SAN DIEGO _ The Padres are to be feared. They have weapons. They have become the hunters.
They have taken over the chase by guile and with supreme knowledge of what drives them, what's under their skin.
Without fear of reprisal. Without derring-do.
Rarely in their half-century ride have they taken on the challenge and purposely driven rapidly around the curves.
Rarely have they dared to be great.
So there has been a bit of a misconception surrounding their recent bit of importing and exporting.
The album rock group A.J. Preller and his Scouts recorded in a matter of hours _ probably wilder than any contending franchise has ever done _ was music to our ears, but not daring to be great. Striving for greatness, yes.
It was terrific. Relentless. Inspiring. So well thought out. But if you dare to be great, there must be something at least a little dangerous to dare for, and there wasn't any danger to this. No gamble.
GM Preller led a safe, bloodless coup.
Even if it doesn't work out, he pitched a shutout, because Preller couldn't walk off the mound on worse ground than he was before the tornado he formed hit the ground with 500-mph winds.
You see? Lost in all of this is that, as the Padres roll into September, they can be better, but not worse _ because of this, anyway.
When Preller broke in, he tried to make a splash in 2015, and it became a swamp. But that was daring to be great.
This business was not.
He traded away 14 players, including both starting catchers (getting two catchers in return who might be able to hit .200). He gave up a few good prospects _ shortstop Gabriel Arias and third outfielder Taylor Trammell _ among them.
I can't say Preller traded away one player who absolutely fits into their future. Amazing, and without risk.
The players they traded for _ including an ace in Mike Clevinger, starting catchers in Austin Nola/Jason Castro, a seasoned DH in Mitch Moreland, and a closer in Trevor Rosenthal _ are better than anything they had.
They went from encouraging to authentic in a matter of hours.
This roster almost entirely is made up with guys from somewhere else (no everyday player is home-grown), but they're here because Preller's put together perhaps the top farm system in baseball. So he was overstocked with young players he wasn't going to need. He sold just a bit of his farm's acreage.
Who cares how they became Padres, as long as they can play?
And, you can look at the haul and easily ask: Where's the money coming from to pay all these guys?
That's the second important thing. Peter Seidler, the team's bank, didn't have to open the vault to buy treasure. So, real gold or iron pyrite, there is little hit to take.
"Not much," Seidler says. "Clevinger isn't overly expensive (and not a free agent until 2023), and the players we acquired weren't really expensive. The discipline in the trade room was impressive. Maybe we added a few million dollars, that's it."
Most GMs have slept through this COVID season. A.J. is an insomniac.
This was the safest, most productive in-season ride in their history. Never took it out of fifth gear.
The Slam Diego Stalkers.
