San Diego Padres: 4 worst moves by A.J. Preller since 2014

A.J. Preller has been the San Diego Padres' general manager for nearly a decade. And in that time, he has developed a reputation for being one of baseball's most ambitious executives, orchestrating a number of high profile trades (Juan Soto last summer, for example) and big-ticket free agent signings, the most recent of which being star shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

Taking a lot of swings also means plenty of misses along the way, however. Let's examine four of Preller's worst deals since becoming general manager of the Padres.

San Diego Padres: 4 worst moves by A.J. Preller since 2014

1. Dealing Trea Turner to the Nationals as part of a three-team Wil Myers swap

Wil Myers was once a heralded top prospect on the brink of stardom. He never reached that potential in the big leagues, but was always a solid, albeit injury-prone player. But what the Padres gained in this three-team deal (Myers and catcher Ryan Hanigan) doesn't amount to what they lost.

No one expected Trea Turner, the player to be named later (PTBNL) to end up being the shining star in this trade, but that's what happened here. Drafted 13th overall in 2014 by the Padres, Turner wound up becoming a star with the Nationals in short order after he was traded there, receiving a big league call-up the next season (2015).

The Padres' shortstops in 2015? Alexi Amarista and Clint Barmes. Talk about wanting a do-over.

It would take until Fernando Tatis Jr.'s arrival in 2019 for the Padres to find a legitimate solution at shortstop, leaving A.J. Preller to wonder what could've been with Trea Turner.

San Diego Padres: 4 worst moves by A.J. Preller since 2014

2. Sending Max Fried to the Atlanta Braves for one season of Justin Upton in 2015

As we said earlier, swinging a lot means you'll miss plenty, too. And A.J. Preller didn't hit too many times in his first attempt at building the Padres into a contender heading into the 2015 season.

In addition to the Trea Turner misfire, the Padres also traded a package of prospects, not the least of which being left-hander Max Fried, to the Atlanta Braves for a one-year rental of outfielder Justin Upton.

The good news for Preller is that Upton did produce an All-Star season for San Diego in 2015, so this trade wasn't a complete wash. However, the Padres failed to re-sign the veteran outfielder after the season, which leads us to Max Fried.

Since debuting for Atlanta, Fried has anchored the Braves' rotation, quickly becoming the team's ace. In 2022, Fried even finished second in NL Cy Young voting.

In the years since trading the talented southpaw away, the Padres have plugged and played multiple starting rotation options, eventually going all-in to land veterans Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Blake Snell. But none of them have had quite the kind of success that Fried has found with the Braves, especially of late.

San Diego Padres: 4 worst moves by A.J. Preller since 2014

3. Firing manager Bud Black midway through the 2015 season

Sensing a theme with this 2015 season? It didn't go well for the Padres.

One of the mistakes A.J. Preller made that season wasn't player-related, though. Rather, it was the decision to fire veteran manager Bud Black in June.

Black never qualified for the postseason as Padres' skipper, but he is a respected figure in MLB and landed on his feet within two years after he was canned from San Diego, landing the manager's gig with the Colorado Rockies in 2017. Black is still serving as Rockies' skipper, and as much as Colorado has struggled since back-to-back playoff appearances, he isn't the one to blame for that. Nor was he really to blame for San Diego's misfortune in 2015.

The main culprit behind the lack of success for the Padres in 2015? Poor roster construction. A scapegoat is always necessary, though, and Black. unfortunately, was ripe for picking.

After Black was fired, the Padres employed Andy Green and Jayce Tingler as their next two managers before finally landing Bob Melvin prior to the 2022 season. It's safe to say neither of Green or Tingler worked out too well. Perhaps the Padres should've just retained Black...