Padres News: AJ Preller Not Ready to Make Any Payroll Plans Until After World Series

Uncertain about their direction.

Padres front office executive A.J. Preller didn't envision an October without playoff baseball when he assembled MLB's third most expensive roster on Opening Day.  

San Diego surprisingly failed to live up to their lofty preseason and Preller now has a choice as to which direction he wishes to guide his 2024 roster toward. 

“As we get into November, we’ll get more of a definitive idea of where we’re at payroll-wise and then we adjust as we go from there,” he said.

via Kevin Acee, San Diego Tribune

The 46-year-old general manager took over the Friars' top job in 2015 and immediately showed an aggressive pursuit of veteran talent upon landing the role. 

Derek Norris, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Wil Myers and Craig Kimbrel injected immediate talent for San Diego but Preller gave up multiple top prospects including Trea Turner in moves that ultimately backfired. 

Preller pivoted back toward replenishing the barren farm system from his previous wheeling and dealing and did well to acquire Fernando Tatis Jr. for a struggling James Shields. 

The young Dominican superstar reignited the franchise and veterans Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado joined the team later in Preller's tenure. 

These moves earned the Padres a playoff spot for the first time since 2006 and their first winning year since 2010 in the infamous pandemic season. 

Preller fell to the Dodgers in 2020 but moved quickly to add Juan Soto, Josh Hader and Blake Snell among others in the time before their 2022 clash in the NLDS. 

Though the Friars exacted revenge on their divisional foe last season, Preller wasn't satisfied with just an NLCS appearance. 

The aggressive GM moved quickly to sign shortstop Xander Bogaerts on another massive contract and doubled down on his underwhelming roster by buying at the 2023 trade deadline. 

Another season with a positive record won't exactly constitute a consolation for Preller's roster with World Series expectations and some team philosophy changes could emerge in the coming weeks.