We interrupt this regularly scheduled Padres season to do a very un-San Diego thing: It’s time to tip a cap in the direction of President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller.
If baseball is America’s pastime, bashing Preller like a money-engorged piñata is San Diego’s slice of that bat-and-ball pie.
There’s plenty of criticism to dish out, of course. In nearly a decade, the Padres have not gotten to the postseason enough — period, end of discussion.
One serious playoff run in all those years, with the riches that have been pumped into the franchise more recently borders on unimaginable.
Think about this season and this team, though.
The Padres lost All-Star Juan Soto, Cy Young winner Blake Snell, elite closer Josh Hader, solid rotation anchors Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, versatile arm Nick Martinez, Gold Glove center fielder Trent Grisham and the the sky did fall onto Petco Park.
The Western Metal Supply Co. building did not crumble.
Locusts did not invade Gallagher Square.
As the Padres and Dodgers lined up for the second game of the weekend series Saturday at Petco Park, the Padres — these Padres — seem positioned to compete in a way that would have earned you a sobriety test if you had predicted it in the spring.
Then, no left fielder. No center fielder. No long-term designated hitter. A rotation with more holes than a pair of college socks. Superstars trending downward. Energy, muted.
Optimism had hit the showers and grabbed the trolley for San Ysidro.
What Preller has been able to do since has been a marvel of creativity, farm system maintenance, financial two-stepping and thinking that stiff-arms impossible.
Preller has been a Ringling Brothers juggler who would make Barnum and Bailey gush.
A season ago, Jurickson Profar was a mile-high bust in Colorado with a .236 batting average and a 77 OPS+, which measures a middle of the pack big-leaguer at 100.
Everyone screamed from the top of Mount Helix for Tommy Pham. Though it’s early, Profar has a higher batting average, OPS and OPS+ for one-third of the price.
Preller rolled the dice on a 20-year-old, Jackson Merrill, in center field despite never playing above Double-A.
Then came the real head-shakers.
On the final day of spring training, he scooped up ace-level arm Dylan Cease. That was possible because he had acquired Drew Thorpe in the Soto deal, along with huge-upside starter Michael King, who was masterful Friday against the Dodgers.
And because Preller had restocked the farm system, again, he was able to lasso two-time batting champ Luis Arraez, the guy with the walk-off winner in the series opener.
The Arraez deal happened because of prospect capital, which allowed him to pull a rabbit out of the baseball cap without imperiling the franchise as a serial money-burning offender of the competitive balance tax.
In fact, Preller sealed the deal with Arraez while still leaving enough wiggle room to make a move at the trade deadline if the Padres need an arm or a bat.
Say what you want, but it has been impressive to watch. The Padres are in a far better spot to win because of the ingenuity Preller has flashed.
“We had a lot of turnover on this team, let’s be honest,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Then you trim payroll significantly, you have a new manager, so there’s a lot to re-direct. I applaud him for how he’s been able to do it on multiple levels.
“To see him and his staff constantly looking to explore every option at all times, it’s impressive.”
The reputation of Preller understandably had become that of a chess player who only knew how to spend someone else’s money with big contract after big contract.
Preller with financial guardrails, though, has sharpened the spotlight on his ability to be a deal maker who can keep an eye on the books and farm at the same time.
No Soto trade, no Cease
No farm rebuild, no Arraez.
“Scouting and development is the life blood of an organization,” Shildt said. “It starts with evaluation and accruing talent. This group is as good as I’ve seen and that’s a high bar. You can say the work ethic is high, but it should be high in the major leagues.
“It’s the next level of work and dedication. When I say they leave no stone unturned in the scouting operation, it’s an A+.”
In the case of Cease and Arraez, it’s not just that Preller found a way to land them. It’s that he shrugged off any perceived calendar limitations.
You don’t land an ace when you’re locking the doors of the spring training facility. You don’t pull off a coup like Arraez in May, adding in nearly three months of bonus production ahead of the trade deadline.
It’s getting tougher and tougher for Preller to surprise people.
“I know how aggressive he is,” Padres first baseman Jake Cronenworth said. “It’s not the first time he’s made a big trade. So at this point, it doesn’t surprise any of us.
“It gives us an opportunity to compete with a really good shot to make the playoffs. It’s been great.”
It all will ring hallow if the Padres are sitting on the sidelines in October, of course. There are still demons to face in September. But Preller made this team better, fast. He gave it a chance to win.
Tip the cap.
