Padres Send Scouting Trip to Japan

The San Diego Padres went on a goodwill and scouting trip last month to Japan in hopes of finding the next Ichiro Suzuki or Hideki Matsui. They also did reportedly meet with target third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda according to reports.

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A.J. Preller was known for his international scouting with the Texas Rangers, and this is the latest move as the Padres expand their own scouting operations across the globe.

Recently, Takashi Saito was brought on as a front office intern, and last year Acey Kohrogi was hired as an international assistant to help facilitate relations for the Padres with clubs in the region.

For this trip, pitchers Colin Rea and Brandon Maurer also got to come along and help assist with some MLB instructional clinics with Little League players. That left quite the impression on Rea

“It was awesome. The thing that stood out to me was how smart these kids were as far as the questions they asked. They were 9, 10, 11 years old and they were asking questions I never would have thought at that age.”

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The team spent about 5 days overall in the region, also scouting an elite international tournament. Overall it was more of a goodwill trip as the Padres make their presence known in the region. Said Preller, “I think it’s an area where they play good baseball and people there really love the game. I think it’s good for us to give back, share information and run programs that help grow the game. I think we had a great few days over there.”

With the Rangers Preller made over 50 trips to the area, and while that amount of travel is no longer possible as the General Manager of the Padres, a trip led by him like this sets the tone for the entire player development team that the Padres mean business in international scouting.