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There are certain times when optics are so bad that credentials and circumstances cease to matter. No excuse will be enough to justify the massive shame that ownership is feeling, due to its wildly miscalculated expectations. Humiliation often demands retaliation, fair or not. The 2023 San Diego Padres (79-80) are one of the biggest failures in MLB history, but owner Peter Seidler might actually stay the course.
“Seidler has expressed in recent days that he wants both men {manager Bob Melvin and general manager AJ Preller} to remain in 2024,” Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday. “And that seems to be where this is headed if certain parameters of a productive coexistence can be figured out. But still on that table are Melvin and Preller staying, both being fired or one of them being fired.”
It is quite surprising to see the Padres potentially maintain the same management structure, but both Melvin and Preller are responsible for getting the franchise over the hump last season. San Diego eliminated its detested foe, the Los Angeles Dodgers, from the MLB playoffs and reached the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1998. But there is a bigger issue beyond just performance that could determine their 2024 destiny.
Growing dissension between Padres management?
Melvin and Preller reportedly cannot stand one another. “Over the past few months, the situation has worsened,” Acee wrote. “As is often the case in a relationship that seems from the outside to be headed toward divorce, the dynamic between Melvin and Preller is described by several people as “irreconcilable,” though that judgment has not been made by either man or by those who would have a voice in their fate.”
The last thing the Padres need right now is internal turmoil. There are difficult personnel decisions to make regarding Juan Soto's long-term future and the impending free agency status of Blake Snell and Josh Hader. A cohesive relationship between these important authority figures is essential to properly address all issues facing this beleaguered club.
Seidler cannot afford to live in denial and trust that the franchise's abundance of talent will carry them back into the postseason next year. At the very least, he must ensure that Bob Melvin and AJ Preller can move past any alleged tension and animosity.
