Who is to blame for the Padres collapse?
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Thus far, the 2023 season has been catastrophic for the San Diego Padres.
Finally crowned a team of relevance after decades of failure, the Padres were supposed to be one of the best teams in the league.
After being swept by the Pirates on Wednesday, the Padres sit seven games under .500, and playoffs seem an unattainable goal. Playing deep into the season seems inconceivable at this point as the team continues to find new ways to lose ballgames. The team is showing little heart, and unlike teams of the past, they simply cannot come back from a deficit.
It is a sad time for the fanbase, as there were high hopes for the Padres in 2023.
Though they are not technically eliminated, the Padres need a small miracle to get back into the race. If the trend continues and the team fails to make the playoffs this season- who is to blame? Where will the fault lie for the San Diego Padres’ incompetence?
Let’s take a look at the three most common “reasons” why the Padres are losing.
The manager of the squad is naturally who most pundits and fans blame right away if a talented team is failing. Bob Melvin came to the Padres with a long history of success. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in all of major league baseball. The veteran skipper has a reputation for getting the best out of an inexpensive roster. In San Diego, Melvin has not had to suffer through that, as the Padres’ $232 million roster is the third-highest in the league.
Is he not getting respect from this star-studded locker room? Has he lost the respect of the team? These notions seem really far-fetched. In close losses, a manager’s decisions are magnified tenfold. Melvin has been questioned this year for his lineup construction and bullpen usage, but nothing is glaring. Bob Melvin could be removed and used as a scapegoat for the problems of the Padres, but you get a sense he is not the issue with this franchise. It goes beyond way him.
A.J. Preller
When it comes down to it, A.J. Preller will go down as one of the most popular general managers in the history of the franchise. When he came into town in late 2014, the organization was a complete mess. He immediately made huge changes and did an excellent job of rejuvenating a dead fanbase. The trades did not work for the 2015 season, but the Padres were suddenly relevant, and major league baseball was talking about them. Just in time for the 2016 season and the all-star game at Petco Park.
Preller has changed gears several times in his tenure. He went from developing a competitive major league team to building one of the best farm systems in all of baseball. That fruitful farm system helped facilitate major trades when the time was right for the Padres. Though his trades did not work out well in some cases, the team was able to upgrade multiple times as they attempted to compete in the last few seasons. All this is great, but the team is failing now. Preller hand-picked the additions to the roster, and for whatever reason, they are not working. He is surely responsible to some degree. This is his team.
The Players
The game is played by the men on the field. You can put them in a position to win, but it comes down to their performance. The Padres have several men on the roster who are considered some of the best players in the world. As a group, they are all underachieving. Individually, only Fernando Tatis Jr. is having a good (not great) season, and he missed the first few weeks of the season, serving his PED suspension from last year. Juan Soto started the year ice cold and has only recently begun to show his value. But his numbers are still below what he produced in Washington.
Manny Machado has not played well in 2023, and Xander Bogaerts seems to be battling a wrist injury. The team is not getting much from their big four, who were supposed to wreak havoc on the National League. Then there are players like Jake Cronenworth, Austin Nola, Matt Carpenter, and Trent Grisham, who are all battling to put up any offensive numbers of relevance. Injuries have not been a major factor, though losing Robert Suarez was a huge loss for this team. Watching this team continue to fail is heartbreaking and head-scratching at the same time. Changes must be made to the roster. This group simply cannot win together.
The Verdict
Ultimately, the game of baseball comes down to execution. The little things do matter in the game, whether it be taking an extra base when appropriate or going out of your way to make your teammates comfortable around you. Chemistry is very much a factor in the game of baseball and especially at the major league level, which represents the best players in the whole world. The Padres simply do not have that right now. Losing gives you the opinion that this group is dysfunctional. Only the players can change this.
A.J. Preller will be blamed for this roster construction. For whatever reason- It simply is not working. He built this team, and though it was supposed to be a powerhouse, they look weak and beatable of late. The Padres continue to lose close games and are doing so in several different manners. They are not consistent and fail to play the game with much passion. It is certainly time to think about blowing this season up. What will they do? Will Preller be allowed to construct another team in 2024? Only time will tell.
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.
Bad roster construction by the GM. Mr. Preller surrounded his four above average ML players with a group of below average players. This season, only two of the four presumptive stars are above average. Result: A lineup full of rally killers. Footnote: The Padres had the two best starters in the NL in May and June, and Musgrove probably deserves it for July — and in all that time the Padres have never even smelled .500 — an achievement that is unlikely to ever be duplicated.
FIRE BOB MELVIN now. His decision making has cost us just as many games, if not more, than star players now performing. Just look at Padres run differential and you will begin to wonder how so many games have been lost. He ran Tim Hill, and Nick Martinez out to the mound like the were Trevor Hoffman giving teams plenty of film to watch and find tendencies and weaknesses. Just today he starts Sanchez who is hitting sub .200 at catcher the day after Campusano goes 4 for 5. Let’s assume Musgrove wants Sanchez as they have rapport, this could be understandable but having Matt Carpenter as DH when he is hitting .161 on the season when he should have kept a bat as hot as Campusanos in the lineup is too frustrating. It is quite frankly unforgivable. Think of Joe Torre, you think he would do any of this, he’d probably have told Musgrove suck it up, it’s best for the team that Campusano is the backstop right now. FIRE BOB MELVIN!!! We can go so much further with a different person making these calls.
Agree with you 1000%. They have to shake it up while there is still time. I was at the game last night. Darvish was way off from the start. He had already been rocked by 2 long home runs. Going to the 5th, it’s 5-1 Pirates, why would Melvin stick with him? Sure enough, he got rocked for a 3rd HR. Another bad decision by the Padres Mgr. Melvin made one of his stars suffer unnecessarily. Melvin had his chance, It is way past time for him to go.
Tatis. Ladt year the group jelled together well. This year you have Tatis.
“Who is to blame for the Padres collapse?” Preller, of course. BoMel has a ton of responsibility as well. And the players on this team have the mental strength of tissue paper (their batting avg with RISP reveals this all too well).
“…A.J. Preller will go down as one of the most popular general managers in the history of the franchise.”
Really? By whom? Yes, there was a spike in popularity with the pre-loaded propaganda of “Rock Star GM” … but there was never any reality that matched the hype. Stunningly bad trades (Turner+ for Myers; doing their sworn enemy a MASSIVE favor by taking on Kemp, and giving away tons of talent; etc) and horrific signings (e.g. “Preller’s Folly”) made all of this painfully evident, even though many continuously doubled-down, and would not admit what is so painfully obvious.
Nevertheless, he was given more and more power, and more and more money, which couldn’t help but have some on-the-field success (paying outrageous salaries; high draft picks; owners willing to pay financial penalties for over-spending). This, then, was used to defend and praise him, despite the glaring weaknesses.
And, of course, there were the inevitably lucky breaks (getting Tatis, through the work of a scout), but nothing can change the fact that he sucks, and that he cannot really construct a good MLB roster. And it turns out that consistently buying high, and selling low on your talent is not a good tactic for a GM.
They absolutely need to fire him BEFORE THE TRADE DEADLINE. Or else he will do far, FAR more damage, and the team won’t recover for 5 to 10 years.
Random Dude hit it right on the nose. Preller is an absolute dumpster fire. He clearly never played sports in his life. He has zero concept of the inner workings of a clubhouse, and has no feel for the importance of team chemistry. He handles his gm job like he is playing Madden Football on his xbox. Preller should have been fired years ago, but at this point, he has to go now!