San Diego Padres: Greupner to Serve as Chief Operating Officer

The San Diego Padres are beginning to reorganize their front office. This week, they continued the early stages of this process by promoting Erik Greupner to Chief Operating Officer.

Ever since the release of former President and CEO Mike Dee, the San Diego Padres are taking small steps to revamp their front office. On Wednesday, the Padres made a move, promoting Erik Greupner to the position of Chief Operating Officer.

Before being promoted, Greupner served as executive vice president. He first joined the organization in 2010 as Senior Vice President, and has worked his way up to his current position ever since.

The move is good news for Greupner, as he will now play a more prominent role in the business side of the game. While the position is not a glamorous one, and the new COO is not a well known name among Padres’ fans, his decisions will impact the organization significantly.

Greupner is now second in command, so to speak, reporting directly to the CEO. He will be involved in decisions about Petco Park, promotions, and details of roster transactions.

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For fans, this doesn’t mean much, unless Greupner has some radical ideas for the direction of the team. But what this move means is that Ron Fowler and A.J. Preller trust Greupner, and are committed to improving the front office and reorganizing it as needed. This promotion is likely only the first of many for San Diego, as they seek to find more efficient executives.

Greupner is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and attended Wheaton College in Illinois as well as the San Diego school of law. This led to his work in sales management roles with Goldman Sachs & Company and eventually a position with an international law firm.

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Now, Greupner finds himself in one of the most influential positions in the Padres’ organization. Though he may never be well known among fans, this promotion will have an impact on the future of the team, on the business side and on the field.