You could make the argument that plenty of front offices in baseball are feeling the heat for 365 days a year on a 24/7 basis, but let’s shelve that argument for the moment.
Jayson Stark of The Athletic polled MLB executives from both leagues on the front offices that would be feeling the heat the most, and the San Diego Padres were front and center, with both the players and the guys running the show getting plenty of votes.
The caveat here, however, is that Padres GM signed an extension after the votes were cast, so that turns down the heat a little. It doesn’t change the situation as a whole, though, as a couple of executives pointed out.
“Big future commitments, top-heavy roster and lesser depth make the future now,” one AL executive said.
It’s hard to dispute any of that, and Preller has been frantically making minor moves to patch the holes in what appears to be a sinking ship. So far the projection sites aren’t buying the potential success of those moves, with the Padres expected to have 79-80 wins.
Another executive mentioned the window for this particular group of players:
“The window is closing, with an aging group and a ton of payroll on the books,” he said.
Preller’s situation got mentioned, and his extension buys him some time, although not the money to go out and get the pricey players he needs to fix this. The impending sale of the team was also mentioned, and even with a new contract it still leaves the GM out on a significant limb.
“Because of the sale and everything, he’s … definitely at risk,” an NL executive said. “I know they’ve made the postseason two years in a row. But you’ve got new ownership coming in at some point, and that’s something to watch.”
Another thing to watch that wasn’t mentioned in the poll is the managerial situation. The Padres interviewed multiple candidates after the season ended, then chose to promote from within, with former reliever Craig Stammen stepping down from the front office to the field, even though he’s never managed at any level before.
Stammen will also be working with pitching coach Ruben Niebla, who also interviewd for the job, so no one knows quite how that’s going to work. To complicate things, Preller just signed one of the most combustible players in baseball, outfielder Nick Castellanos, who lit up his manager, Rob Thomson, so badly that the Philadelphia Phillies are basically paying him $20 million this season to play somewhere else.
That somewhere will be San Diego, at least in theory, but to say this situation is the baseball version of a minefield is an understatement. It’s made the Padres one of the teams to watch in the early going, but not necessarily in a good way.