Thanks to general manager AJ Preller's relentless aggression when it comes to acquiring star-caliber players, whether via trade or via free agency, the San Diego Padres have amassed an impressive collection of talent. So with the regular season drawing to a close, a cursory look at the Padres' roster would leave someone who hasn't followed the MLB in a few months believe that they'll be right up there among the contenders in the NL West.

However, the Padres have fallen flat on their faces, contrary to fan expectations. Even after their 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday, they have posted a mere 80-80 record, missing out on the playoffs entirely. And it's been quite the marvel as to how the Padres have pulled off this disappointment, given how impressive some of their players have been in 2023.

As Danny Vietti of CBS Sports pointed out, the Padres have three 25+ home run hitters in Juan Soto, Manny Machado, and Fernando Tatis Jr., have this year's presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner in Blake Snell, and an elite closer with a 1.73 ERA in Josh Hader.

Moreover, the Padres' surface-level stats have been impressive as well, putting them among the best teams in the NL. They rank second in team ERA among NL teams as well as third in offensive WAR (per Fangraphs). Their defense has been relatively error-free as well, posting the third fewest errors in the league.

It's simply confounding as to how the Padres can underperform like this. But a baseball game isn't played on a spreadsheet. Perhaps the Padres failed to sequence their hits well or faltered in the clutch; those are the two easy explanations for how they could post a mere .500 win percentage even with a run differential of +98, which puts their Pythagorean win-loss record at around 92-70.

Given the talent the Padres have, it's fair to chalk this disappointing season up to a bit of bad luck. Now, the Padres can shift their focus towards making sure the odds fall ever so kindly in their favor next year so that they'd avoid yet another high-priced disappointment in 2024.