The Padres have had a history of individually good players on not great teams. Ranker.com lists Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Dave Winfield, and Goose Gossage just to name a few. However, the Padres were never able to capitalize on this talent to produce a truly consistent, competitive team. The winningest manager in the clubs history, the great Bruce Bochy, fields a total record of 951-975.
A.J. Preller was brought to the club in 2014 from the Texas Rangers. The Padres were likely thinking that by going outside the box, they might be able to replicate a series of successful teams in a fashion reminiscent of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Giants and Dodgers had money, so the Padres saw fit to try and approach a winning strategy a different way. How is that going?
1st Story: Is Preller making progress?
One of Preller’s first moves was to obtain Yangervis Solarte. He’s been a very solid player so far, so that was a good pick up. His draft picks are poised to join the major league club soon. Minorleaugeball.com lists 12 players at a B- or better in their farm system, giving the Padres some serious depth of player. Minorleagueball describes the B level as players who likely will have successful careers.
However, Preller dug the team into a hole financially. By committing to large contracts for Melvin Upton and James Sheilds, the Padres were committed to over $26 M in salary for players that weren’t even on the team. It’ll be interesting to see how Preller handles these situations in the future.
Overall, Preller has had a roller coaster 3 years at the helm. He was suspended for a silly infraction, and hasn’t been able to field a winning team yet. But the farm system is better, and the players that have cracked the big league club look promising, so maybe it’ll all be worth it.
2nd Story: Is the farm system poised to help the major league team?
The two stories here are Manny Margot and Anderson Espinosa. Both of these players were originally Red Sox prospects, coming in the Kimbrel and Pomeranz trades respectively. Anderson is extremely young, being only 18. He currently projects to be a top of the line starter, with All Star ace potential. With a solid mid 90’s fastball and easy mechanics, some of the intangibles are there. He’ll need to develop some additional weapons, and stay healthy. If he can do both of those things, look for him towards the end of 2017 in September.
Margot started 2017 on the big league roster, and has spent a little time in Triple AAA this year. A player who projects to have a “No Fly Zone” over whatever outfield position he’s playing, as well as 30 SB potential speed, he’ll be exciting to watch track down baseballs in that massive outfield at Petco Park. If he can develop a higher average to justify more playing time, he’ll be a defensive star for years to come.
3rd Story: How have the young players done?
The youth movement is in full swing in San Diego. Erick Aybar is the veteran starter, at 33. All the kids have been having mild successes in different areas, but no one has quite put it together all the way yet.
Hunter Renfroe has flashed some of that 70 power that came with his scoring card, hitting 15 HR’s in 74 games played. Ryan Schimpf has hit 14 HR, but neither man is hitting very well at all. Both will need to improve their AVG to really label them as successful players in the majors.
Austin Hedges is having a decent year at catcher in his first full season. He’s hitting .222 with 11 HR’s, and is posting a 0.3 dWAR. Not setting the world on fire, but considering the task he’s trying to manage, the signs are promising that the Padres might have a solid catcher for years to come.
