San Diego Padres: Reviewing the week that was as Bob Melvin, A.J. Preller return

This past week provided a lot of clarity for the San Diego Padres when it comes to the 2024 season ... at least as far as leadership goes. When it comes to the roster, well, it sounds like that is a different story.

San Diego Padres news recap: No changes with A.J. Preller or Bob Melvin

After plenty of rumors swirled about the possibilities of A.J. Preller being relieved of his general manager duties and Melvin potentially not returning despite having a year left on his contract, chairman Peter Seidler put the kibosh on all of those rumors with his statement expressing his "full support" for the current leadership team, including both Preller and Melvin.

With them returning, a focus will be (at least for Padres fans) on how well the two communicate and work together to help the Padres return in the direction of meeting the franchise's goal of winning a World Series. There was talk of the duo not being on speaking terms, but Preller scoffed at that statement last week, saying, “A lot’s been overblown. There were reports we don’t speak, and we’re talking four-five times a day.”

That is good news for the Padres, who can't afford to have dysfunction running amok if the franchise really wants to compete in not only the National League West, but also beyond in 2024.

Preller also teased change coming in 2024 on the roster, saying, "Next year is going to be a different year — a different team, different players."

Who those different players will be, as well as which of the current players will come back in 2024, remains to be seen. Much of the focus will be on the future of Juan Soto in San Diego and whether he will be traded or not, but there are plenty of questions to be answered and holes to be filled for a team that vastly underperformed expectations in 2023.