Start of baseball’s Winter Meetings good time to reflect on how Padres have been built

The deals weren’t done that week at the Hilton Bayfront, but it was during baseball’s Winter Meetings there in 2014 that the footing for three franchise-altering trades was poured.

Within a couple weeks of those meetings, the Padres had traded for Wil Myers, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton, as well as Derek Norris.

And while that initial burst of activity by Padres General Manager A.J. Preller turned out to be merely the prelude to a roster demolition, a legacy was formed. The moving and shaking Preller initiated at those meetings signaled the kind of executive he would be.

He has guided the Padres to stranger, lower and loftier places and been involved in plenty more machinations in the eight years since.

This year’s Winter Meetings begin here Monday at the Grand Hyatt, the third time in nine years the annual gathering has been held in downtown San Diego.

Preller, now with the title of president of baseball operations, has made just two significant moves this offseason — keeping free agent pitchers Nick Martinez and Robert Suarez. He still seeks a left fielder, a first baseman and designated hitter, a starting pitcher and bench help.

Not as many deals have been consummated at recent Winter Meetings as in days of yore, but the coming together of virtually everyone in the game for four days creates the intrigue of possibility.

So, as we prepare for his next moves, now is as good a time as any to look at how Preller built the Padres into what can for the first time ever reasonably be expected to be a perennial playoff contender.

While there are many ways to build a roster, Preller has applied a unique fervor to making and remaking his team.

Most people anticipated during the remodel of 2016-19 that the Padres would build to their window of contention a la the Astros, who used the draft and international signings to create something of a dynastic run of two World Series championships and two other World Series appearances in the past six years. But while the majority of the Astros’ 26-man roster for Houston’s most recent title was made up of players the team signed out of Latin America or drafted, the Padres have used 35 players who were at one time ranked among their top-30 prospects to help build a roster that could in some respects be considered a band of mercenaries.

Among the dozen playoff teams in 2022, the Padres were the newest.

Of the 26 players who were on their National League Championship Series roster, 13 were acquired via trade or free agent signing just since Peter Seidler took over as the team’s chairman in November 2021. No other playoff team had that many players acquired since the end of the 2020 season on the 26-man roster with which they began their final postseason series.

The Padres were tied with the Rays for the fewest homegrown players of any playoff team.

Technically, the Padres had five players who began their MLB careers in the organization. That number, however, includes infielder Ha-Seong Kim and Suarez. The Padres were their first major league team, but Kim spent seven years in the Korean Baseball Organization before joining the Padres for the 2021 season and Suarez pitched five seasons in Japan before becoming a 31-year-old rookie last season.

Here is a chronological look at the way the playoff Padres were built, which begins with one of the moves essentially conceived at those ’14 meetings.

(Dates given are official transactions dates. Numbers in parentheses indicate a player’s prospect ranking in Padres’ system by Baseball America at time of trade.)

Wil Myers

Dec. 19, 2014. Acquired in a three-team trade in which Padres also received José Castillo, Ryan Hanigan and Gerardo Reyes from the Rays and sent Jake Bauers (15), Rene Rivera and Burch Smith (23) to the Rays and Joe Ross (4) and Trea Turner (2) to the Nationals.

Perhaps Turner would have hit .302/.355/.487, won a batting title, led the league in steals twice and made two All-Star teams before hitting free agency for the Padres had they not traded him six months after selecting him with their first pick in the 2014 draft. Maybe Turner would have moved to second base so Fernando Tatis Jr. could play shortstop, which might have meant Jake Cronenworth became an outfielder. It is also possible the Padres would not have signed Manny Machado had Turner shown signs of becoming a star by the spring of 2019. Or maybe they would have, and the Padres could have been better sooner. We’ll never know.

Myers was at the time considered the key piece in the deal, and after his lone All-Star campaign in 2016 the Padres gave him a six-year contract worth $83 million in January 2017. That deal expired after the ’22 season, with Myers having hit .254/.330/.451 while starting at least 36 games at six different positions for the Padres. His 888 games with the Padres are eighth most in franchise history.

Now that Myers’ contract is up, Preller could perpetrate an amazing irony and bring back Turner. As reported a couple days ago, the Padres have been wooing Turner.

Adrian Morejón

July 2, 2016. Signed with Padres out of Cuba for $11 million.

The jewel of the Padres’ record 2016 international signing class has been slowed by injuries, including Tommy John surgery after one start in 2021. There remain high expectations for the 23-year-old Cuban left-hander, whose signing bonus is by far the highest the Padres have paid to an international free agent.

Luis Campusano

June 13, 2017. Selected in the second round of the amateur draft.

