Stock Down: San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres had a golden opportunity to make up some ground in the Wild Card race with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins visiting in the last week, but they lost four out of seven and basically sealed their postseason fate.
As has been the case all season for San Diego, they either got good pitching and no offense, or bad pitching and a lot of offense. If there was a way, to sum up the 2023 season for the Padres, it would be squandering the big opportunities they had in front of them.
It’s going to be an interesting offseason in Southern California and the decisions ahead of GM A.J. Preller. They decided to make some moves at the deadline instead of selling pieces like Blake Snell and Josh Hader who are in the final season of their contracts.
Questions also surround manager Bob Melvin and whether or not he’ll be back in 2024. He has had some success with the Oakland Athletics, but you have to wonder how the front office in San Diego feels and whether or not they feel he’s the right guy to lead them into what needs to be a bounce-back 2024.