San Diego Padres: The 10 best front office seasons in franchise history

T-6. Bob Fontaine, 1977, +6.7 (10-13-2)

Fontaine was a former minor league pitcher who was hired as amateur scouting director when the Padres were founded in 1969. After serving as director of player development, he succeeded Bavasi as GM upon Bavasi’s resignation to become president of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays.

His first season running the club coincided with the rise of free agency as an important tool for improving a team, and (using Ray Kroc’s money) Fontaine was among those club execs who made good use of it. He signed catcher Gene Tenace (+2.8), formerly of Oakland. Tenace only hit .233, but his league-leading 125 bases on balls drove his on base average to .415 and his OPS to .824.

Fontaine’s second productive foray into free agency landed the game’s best closer in that era, Rollie Fingers. He signed for four seasons for a little more than $1 million and in 1977 made 78 appearances for the Padres, closing out a league-leading 35 wins.

Fontaine also landed disgruntled outfielder George Hendrick (+3.8) in a four-player swap with Cleveland. With the Padres in 1977, Hendrick batted .311 with an .873 OPS.

From a fan standpoint, possibly his best move was locking up the team’s star, Dave Winfield, for four more seasons. Winfield hit .275 with 25 home runs for the Padres in 1977, producing a +3.2 WAA impact.

Despite all that, Fontaine was unable to improve the Padres’ overall standing. They finished fifth in the six-team in NL West with just 69 wins.