Padres owner: Preller, Melvin have ‘full support’
The San Diego Padres were able to pull out a winning season in 2023 with a win in the regular-season finale. Nonetheless, the team’s performance this season is one of the most dismal of any MLB team in 2023. That’s because the Padres had the biggest payroll of any team not headquartered in New York entering this season, as well as a squad loaded with talents like Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts.
Because the Padres missed the playoffs and finished 18 games behind the division-winning Dodgers, it was assumed that drastic adjustments would be made. However, owner Peter Seidler issued a statement on Monday indicating that general manager A.J. Preller and manager Bob Melvin are safe for the time being. Seidler’s statement reads:
“We entered 2023 with expectations that we would build on last year’s NLCS appearance and contend for a World Series Championship. We fell short of that goal. The Padres organization will learn from this season and emerge in 2024 with the pieces in place to compete for San Diego’s first World Series title. Our current leadership team continues to have my full support, and I have asked them to perform a thorough assessment of our organization beginning today. We will make the changes necessary to play championship-caliber baseball for our extraordinary fans in 2024.”
There are several ways to interpret such a vague phrase, but the “current leadership team” certainly refers to Preller and Melvin. Changes under the surface, whether it’s coaches or front-office support personnel, may need to be more secure depending on the results of the internal review.
It’s far from Seidler’s reactive statements, which must have been tempting given the magnitude of the team’s failings. However, as we previously stated, most of the team’s difficulties can be ascribed to bad luck and chance, making retaining those aforementioned elite players in place for 2024 a fully acceptable strategy and one that is likely to generate improved results.
The upcoming winter may bring some roster changes for San Diego—salary might drop by as much as 20%—but it doesn’t appear like major changes to the team’s top decision-makers, whether in the dugout or the luxury box, will be imminent.
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