San Diego columnist hints that AJ Preller has work to do to secure his Padres future

Before the 2024 season, there was a lot of chatter that San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller could be on the hot seat. After failing to deliver a World Series title despite historic investments in the Padres' roster as well as the untimely death of owner Peter Seidler, many thought that Preller's days running the front office could be numbered unless he delivered in 2024.

However, that sentiment died off in a hurry after Preller went out and acquired Dylan Cease, Luis Arraez, and basically a whole new bullpen this season. San Diego went on to outperform expectations in a big way, and for many, Preller solidified his position for the foreseeable future.

Or at least that is what most people thought. According to San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Bryce Miller, Preller still has to prove that he can sustain this level of success to be completely safe going forward.

How much more does AJ Preller have to prove to secure his role running the Padres' front office?

No one should be calling for Miller's head here as he is very far from calling for a change in the Padres' front office and went to great lengths to point out all of the good things that Preller did in 2024. Instead, the focus of the piece was musing about how sustainable Preller's approach is in practice going forward. Frankly, it is a fair point.

Assuming Preller has less money to work with in future years — which seems likely given the ownership changes and how many big long-term contracts the Padres have on their payroll — he is gonna have to do some wheeling and dealing in order to land some impact players. In 2024, he did so very successfully and probably deserves to win NL Executive of the Year for his efforts.

However, prospect capital is finite for every team and the more deals that send young, controllable players away for short-term upgrades have a real cost to them. Some GMs thrive with hoarding prospects and building a competitive roster from within, while others view prospects as currency more often than not. Preller might not be on the extreme end of the latter group like Dave Dombrowski (who has never met a prospect he won't trade), but he certainly leans in that direction.

The end result of the 2024 season is that Preller has earned a chance to prove he can operate under his new constraints, and Miller doesn't disagree with that. Preller was legitimately great this past season and deserves the love for it.

If he can continue to make trades in responsible ways while improving the roster yet again, San Diego will be in great hands for a long time. However, if struggles to replicate his 2024 moves in 2025 and the Padres take a step back next season, don't be shocked if Preller's job security is questioned yet again.

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