San Diego Padres: Pulse of the Fanbase, November 2016

Where do fans of the San Diego Padres stand as November comes to a close? Friars on Base reached out to some of the biggest fans on Twitter to find out.

It is a critical time of year for any rebuilding franchise. For the San Diego Padres, the Winter Meetings will be critical.

But often lost in the all of the news and the rumors is the team’s fans. Their opinions are what keeps Friars on Base going, and we would be remiss to neglect what the average fan thinks.

Entering this very important and exciting time of year, we wanted a sampling of Padres fans’ opinions. So, we took our monthly pulse of the fanbase. On twitter, this is what some of our followers told us when we asked them about what they thought about the Padres.

As exciting as times may be, no fans are fooled. At this point, nobody is afraid to admit that the team is going through a complex rebuilding process.

"“The Padres right now are in rebuilding mode. I think they probably won’t contend this year, but maybe the next year. We just have to stay patient because it’s not easy to rebuild a team, especially when you don’t have anybody on the team that can lead a bunch of young guys.”"

–  Francisco G.

A lot of fans are really starting to buy in though, like this next one.

"“Every great team in baseball right now has youth. The Cubs especially of course, and they won it all. What I see with the Padres is young talent. That is so awesome, because it’s exactly what won the World Series for Chicago. Position players who can play. That’s what we’re seeing now with Margot and Schimpf and Hedges and Renfroe. Of course it might not happen this year because we don’t have the pitching. That will come though, like it did for the Cubs. I’m not saying next year is the year, but we could be the next Chicago. That means that within three or four years, we’re right up there with them.”"

–  Toby C.

Every fan of a struggling team cherishes the opportunity of a clean slate.

"“I am glad the Padres can just start over now. They got some young guys, but the pitching is just awful. So, you know, it’s time for them to just move beyond all of this crap which has held them back the last two years. Every team has to rebuild at some point, now it’s just the Padres’ turn.”"

Overall, this type of feeling is what we seem to be getting the most of. Cautious optimism about this team mixed with cynicism about the past seems to be the most common reaction to our monthly question.

"“I’m hopeful right now. I honestly don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the winter meetings usually, but this year I will for sure. We have a lot of opportunities trade wise, and I think we will make a lot of good moves. Getting pitching is the most important thing, but I just want to see Preller improve the roster overall. I’m sick of rooting for a team that is scared to win. Let’s get this thing turned around as soon as possible. Then we can all really get excited about the Padres again.”"

–  Maurice Z.

Next: Jay Signs with Cubs, Outfield Thins

We would like to thank all of our participants in this month’s “Pulse of the fanbase”. If you would like to contribute for a future month’s edition, please reach us by tweeting at us. If you have something to add to this month’s pulse, tweet at us or leave a comment below.