AJ Preller is 36 years old, not overwhelmingly tall, and has a penchant for interestingly fabric-ed sport coats. Not many would describe him as a very physically imposing figure, yet Preller has come into this offseason and set the baseball world on fire. A rookie General Manager hasn’t made this many headlines so early in his career since Theo Epstein won the World Series in his first season as Red Sox GM in 2004. But AJ Preller is not like other rookie GM’s. AJ Preller has so far shown himself to be a master of trades and in possession of a boldness rivaled by few in the industry.
Over the course of two days in December, Preller completely overhauled his outfield, trading for Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, and Wil Myers, giving up real talent, highlighted by young catcher Yasmani Grandal, yet managed to remain on the winning end of every deal in terms of the talent trading hands. After his two day outfield frenzy, Preller threw caution and sense to the wind by trading his 34 year old back up catcher Ryan Hanigan for a young, oft-injured third baseman who has shown serious power potential in his short time in the Show but few other reliable tools in Will Middlebrooks.
Preller went mostly dormant for the end of December and all of January, leading many to think that his wild offseason was finished. On February 11, 2015, Preller decided to throw another wrench into the baseball establishment, signing top free agent pitcher James Shields to a 4 year, $75 million contract, the largest contract offered in Padres franchise history.
The world of baseball fans were overwhelmed by Preller’s moves, yet eager to see how they would all play out in Spring Training. The Padres played well in the spring, and many were optimistic about their potential going into this season. AJ Preller had crafted a talented roster that should compete for a wild card spot, if not the NL West title.
Oh, did you think AJ Preller was done? Not even close. AJ does not finish. He does not rest. His team, carefully crafted for contention wasn’t quite there yet. So, the mysterious AJ decides to go out and swing a trade for the best closer in baseball. He takes on an albatross of a contract for a rapidly declining Melvin Upton, Jr. but gets with it four years of the guaranteed services of the one and only Craig Kimbrel, the Major League leader in saves over the course of the past four seasons. What does this cost Preller? Two backup outfielders in Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin, who had been made expendable by Preller’s acquisition of a brand-new outfield, along with one highly-rated prospect who underperformed at Triple-A this past year in Matt Wisler, and a toolsy, long-term development prospect in Jordan Paroubeck.
Here we are on Opening Day of the 2015 Major League Baseball season and it is officially time to prematurely declare Padres General Manager AJ Preller as the Titan of Trades, the Overlord of the Offseason, and baseball’s maddest madman.
We salute you, AJ. May fortune favor the bold.
Categories: MLB, Professional Sports
The Armchair All-Americans 