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San Diego Padres Top Offseason Priorities

By Benjamin Chase

Oct 1, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; A detailed view of the San Diego Padres logo on the field before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; A detailed view of the San Diego Padres logo on the field before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /

The San Diego Padres finished the 2016 season with a record of 68-94, earning them the #3 selection in the 2017 draft. What should be the team’s priorities for the 2016-2017 offseason?

Front Office Situation

It is near impossible to see how the team can bring A.J. Preller back as the general manager of the club and expect to have the respect and trust of the rest of the league when they attempt to make deals and trades. Preller has a long-standing reputation for swinging deals in the international market when he was with the Texas Rangers that were questionable in their ethical behavior, so it’s not as if this is a first time offense by Preller by any means. Hiding medical information from teams you are attempting to trade with is about as egregious as anything a GM can do within the trading process, and the Padres are most likely going to be looking at another season of tearing down, trading off veterans that play well to get more prospects to deepen a now-deep farm system.

Now, if it’s truly something that Preller was taking the fall for something that was a directive from above him – from ownership, that is, then the team needs to reconsider its direction entirely. Actions that would isolate your team from the league in trade discussions and possibly cause your team to be excluded from future consideration in trade talks are actions that absolutely should be fire-able offenses, no matter how high up the person sits within the organization.

If the decision is to let Preller go, the Padres would be best served to make that decision by the time the World Series is over so they can enter the winter meetings in December with their new hire in place. That would give the team’s hire a chance to get himself/herself acclimated to what the club has at the major league level and the minor league level, especially with the huge influx of players brought in through the draft and international free agent signing period in 2016 that have minimal pro experience to review and would require time to talk with scouts and persons within the organization to get an idea of where these players fit within their system.

Next: Make Room

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