Padres Rumors: AJ Preller's future tied to San Diego's second-half results

It sounds as if it's now or never for the San Diego Padres' top executive. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Padres President of Baseball Operations AJ Preller is one of three top Major League Baseball executives whose future is tied to his team's success this season.

Preller, along with Toronto Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins and San Francisco Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi are apparently on thin ice. Per Nightengale, all three teams may have to make it to the postseason in order to assure that those top decision makers keep their jobs for 2025.

Padres Rumors: AJ Preller's job is on the line over the next few months

This shouldn't come as a shock to the Friar faithful. San Diego had a prime opportunity to go to the World Series in 2022 and fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series. In 2023, with a team that was arguably even better than the the year prior, the Padres didn't even make it to the playoffs.

Preller's time is almost assuredly up if the Friars fall short again, and quite frankly, it may even take a deep run into the postseason in order for him to maintain his position in the Padres' front office.

Preller has been calling the shots since 2014 and has only made the playoffs twice during that 10-year span. Despite having three winning seasons since 2020 and outlasting their NL West nemesis during the 2022 NLDS, San Diego still has yet to secure an NL pennant.

The Padres have made several blockbuster trades during Preller's time with the organization and have also doled out massive amounts of money to All-Star and MVP-caliber players. But this season, like so many others with Preller at the helm, has not yielded the type of results that San Diego's ownership expects.

The Padres limped into the All-Star break and have fallen out of the postseason standings.Preller has dreams of landing a big fish at the upcoming trade deadline, and he better make sure he makes the right deals this summer, as the latest Padres rumor suggests it could be his last as the head man in San Diego.

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