surfaces in other ways. At least four of the team’s high-priced players — Hosmer, right fielder Wil Myers, left-handed reliever Drew Pomeranz and utility man Jurickson Profar — have produced far below their salary levels, making them difficult to trade. And one of Preller’s more fascinating deals, a seven-player deal last August in which he landed catcher Austin Nola from the Mariners, now looks problematic.

The Padres remain high on Nola, who is under team control through 2025 but turns 32 on Dec. 28 and made three trips to the injured list this season, appearing in only 56 games. The two other players they acquired, relievers Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla, were out of minor-league options this season, limiting the team’s roster flexibility. And for Nola, Preller gave up four players — infielder Ty France, who could have been, at minimum, a right-handed platoon partner for Hosmer; outfielder Taylor Trammell; reliever Andres Muñoz and backup catcher Luis Torrens, all of whom have contributed to the Mariners or are expected to contribute in the future.

The Nola deal was just one move. Even the best GMs make trades that do not turn out as intended. But the questions remain: Can Preller build a team with as many quality interchangeable parts as the Giants and Dodgers showcase nightly? Can he develop a feel for roster construction to match his eye for talent?

A former staffer is skeptical.

“It’s just patchwork, man,” he said.

Those who know Preller attribute his success in finding players to his evaluation skills, a photographic memory and an incessant, often invigorating appetite for all things baseball.

“He’ll dive into the weeds and have takes as good as anybody you’ll ever come across in your life,” said one former staffer who was let go by Preller. “He is as invested from a time perspective as anybody in baseball.”

“A lot of people say he’s not a good people person,” added another ex-employee. “I find that differently. If I wanted to sit down and have a conversation with A.J., he would take time, and it would be a good conversation.”

The Padres’ ability to develop young talent under Preller, however, remains debatable. The team ranks last in the majors with only three homegrown players on its active roster. This can largely be explained by the massive amount of minor-league depth Preller has traded since 2020. But two years after MacKenzie Gore was baseball’s consensus No. 1 pitching prospect, he has yet to surface in San Diego, buried by mechanical issues. And seven years after Preller’s hiring — and after unprecedented expenditures in the draft and international scouting — the Padres continue to lag when it comes to efficiently supplementing their big-league club from within.

Preller, who has been known to double back on players identified by area scouts, the foot soldiers of the amateur scouting department, also wields unmistakable influence over instruction at both the major- and minor-league levels. One person with knowledge of the organization’s inner workings cited spring training drills as an example: “Everyone knows all that’ll matter is how A.J. wants it done. … Coaches will draw up a plan, and Preller will insist Manny and Tatis go do something somewhere else.” And while a rival executive suggested that Sam Geaney was dismissed as farm director because “he didn’t hold his coordinators accountable for results,” multiple team sources downplayed the power of that role in San Diego.

Ryley Westman, Geaney’s replacement and a Preller disciple, began his career as a professional instructor with the Rangers in 2008, going on to fill various jobs that included minor-league catching coordinator and Dominican Summer League manager. After following Preller from Texas in late 2014, he has worked as the Padres’ catching coordinator, coordinator of instruction and director of player development under Geaney.

On Wednesday, one week after firing Geaney, the Padres lost Preston Mattingly, their coordinator of major-league advance scouting and game planning, to the Phillies, who hired him as farm director. Mattingly, who had previously fielded front-office interest from other organizations, is viewed as a potential future GM.

Chris Kemp, another executive Preller hired away from the Rangers in 2014, until last week was pulling rare double duty as both international scouting director and minor-league field coordinator. Now, he is attempting another unusual balancing act as both international scouting director and amateur scouting director.

“I feel like they’ve spent very formative years of their careers developing as Padres,” Padres assistant GM Josh Stein said of Kemp and Westman. “And I think A.J. recognized that and feels that they’re ready to take on the leadership roles of those two departments. Now, did they start with the Rangers? There’s no disputing that. But I’ve never thought of it as, (Preller is) consolidating.”

Still, some rival executives wonder if Westman, despite his ascent, will be a capable farm director. Others point to mixed results internationally. The Padres’ landmark 2016-17 signing class, which cost them more than $80 million, yielded useful trade chips in Luis Patiño, Gabriel Arias and Tucupita Marcano, but Adrian Morejon ($11 million signing bonus), Jorge Oña ($7 million) and Michel Baez ($3 million) have been slowed by injuries while providing limited impact in San Diego. Kemp no longer is field coordinator — it is unclear who will assume that role — but overseeing multiple scouting departments poses an unusual challenge.

“If you can’t learn to delegate and trust the people that you hire, then you’re not going to have a successful organization,” one person said.

Preller’s leadership style is described by multiple sources with knowledge of the situation as a “crabs in the bucket” approach, in which he has a direct line to many parts of the organization and expects each leader he encounters to advocate for their position and, in a way, beat out the rest. When it works, the best ideas rise to the top without some of the roadblocks that more traditionally run organizations put up. Titles can be less formal, and people can sort quickly into the roles that best suit their strengths.

When it doesn’t work, though, it can be because there isn’t one main idea or one message broadcast from the top, and the different leaders feel as if they are in competition with one another instead of pulling on the same side of the rope.

Perhaps that’s why some pitchers who left the organization have encountered unfamiliar player-development processes with their new teams. One right-hander, for example, told his new coaches he’d never been spoken to about the shape of his pitches.

“Too many there are comfortable with the analytics only if they confirm what they already think,” said a former player-development staffer.