Campusano remains the Padres’ catcher of the future. For now. There are conflicting opinions within the organization regarding the 24-year-old’s role, though he is roundly expected to split playing time in some manner with Austin Nola in 2023. Campusano made his big-league debut in September 2020 but has spent most of his time in Triple-A. He was on the roster throughout the playoffs but did not play.

Steven Wilson

June 5, 2018. Selected in the eighth round of the amateur draft.

Wilson made the roster out of spring training, made his MLB debut on April 9 and allowed one run in his first eight appearances (8 1/3 innings). The right-hander finished his rookie campaign with a 3.09 ERA.

Manny Machado

March 21, 2019. Signed a 10-year, $300 million free agent contract.

The deal was agreed to Feb. 19, and that can be considered the day the Padres truly committed to being different than they had been for the better part of five decades. Machado’s contract guaranteed him more than twice what the Padres committed to Eric Hosmer a year earlier. The acquisition of Hosmer had been heralded as the team turning a corner. Getting Machado signaled they intended to launch.

After an abysmal finish to his first season with the team, Machado has continued to get better. He has hit .280/.352/.504 with the Padres and finished in the top three in NL MVP voting two of the past three seasons.

Trent Grisham

Nov. 27, 2019. Acquired in a trade with the Brewers that also brought pitcher Zach Davies while sending Eric Lauer and Luis Urías to Milwaukee.

The legacy of this trade is pending. For now, its greatest benefit to the Padres was that a year later it helped them get Yu Darvish (more on that below).

Grisham has been awesome and awful. He is coming off a season in which he hit 17 home runs and won his second Gold Glove in center field but also was the worst qualifying batter in the majors with a .182 average. That followed a relatively productive 2021 and strong 2020. Grisham is entering his first year of arbitration. The Padres’ plan appears to be the left-handed hitter will be their primary center fielder in ’23 with the likelihood of some sort of platoon.

Lauer, a former first-round pick, has a respectable 3.47 ERA over the past two seasons. Urías, at one time the Padres’ No.2 prospect behind Tatis, has a .749 OPS over four seasons for the Brewers.

Jurickson Profar

Dec. 2, 2019. Acquired from the A’s in a trade for Austin Allen (16) and Buddy Reed (25).

Profar was something less than OK (.690 OPS) his first two seasons with the Padres, as he moved around between the right side of the infield and all three outfield spots. He had arguably his strongest all-around season in ’22 while playing solely in left field and making a career-high 658 plate appearances. After hitting .242 with a .723 OPS, Profar opted out of his contract and is testing free agency, though people close to him say he and his family have a strong desire to remain in San Diego.

Allen has played in 23 games for the A’s. Reed has not advanced past Triple-A and was released by the A’s in May before spending the rest of the season in Double-A after signing with the Dodgers.

Jake Cronenworth

Dec. 6, 2019. Tommy Pham was the centerpiece of this trade for the Padres, who sent Hunter Renfroe and minor leaguers Xavier Edwards (21) and Esteban Quiroz to the Rays.

The deal took almost two weeks to become final as Padres doctors needed to sign off on the health of Pham’s elbow. And it took the Padres a while to realize what they had in Cronenworth, who was considered by almost everyone (including some in the organization) as a throw-in in the deal. He got his first start filling in for the ill Hosmer at first base and ended up finishing second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2020 and has been an All-Star the past two seasons. His 9.9 total fWAR since entering the league is third among all major league second basemen.

Pham was hampered by various injuries and finished his two seasons with the Padres with a .705 OPS that was well off his career mark of .844 when he arrived in San Diego.

Renfroe’s 68 home runs (for the Rays, Red Sox and Brewers) over the past three seasons are sixth most among major league right fielders. He was traded to the Angels in November. Edwards had a .678 OPS in Triple-A last season. Quiroz was traded to the Cubs last year and played in 14 games for them.

Pierce Johnson

Dec. 23, 2019. Signed a two-year contract worth $5 million.

Johnson returned from two years in Japan throwing harder and spinning his curveball more and was among the Padres’ most effective relievers in 2020 and ’21. The team picked up a $3 million option for ’22, which Johnson largely missed due to forearm tendinitis. He is expected to sign elsewhere this winter.

Tim Hill

July 16, 2020. Acquired in a trade that sent Ronald Bolanos (13) and Franchy Cordero to the Royals.

Much was expected of lefty José Castillo in 2020, but days after he suffered a lat strain during training camp leading up to the delayed 2020 season, the Padres acquired a little-known side-arming left-hander to bolster their bullpen. Hill has become one of their most durable relievers, leading the team with 156 appearances since ’20.

Bolanos has appeared in 13 games for the Royals, while Cordero batted .209 over 148 games and was recently released by the Red Sox.

Austin Nola

Aug. 31, 2020. Acquired from the Mariners along with relievers Austin Adams and Dan Altavila for Ty France, Andres Muñoz (7), Luis Torrens and Taylor Trammell (4).

