With San Diego’s early postseason exit, questions remain with the roster and team construction, but there remains one question just as pressing, if not more so. 

Padres GM/President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller has done everything in his power to build competitive team’s year in and year out.

Even after the passing of beloved owner Peter Seidler, Preller has managed to keep a steady ship and his roster construction (while at times questioned) has played a role in the team making back-to-back postseason appearances. With San Diego’s consistent levels of success in recent years, including winning records in five of the last six seasons, keeping the architect of the team’s successes as a part of the organization sounds like a no-brainer. 

While in past seasons Preller has been able to operate with seemingly limitless financial flexibility, the last two seasons have seen constraints placed on the Padres organization’s cash spending when it comes to the roster. For his part, Preller has been able to find talent both within and outside the organization to fill areas of need for the team.

Securing Nick Pivetta to a back-loaded four-year deal with opt-outs allowed the team the financial flexibility to add payroll at the 2025 trade deadline. Bringing in veteran arms like Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha on below-market value deals proved a success despite the 2023 Padres’ much-maligned finish.

The coup de grace would be Jackson Merrill’s nine-year contract extension, which at $135 million, is a steal for the talent that Merrill brings to the field. It is a contract so team-friendly that the MLBPA was prepared to caution Merrill not to take it, but Merrill cited his strong relationship with the organization as a key factor for accepting the deal. 

Coincidentally (or not), San Diego’s ability to bring in quality players through the MLB draft and amateur ranks has been a strong suit of the team since A.J. Preller joined the organization back in 2014.

Preller has been a master at building farm systems, and just as good at rebuilding them when it is believed the prospect capital has been cleared out. Preller’s scouting and player assessment acumen is one of the most well-regarded in the league, and players drafted and signed by Preller are a presence all around the major leagues.

Has Preller made some overzealous and questionable deals? Yes.

Does prospect hoarding work out? Not always, as teams like the Neal Huntington-led Pirates have proven.

As former Super Bowl winning head coach Bruce Arians famously said, “No risk it, no biscuit”. Even though A.J. Preller might not hit on every trade, he has shown he is not afraid to take the risk needed to improve his roster. Preller’s aggressive stance during the trade season has seen him acquire superstar talents like Juan Soto and Mason Miller, dealing away several top prospects in the process.

However, the Soto trade has not worked out for the Nationals as they had envisioned, while Soto was a key piece of the Padres’ 2022 run to the NLCS. Soto was also the reason San Diego was able to acquire Michael King (who was a borderline All-Star in his time with the Padres), Randy Vasquez (who could be a fixture in the 2026 Padres’ rotation), and Dylan Cease (thanks to the inclusion of Drew Thorpe). 

A.J. Preller and his staff’s work in the amateur ranks is one of the most renowned in the league, as he is somehow able to find elite talents in later rounds or on the UDFA market.

Right-hander Braden Nett, dealt to the Athletics in the Miller trade, was a former UDFA signing who had reliever risk until a breakout first half in 2025. Brandon Butterworth and Victor Figueroa, both key pieces of the Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn deal, were former late-round picks who showed promise in their first full seasons. Right-hander David Morgan was a former UDFA signee out of a Division III school; now he is one of the Padres’ integral relievers.

Former Padre draftees are scattered across MLB rosters, with Yankees closer David Bednar, Blue Jays reliever Eric Lauer, Mariners closer Andres Munoz and first baseman Josh Naylor among major leaguers on playoff rosters who were signed/developed by San Diego. Even with all the trades and roster fluctuation, Preller is able to continuously restock his farm system, and not just in the early rounds.

Consistently drafting in the back half of the first round is a sign of team success, and what A.J. Preller has been able to do in the draft deserves credit. His first round picks consist of high-upside high school players who are highly coveted by other teams, with former first-rounders Dillon Head, Dylan Lesko, and CJ Abrams among those traded. Preller’s last two first-rounders, Kash Mayfield and Kruz Schoolcraft, have flashed plus pitches and ace-like upside in their early showings.

Preller has also shown a knack for finding first-round quality players in the later rounds, as his selections of James Wood and Boston Bateman (among others) have shown. San Diego has also shown an innate ability to develop their late-round picks into MLB-potential players.

For example, 2023 17th & 18th-round picks Harry Gustin and Eric Yost have shown MLB potential and are already at Double-A. 2022 18th-rounder Romeo Sanabria has reached Double-A and at one point was in contention for a Texas League batting title. 2021 16th-rounder Alek Jacob has become a serviceable middle reliever. Preller’s 2022 UDFA class featured David Morgan & Braden Nett along with current Top 30 prospect Braedon Karpathios. Preller’s past as a scouting lead with the Rangers has given him a skill set that few, if any, GMs around the league can match. Getting rid of such a skill set at the head of baseball operations would undoubtedly stunt the Padres’ ability to extend a contention window with affordable yet high-quality talent. 

Despite his brazenness and love for splash moves, A.J. Preller is the right man to lead the Padres’ front office as the team aims to remain competitive during the primes of their star talents. Preller’s ability to identify and bring in talent at all facets of the spectrum makes him uniquely qualified to steer this team towards their goal of a World Series title. Not extending him would be a disservice to the organization’s desire to win.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.