Ending the Concept of “Padres University”
Credit: Ryan Cox
The Padres’ franchise has always had trouble when it comes to developing a sense of tradition and cultivating a winning philosophy.
There are many reasons why the team has failed to become relevant in Major League Baseball over the years. Among the issues is the franchise’s failure to keep their own cultivated talent (whether they were acquired via trade or homegrown) and build a winning team around them. That’s the sad truth.
Instead, they have typically traded players, or allowed them to leave when the player is due for big money. With that, the franchise has rightfully earned the reputation as a stopover for a player before bigger and brighter things in their career. A Padres University of sorts – a place where a baseball player learns his skill and develops it, only to excel somewhere else.
From Dave Winfield and Ozzie Smith in the early years, to Gary Sheffield, to Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez, the team has dealt players or allowed them to leave simply because they did not want to pay them fair market value. You cannot be frugal when it comes to keeping core players, and you cannot keep recycling players like they are newspapers. Fans want to grow with a player and fall in love with them. During the good years and the bad years. Through it all. That is what makes a fan base strong. That is what winning baseball is all about. That is what the San Diego Padres currently lack.
Sheffield and Gonzalez were not homegrown talent, but each did find their first taste of stardom as a young Friar. They grew as players in the Padres’ uniform, only to become household names somewhere else. Mentality like that towards young players will only set a franchise back. And it has done just that for the Padres. Being in a constant rebuild is a maddening place to be.
The Padres did get Trevor Hoffman for Sheffield, and they also landed Anthony Rizzo for Gonzalez, but it’s the reshuffling of talent that stunts the growth of the team. In the case of Adrian Gonzalez, the team had a franchise player from the city of San Diego, a borderline hall of fame-caliber player, and an excellent model for young Padres’ minor leaguers to emulate. They chose to move on instead of legitimately trying to re-sign Gonzalez. We all know what kind of player Rizzo ended up being, and the Padres clearly never got that kind of production from Andrew Cashner. That’s what happens when you make trades. Sometimes you win, but more often than not… you lose.
With a solid core of Wil Myers, Hunter Renfroe, Manuel Margot, and Austin Hedges on the offensive front, the Padres have an opportunity to keep a very young group together. Combine that with a young pitching staff of Anderson Espinoza, Cal Quantrill, Eric Lauer, Logan Allen, Jacob Nix, Joey Lucchesi, Michel Baez, and Adrian Morejon and the Padres have a very exciting future.
For the first time ever, the Padres have set themselves up for long-term success. There will be waves of talented young players hitting San Diego continuously. The first group, led by Renfroe, Margot, and Hedges, is here. And you can expect loads more talent to arrive shortly.
With A.J. Preller at the helm, there is a sense that this regime is built for the long run. The $70 million-plus spent on young international talent is another sign that this team is finally doing things the correct way. There will be no more Padres University as this franchise is now the crown jewel of the city of San Diego and its sports community. It is an exciting time to be a Padres’ fan. The franchise is in arguably the best position it has ever been as far as future possibilities. Do not let us down.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
But with our lower revenue market here in San Diego, AJP needs to be real smart when tying up players and the structure of such contracts. Has to be willing to trade a guy for the next round of prospects to keep the system full over time. It is an art that few teams do well. This new front office guy should help. It is in a way the method used in New England for football. The trick the Yankees did with there current closer worked to land a couple of blue chip prospects 2 years ago but signed the player back last year, never seen anyone else do that. I think we will MAX out at $160 MIL annual payroll, and I am sure they would love to keep it down around $120 MIL annually. So we will still be moving some players out for a highly thought of prospects from time to time. Trade guys a year early than a year late to max out the return. Continue to draft well is a must.
Rather than back loaded deals they should explore front loaded deals that keep the value up of aging players. They also need to be very careful with the 5 and 10 rule. Signing players for 6 or 7 years deals is OK as long as 60-65% of the value of the deal comes in the first 4 years of the contract and the player a little past his prime still can be moved because of lower cost over the last few years of the contract.
I am ALL IN for a Padre Dynasty over the next 20 years.
Well said! Makes my eyes well up in tears when I truly think where this franchise can/will be in 2-3 years! And for those of you who have never experienced the fun and excitement of championship caliber MLB baseball in your city, it’s just different! Every day that summer is an exciting day and forges memories for a lifetime. Can’t wait! In A.J. we trust….