MLB insider nails it when it comes to the 2023 San Diego Padres

If there's a lesson about the 2023 San Diego Padres, it's this ... you can spend all of the money you want to build a team but, at some point, they actually have to come together as a team.

Starting a six-game road trip through the Midwest with very faint Wild Card hopes still alive, the Padres put together another clunker on Friday night, with the Milwaukee Brewers pinning a 7-3 defeat on San Diego to drop them to 61-68. Now 6.5 games back in the Wild Card chase, the Padres have a 7.8 percent chance to make the postseason, per ESPN.

A season that started with plenty of promise has evaporated, perhaps in a large way because of what MLB insider Jon Heyman threw out earlier in the week in his notebook.

San Diego Padres: "Chemistry issues are clear"

Yes, those are the words from Heyman in his notebook for The New York Post. Few Padres fans can argue with that view either. After all, it's been something that has been a specter looming for the team since the early part of the season, and really came into focus when Juan Soto questioned the team's amount of fight in the clubhouse earlier in the month.

It's also been clear when you look at San Diego's inability to come back late in games this season. When behind after six innings in 2023, the Padres are an abysmal 4-50. Trailing after seven innings, that number is 3-53. After eight? It's just 1-55.

Questions are continuing to bubble about Bob Melvin's future in the Padres dugout, with him stating that he wants to complete his contract that runs through next season. But is he really the right person to lead this team in 2024? Can Melvin lead a team that is locked in with big contracts but doesn't seem to play together or have the ability to come back late?

Friday night was more of the same for Padres fans in 2023 ... a high-priced team on paper that looks anything like that in real life.