Few teams in baseball have invested as much, both in terms of player payroll and traded prospects, in their roster as the San Diego Padres, but that investment has yet to yield a World Series championship, or even a National League pennant. Wednesday's defeat at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers (MIL 3, SD 1) completed the NLDS loss and sends the Padres home for the offseason. It is the third straight year San Diego has lost in the NLDS or Wild Card Series.
The NLDS was closer than the outcome may lead you to believe. The Padres had chances to win Games 1 and 2 at American Family Field, but, credit to the Brewers, they beat San Diego's best. Setup man Adrian Morejon gave up the go-ahead home run in Game 1 and all-world closer Mason Miller gave up the walk-off single in Game 2.
They pulled off a victory in Game 3 but couldn't get enough offense across the board in Game 4 to keep the miracle going. The Padres were ultimately done in by sloppy defense, a starting pitching shortage, and the inability to tack on runs once they had a lead. San Diego went 91-71 during the regular season and an MLB-best 41-18 after the admittedly arbitrary date of July 23.
It is clearly a talented roster that can win now, though many of their core players are in their 30s and signed long-term at big money (Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth, Manny Machado). Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., and rookie catcher Ethan Salas are the 20-something building blocks. The core of the roster in place.
It's the supporting cast that must be assembled. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller received a contract extension in February and seems safe despite the relatively quick postseason exit.
He is baseball's second-longest tenured head baseball operations executive, behind only Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees, but at some point his seat will become warm (or warmer, really). This offseason might be his last chance to build a World Series-winning roster. Here are three questions facing Preller and the Padres this winter.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
