Padres Editorial: Did The Padres Win The Off-Season?

With tomorrow being Super Bowl Sunday, we are reaching the month where pitchers and catchers report. (FINALLY!) With that in mind, you start to look at the off-season and figure out where you’re team is at and do a way too early winners and losers of the off-season.

MLB.com’s Richard Justice believes not only are the Padres among the winners of the off-season, but they won the whole thing.

To quote Lee Corso, not so fast my friend.

First of all, James Shields is still out there and where he goes will have an impact. If he signs with the Padres, then yeah, on paper, they probably win the off-season (though a lead-off hitter would be nice).

Secondly, how many times do big splashes in the off-season not turn into anything? Just ask the Red Sox and the Marlins from a few seasons ago who had to make big trades to hit the reset button and start over after making big moves. Just because they look good on paper doesn’t mean the pieces fit together.

Speaking of paper, there are plenty of teams who look good on it in what has been a extremely wild off-season with all sorts of movement.

The Dodgers still are the Dodgers and with a new double play combo in Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick plus with the talent they already have look pretty good. The Marlins with their trade acqusitions and signing of Mike Morse at first look like a force.

In the American League, you have to like what the Blue Jays and Red Sox have done on paper with the bats they’ve added. The White Sox seemed to fill every hole on the roster they have plus they have a top prospect in Carlos Rondon who’s ready to come up and join Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija in the rotation.

I don’t like saying who won and who lost in the off-season because it doesn’t matter. For the San Diego Padres, it’s nice to be relevant now, but that’s not the idea. The idea is to be relevant come September and October. Only then will we know if they won the off-season or not.

Next: Four Padres In MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects

Padres Editorial: Did The Padres Win The Off-Season?

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