One team source pushed back, saying that Padres instructors are aware of good pitch shapes and how to communicate those to players who seek that type of information. But questions still remain. Why is a pitcher like Cal Quantrill breaking out in Cleveland with a new slider after spotty work with the Padres? Why has Ryan Weathers’pitching mix remained mostly untouched in San Diego’s organization? Multiple sources confirmed that the Padres’ analysts were aware that Weathers’ four-seam fastball lacked ideal shape and that a move to a sinker-based arsenal would fit him better, and that they communicated that up the chain within the organization.

In February 2020, before the COVID-19 shutdown, Padres chairman Peter Seidler was bursting with optimism about the team’s future.

“This is our decade,” Seidler said. “We’ve talked about it. We’re not shying away from it.”

A year later, coming off a shortened season with no fans, Seidler remained bullish on the Padres’ outlook during the news conference announcing Tatis’ $340 million extension.

“I could not be happier with where we are in every way, business-wise, baseball-wise, and I’ll speak for the people of San Diego: We’re the eighth-largest city in America. There’s nothing we can’t do,” he said.

Bold talk, but not illogical considering where the Padres stood at the time, or even where they were on May 29, when their 34-19 record was the best in the majors. The team’s subsequent collapse, however, leaves Seidler, Preller and Co. in a sobering, unsettling position.

The reality for the Padres is this: Their payroll is bloated, with $142.8 million already committed for next season, not including raises for Musgrove, Frazier and others the team intends to keep through salary arbitration. The farm system features three prospects in Baseball America’s top 33 — Abrams, catcher Luis Campusano and outfielder Robert Hassell III — but is thinner than in the past. And the team will draft around the middle of the first round, after making its first selection at No. 27 this year.

If the Padres wish to continue on their present course, their next step might be to hire an experienced manager, hoping someone in that mold would coax more out of their talent. The roster, barring major moves, will remain largely intact; outfielder Tommy Pham and relievers Mark Melancon and Daniel Hudson are the team’s most notable potential free agents.

The problem with such a plan is that the starting rotation still would be in question, both in the present and the future. Darvish, coming off a season of injuries and mixed results, will pitch next season at age 35. Snell has worked more than 129 1/3 innings in a season only once in his career. Musgrove will be entering his free-agent year, as will Mike Clevinger, who will be coming off his second Tommy John surgery.

The solution, then, might be to keep spending — on the rotation, on the bullpen, on a slugging outfielder. Musgrove, a native of San Diego County, presumably would be open to an extension. But at some point, ownership almost certainly will reach its financial limit. And an all-in approach in 2022, if it doesn’t lead to success, could set the franchise back further.

GettyImages-1229211520-scaled.jpg
A.J. Preller in 2020. (Kelly Gavin / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Preller maneuvered his way out of a tight spot once before, after his acquisitions of Myers, closer Craig Kimbrel, right-hander James Shieldsand outfielders Matt Kemp, Justin and B.J. Upton before the 2015 season produced only a 74-88 record. He traded Kimbrel that offseason, Shields and others at the following deadline. The returns included Tatis (for Shields) and righty Chris Paddack (for Fernando Rodney). And the buildup of the Padres’ system began.

A pivot of a similar nature would be in direct contrast to the bright future Seidler promised. It also would be difficult to pull off. Darvish and Snell would command less in trades than they did a year ago. Hosmer (signed through 2025) and Myers (through ’22) might be desirable to other clubs only if the Padres attached prospects. Younger players such as Cronenworth and Grisham are perhaps too valuable to move. As one rival executive asked, pointing to the difficulty of the Padres’ situation, “What position can they back out of?”

If any GM would be willing to tackle that question, it’s Preller. Many lead executives operate cautiously, afraid to make a move that might draw criticism. Preller is routinely aggressive, whether building up or tearing down. Under contract through 2026, he has enough job security to at least explore retooling, provided ownership would support such a plan. His willingness to trade Hosmer indicated he might move at least partly in that direction.

Machado, who will turn 30 next July, presents perhaps an even more interesting possibility. His contract allows him to block trades to only six clubs annually and includes an opt-out after the 2023 season. Some rival executives believe it might behoove the Padres to explore the same type of trade involving Machado that the Rockiesmade with Nolan Arenado, if only to regain a measure of financial flexibility.

Of course, that is not the plan Seidler advocated. Nor is it one Preller would necessarily want to entertain. But the Giants are deep in position-player prospects, and positioned to spend this offseason. The Dodgers are seeking their ninth straight division title, and do not figure to slow down anytime soon. For the Padres, staying the course and bringing essentially the same club back in ’22 might be the worst possible move.

Preller needs to sort through it all — the fallout from his perceived micro-managing, the challenges he faces in roster construction and, more than anything, the shocking implosion of his team. “No one works harder,” one rival executive said. “He’s so smart, the best player personnel guy in the game. But he wants the flashy deal. And it hasn’t worked.”

 

 

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Helobious

Helobious 9480

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

MLB should institute what I have in my OOTP league, a draft ladder tournament. Then they could schedule the games for postseason off days.

Thought you were the OOTP guy.

Do you know if anything bad would happen if I scrapped spring training entirely from my league? I cut it down to 2 weeks. As far as I can tell it serves no purpose other than getting my star players injured every year.

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txhorns

txhorns 2408

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Helobious said:

Thought you were the OOTP guy.

Do you know if anything bad would happen if I scrapped spring training entirely from my league? I cut it down to 2 weeks. As far as I can tell it serves no purpose other than getting my star players injured every year.

As Huck said it's great for learning new positions.  Also good for getting AAAA players and prospects some work against ML quality players which helps with development.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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I dunno, Rose is a shady mother-fucker but Gallo is averaging 5x as many strikeouts per season as Pete Rose for a marginal difference in production.  

Gallo and the Yankees can all get fucked in a plane crash tomorrow and nobody would give a flying fuck.  

I still kinda like Charlie Hustle.  

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