‘We’re shifting on’: Padres protecting each Bob Melvin and A.J. Preller as they flip consideration to offseason

The turmoil has given way to continuity.

The Padres do, indeed, plan to move forward with the same men running the team.

Manager Bob Melvin and President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller will continue in their posts, Preller confirmed Wednesday.

“Bob is our manager and is going to be our manager going forward,” Preller said.

This comes after a season in which the Padres underachieved on the field and the two primary decision makers navigated a frosty relationship.

Preller spoke to the media via a video conference on Wednesday morning. The reasoning for not doing a gathering in person, according to a team spokesman, was a matter of timing. The team felt it was important to have Preller speak this week, even as the Padres’ senior leadership is conducting meetings virtually all day every day. Melvin did not appear on the call with Preller due to a previously arranged travel commitment, the spokesman said.

A.J. Preller says reports of a rift between he and manager Bob Melvin have been overblown.

(Rob Leiter / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

After a meeting involving Preller and Melvin on Monday, the decision was made that they would continue to work together to move on from a disappointing and dysfunctional 2023. They plan to meet again next week to begin addressing plans for the offseason.

“A lot has been said in the last few weeks, but both he and I are very excited about the challenge of getting this group back to the postseason next year,” Preller said. “… I think just even in the last couple days, you know, you get a chance to recap and look at some different things and both of us feel really good about where things are going forward.”

The Padres finished 82-80, two games out of the National League’s final wild-card spot. They won 14 of their final 16 games to achieve just the 17th winning season in the franchise’s 55 years of existence, but it fell well short of expectations for a team with MLB’s third-highest payroll.

Additionally, a divide between Melvin and Preller that was present even in 2022 grew to a level that had to be addressed. Their communication waned, and they differed over player usage, roster construction and other philosophies. While the relationship was strained enough that several people around the situation opined they did not think it was salvageable, Preller on Wednesday called reports of the rift between he and Melvin “overblown.”

Padres Chairman Peter Seidler preferred to keep both men.

He made that clear last week to those who are running the team’s day-to-day operations while he recovers from a medical issue. And the team issued a statement from Seidler Monday morning that was intended to affirm his intentions while also pledging to undertake necessary changes to get back to the playoffs.

“What we talked about here in the last couple of days it’s ultimately about how we get this better, how we do this better,” Preller said Wednesday. “I think Bob understands that, for my job, it’s to put the roster together. I have a ton of respect for Bob and his experiences and the way he leads our team. … I think we both feel that ultimately on the big-picture items, the belief in this group, the belief in this team, what we need to do to get it going forward, I think we got a chance to kind of reaffirm that in the last few days and feel really good about where … we’re moving on.”

Manager Bob Melvin looks on during a Sept. 4 game against the Phillies.

(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Melvin, who will turn 62 this month, has one year remaining on his contract. He said when he was hired before the 2022 season that he intended to manage only through ‘24, though in the spring he left open the possibility of continuing beyond that.

He has been mentioned by multiple people around the league as a potential replacement for the fired Gabe Kapler in San Francisco. It isn’t known whether Melvin is interested in that job, or others. Melvin declined comment Wednesday.

Preller, whose contract runs through 2026, continued throughout last week and into this week conducting end-of-season business mostly as usual.

The usual roster tweaks this offseason come with some intrigue.

Multiple league and team sources have said the Padres will trim payroll this offseason, likely down to around $200 million from their current level of $253 million. That would drop them from having the third-highest payroll among the 30 MLB teams but easily keep them among the top half.

Preller on Wednesday uttered the usual platitudes regarding the idea that the team will consult with pending free agent pitchers Blake Snell and Josh Hader. But it is considered highly unlikely the team brings back the market’s top available starting pitcher and reliever.

Padres left fielder Juan Soto is likely to make $30 million or more next season.

(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Arguably the biggest question centers on left fielder Juan Soto, who was far and away the team’s top offensive producer in 2023. He is under team control for one more season, but with his salary expected to reach at least $30 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, the Padres have discussed the possibility of trading him this offseason.

The other possibility is signing him to a long-term contract, though the sides coming to terms on a deal that is expected to top $500 million is considered unlikely, especially a year early.

“We’ll go down that path this offseason and talk to Juan and his representatives, kind of see where things stand there,” Preller said. “What he was able to contribute, as he settled in, as the year went on, he was a consistent offensive force, one of the best in the game. And we’ll have those conversations here when we get into the offseason, kind of seeing where his head is at and figuring out if there is some common ground.”

Among the changes that could occur would be an additional voice and presence in the baseball operations department. While Preller also holds the title of general manager, adding someone in that role to work alongside him has been discussed.

“It’s something that’s been on the table, that we’ve talked about throughout different points last offseason and this year,” Preller said. “The biggest thing for myself, conversations I’ll continue to have with Peter, we just want to have as good a team, as good a leadership team as you can have. I feel good about the current group. But also, I’m always going to be open if we can add somebody that brings different experiences to the team, that can help us perform better on the field, I will always be open to that.

“We’re always talking about best practices, best ways to do things, how to be best in class. I think those are always conversations. I think obviously the first few years we were pretty realistic that we were in a rebuilding situation. And I think the marching orders (were) when we get to ‘20 we want to have a team year in year out that can contend for a World Series title. We’ve been in the playoffs a couple times and fallen short two times. We want to be there every single year. We want to be in October every year. … We’ll learn from it. If that means we’ve got to make some changes, we will.”

For now, status quo.