SAN DIEGO — A.J. Preller has been on the job only two months as the general manager and he goes into the offseason trying to find ways to improve the worst offense in the major leagues without hurting one of the game’s top pitching staffs.
Change has to come to the Padres, who finished 77-85 this season after back-to-back 76-86 campaigns.
But it won’t be in the managerial role. Preller said Monday that the Padres will have Bud Black back for a ninth season at the helm in 2015 — although the Padres have never reached the playoffs under Black.
Everything else is open to discussion with changes from the front office to minor league coaching expected. But the biggest changes could be on the field.
The Padres were at or near the bottom of the major leagues in almost every offensive statistic. And they were at the top in most pitching categories. So Preller heads into what promises to be an interesting winter looking for hitting without surrendering too much pitching.
As a team, the Padres offense reached near historical lows this season. The Padres hit .226 as a team with a .292 on-base percentage and a .342 slugging percentage for a .632 OPS and 3.3 runs per game. Let’s see, checking the major league statistical charts that’s last, last, last, last and last.
But Padres pitchers posted the fourth-best earned run average in the major leagues and the Padres allowed the fewest runs in franchise history. The Padres’ bullpen ERA of 2.73 was the best in the major leagues by more than a quarter-of-a-run per game.
So how might the Padres get better in 2015? Trade pitching for hitting.
“I already get the sense that we have pitchers attractive to other clubs,” Preller said Monday morning while addressing the Padres media at Petco Park. “Our seventh, eighth, nine and 10th starters seem attractive along with some of our minor league pitchers.
“We’ve got frontline pitchers and depth. I’m willing to look at anything.”
But how many pitchers can the Padres trade for hitters? And who might they offer.
The Padres are uncertain of starting position players in at least five spots next year — all three outfield posts plus third, first and maybe shortstop — although Alexi Amarista did such an excellent job at short over the final three months that Preller and Black might be willing to go with the utility king at short in 2015.
The only places where they are set are catcher with the tandem of Rene Rivera and Yasmani Grandal and second, where Jedd Gyorko is set (unless he moves to third) despite hitting only .210 in a 2014 season partially destroyed by plantar fasciitis.
If Rivera, the position surprise of 2014, is the regular behind the plate in 2015, the switch-hitting Grandal could see most his playing time at first.
But Carlos Quentin is a knee injury that will happen in left, Cameron Maybin is a major disappointment in center, Will Venable’s bat fizzled in 2014 and Seth Smith is solid against right-handed pitching but a liability against left-handers. Not a quality outfield starter among the four.
And most of the third-base possibilities on the season-ending roster are better suited to utility roles than playing every day.
But would the Padres be willing to trade their projected 1-2 punch of RHPs Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross at the top of rotation to bring in a bat? Would Ian Kennedy bring in the bat you need? Might they dip into the bullpen and trade closer Joaquin Benoit?
What price in pitchers are the Padres willing to pay to improve their bats?