Preller had long coveted Nola, who had been converted to catcher a couple years earlier and hit .280 with an .827 OPS in 377 career plate appearances. And the Padres wanted a catcher who could hit better than Austin Hedges. Nola instantly endeared himself to the pitching staff, and that bond has grown ever stronger. However, he has batted .254 with a .675 OPS for the Padres. He had his first healthy season with the team in 2022 and essentially became the personal catcher for Darvish and Blake Snell and caught every inning of the postseason.

The Mariners’ haul in the trade is considered to have been a significant component of their improvement over the past two seasons, as they made the postseason in ’22 for the first time in 21 years.

Mike Clevinger

Aug. 31, 2020. Acquired from Cleveland along with Greg Allen and Matt Waldron in a trade for major leaguers Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor and Hedges and minor leaguers Gabe Arias (9), Joey Cantillo (11) and Owen Miller (12).

The Padres felt Clevinger, who had by many measures been among the best half-dozen pitchers in the majors over the previous three seasons, would pair atop the rotation with Dinelson Lamet (who had a 2.35 ERA at the time) to give them a chance against the Dodgers in the playoffs. Both were shut down with elbow injuries in the 2020 season’s final week. Lamet didn’t pitch against the Dodgers in the NL Division Series, and Clevinger lasted one inning in his start. Before he underwent Tommy John surgery the next month, the Padres gave him $11.5 million for two seasons, even though they knew he would miss ’21.

Clevinger went on the injured list in 2022 four times, twice with illness and twice with injuries, and finished with a 4.33 ERA over 114 1/3 innings. The Padres ended up paying him about $102,000 an inning (about $6,000 less than they have paid Yu Darvish for each of his 361 innings the past two seasons). Allen was released after the ’20 season. Waldron made 25 starts between Double-A and Triple-A last season and is ranked 17^th in the Padres’ system.

Among those sent to the Guardians, all but Cantillo were on the playoff roster in 2022. Cantillo posted a 1.93 ERA in 14 Double-A starts before a shoulder injury ended his season, and he was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster last month.

José Azocar

Nov. 17, 2020. Signed as a minor league free agent.

After eight years in the minor leagues, Azocar spent the majority of the season in the major leagues in 2022, hitting .257/.298/.332 and starting 27 games in the outfield.

Blake Snell

Dec. 29, 2020. Acquired in a trade that sent Francisco Mejia and minor leaguers Blake Hunt (19),, Luis Patiño (2) and Cole Wilcox to the Rays.

The deal, agreed to Dec. 27, was the start of a frenetic 24 hours for Preller, with agreements to sign Kim and to acquire Darvish from the Cubs following.

Snell came with a lot of hype, as he was coming off a postseason that included two strong starts in the 2020 World Series and had won the 2018 AL Cy Young award. A rough first half in ’21 and a ’22 season delayed by injury have been offset by his having a 2.73 ERA in 29 starts after June over the two seasons. Like Darvish, Snell is entering the final year of his contract.

Mejia had a .646 OPS as the Rays’ primary catcher in ’22, while Patiño has amassed a 5.09 ERA over 97 1/3 innings the past two years.

Yu Darvish

Dec. 29, 2020. Acquired along with catcher Victor Caratini from the Cubs in a trade that sent Davies and four prospects — Reginald Preciado (21), Owen Caissie, Ismael Mena (27) and Yeison Santana — to Chicago.

Darvish was one of the most accomplished pitchers in the major leagues at the time of his acquisition, and aside from back and hip injuries that hampered him the second half of ’21, the right-hander has been as good as ever since joining the Padres. His 38 quality starts are tied for seventh most in the majors in that span. His 1.02 WHIP is 11th.

Nola’s injuries contributed to Caratini being the Padres’ primary catcher in 2021. He was traded the day before the ’22 season for minor league infielder/outfielder Korry Howell (Double-A) and catcher Brett Sullivan, who spent last season in Triple-A and is on the 40-man roster.

None of the four prospects given up has progressed past Single-A. Davies, who had a 2.73 ERA in 12 starts for the Padres in ’20, posted a 4.97 ERA for the Cubs and Diamondbacks over the past two seasons.

Ha-Seong Kim

Dec. 31, 2020. Signed a four-year, $28 million contract.

After winning two Gold Gloves and batting .294/.373/.493 over seven seasons in the KBO, Kim struggled (.202/.270/.352) as a part-time player his rookie season before making a sizable jump in his second year. He was third among NL shortstops in defensive runs saved while filling in all season for the injured/suspended Tatis, and he batted .252/.325/.383 in ’22.

