Fortune can favor the bold. San Diego Padres president of baseball operations, A.J. Preller, would seem to agree based on his recent comments regarding the 2022 trade that sent former Washington National, Juan Soto, to the Padres.

Despite the fact that Washinton received coveted young prospects who have had varying levels of major league success, Preller told the Athletic’s Dennis Lin that the trade is a point of pride to this day.

“Honestly,” Preller said Wednesday, “I think in the baseball ops group we look back with a lot of pride and not regret.”

“You’re hoping that we could trade for Juan Soto with none of those guys in there, but we know that’s not realistic,” Preller said. “We had a team that ended up getting to the NLCS for the third time in franchise history and was three games away from a World Series. And from day one, I’ve talked about playing on the big stage. That’s what it’s about for our franchise, is getting to a World Series and winning a World Series for San Diego.”

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Across 214 games with the Padres, Soto mashed 41 home runs, posted a .405 OBP, and earned an .893 OPS. The Padres fell short of capturing a World Series title, but received consistently competitive play from Soto.

The Padres traded Soto to the New York Yankees prior to the 2024 season, and Soto’s journey has been well-documented since then.

As far as the Nationals end of the deal, shortstop C.J. Abrams, left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore, and outfielder James Wood were the core return. They have each started to show signs of real development at the big league level, and have featured flashes of All-Star potential.

Wood has been particularly good in 2025. The 22-year-old has his 22 home runs and earned a .926 OPS through 81 games this season.

While the Nationals might have a bright future, Preller and Padres seem to be just fine living in the present.