Joe Musgrove

Jan. 19, 2021. Acquired from the Pirates in a three-team trade that included the Padres sending Joey Lucchesi to the Mets and David Bednar and minor leaguers Omar Cruz, Drake Fellows and Hudson Head (20) to Pittsburgh.

The Grossmont High grad threw six shutout innings in his first start and the first no-hitter in franchise history in his second. He ranks 14^th in the NL in ERA (3.06), sixth in innings pitched and ninth in strikeouts since the beginning of 2021. Last season, he became just the 13^th pitcher in Padres history with at least 30 starts, 10 wins and a sub-3.00 ERA, and he agreed in August to a five-year, $100 million contract extension.

Bednar became the Pirates closer and made his first All-Star game in ’22. Lucchesi had Tommy John surgery in 2021.

Luis Garcia

Dec. 1, 2021. Signed a two-year, $7 million contract.

Garcia was for much of the season the Padres’ top set-up man and posted a 3.39 ERA while appearing in a team-high 64 games.

Robert Suarez

Dec. 1, 2021. Signed a two-year, $11 million contract with an opt out after the first season.

Suarez did take that option last month and subsequently agreed to a five-year, $46 million deal after a season in which he peaked at the right time. The 31-year-old went from not recording an out while loading the bases in his major league debut and having a 3.09 ERA in early June to allowing a run in just one of his final 22 regular season appearances and being mostly dominant in big situations in the postseason.

Jorge Alfaro

Dec. 1, 2021. Purchased from the Miami Marlins.

Alfaro had a team-record five walk-off RBIs and spawned thousands of T-shirts with his “Let’s (expletive) Go San Diego” declaration. But he also chased pitches outside the zone at a 50 percent rate and fell out of favor with the front office for his defense. His brief but memorable stay in San Diego ended when he was non-tendered last month.

Nick Martinez

March 19, 2022. Signed a four-year, $26 million contract with an opt out after each season.

Martinez agreed to a contract the day before the lockout began, but it was not finalized until March. He began the season as a starter and ended up filling virtually every role a pitcher can, as he became the first pitcher in MLB history to start at least 10 games and earn at least eight holds and eight saves in a season. He opted out of his contract five days after the World Series and five days later re-upped with the Padres on a three-year, $26 million deal.

Sean Manaea

April 3, 2022. Acquired along with Aaron Holiday for Euribiel Angeles (10) and Adrian Martinez (19) in a trade with the A’s.

With Clevinger shelved with a knee injury, the Padres got the left-handed Manaea four days before the season. He went at least six innings in 14 of his first 17 starts while posting a 4.11 ERA, but he was allowed to depart via free agency after posting a 6.88 ERA in his final 11 starts.

Josh Hader

Aug. 1, 2022. Acquired from the Brewers in exchange for Dinelson Lamet, Taylor Rogers, Robert Gasser (9) and Esteury Ruiz.

The Padres acquired one of the most successful closers in the game and promptly watched him post a 23.14 ERA in his first seven appearances. Some mechanical adjustments instituted over the course of a couple weeks resulted in Hader closing the season with a 0.79 ERA over his final 12 games and then five dominant outings in the postseason. He will be in his final year of arbitration in 2023.

Brandon Drury

Aug. 2, 2022. Acquired from the Reds in exchange for Victor Acosta (9).

The least-heralded of the trio of position players the Padres added at the trade deadline ended up having arguably the best finish to the season among the three. Drury hit eight home runs in 46 games as a Padre, including a grand slam on the first pitch he saw. His .238/.290/.435 line was well below what he posted for the Reds, and he is a free agent.

Josh Bell

Aug. 2, 2022. Acquired along with Juan Soto in a trade that sent MacKenzie Gore, Luke Voit, C.J. Abrams (1), Robert Hassell (2), Jarlin Susana and James Wood (5) to the Nationals.

Bell was a significant add-on to what was widely considered to be one of the biggest trade deadline deals ever largely because it included Juan Soto. At the time of the trade, Bell was hitting .301/.384/.493 and playing first base every day. He went 7-for-58 in his first 16 games with the Padres and ended up batting .192/.316/.271 for them. For all that disappointment, his homer in the first inning set the tone of a Game 1 victory over the Mets in the wild-card series. He is a free agent.

Soto

Aug. 2, 2022. See above.

Never before had such a player (23 years old with two years of team control remaining, a two-time All-Star and World Series champion with a .966 career OPS) been dealt at the deadline. The almost-otherworldly expectations of Soto led to an even higher level of disappointment when he endured a career-worst 15-game stretch in which he went 3-for-48 and ended up batting .236/.388/.390 in 52 games with the Padres. Soto and the team chalked up his relative struggles to a trying year full of trade rumors and an eventual move across the country, and the expectation is the Padres will make a legitimate run at trying to sign him to a long-term contract.