Padres’ Chairman Calls Out Team, Preller

SAN DIEGO—Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler had a chance to give general manager A.J. Preller a vote of confidence during a radio interview Wednesday in which he called the team “miserable failures” and labeled San Diego’s performance “embarrassing.”

Tellingly, Fowler did not.

Preller’s headline-grabbing acquisitions since taking over as the Padres general manager in August 2014 have not led to a change in performance in San Diego, where the Padres are currently 20-33 and on pace for their sixth consecutive losing season and eighth in nine years.

Since Preller’s first full offseason at the helm, the Padres are 94-122, the seventh-the worst record in baseball in that time.

“It’s on the (players), but the organization has to accept responsibility for probably having the wrong players,” Fowler said during an interview with the “Dan Sileo Show” on XPRS 1090 AM in San Diego. “We don’t have a team out there right now that is competing effectively. We’re doing everything we can going into the draft and looking at international signings to get some guys who can get us there.”

Though on the job for less than two years, Preller is responsible for most of the Padres roster. Nineteen players on the Padres current 25-man roster, and 27 players on the 40-man, were acquired by Preller through either trades or free agent signings.

Four of the Padres’ top nine prospects were also acquired by Preller, with the headliner—20-year old shortstop Javier Guerra—hitting .182 with 63 strikeouts in 46 games at high Class A Lake Elsinore.

“We had hired A.J. because we knew we had to develop a farm system and we had to do far better at international than we had done,” Fowler said. “This draft coming up and the international signing period will give us a far better view of A.J.

“I will say he has done a spectacular job of building the player-development area. I think the players we have in the farm system now as a group are stronger than they have been before.

“We rolled the dice with him on some major league signings, major league trades. We collectively have to look at that and say it didn’t come together as well as we wanted.

“I don’t think there is a brighter GM out there. I don’t think anyone works harder. But the results are not there, and I think A.J. would be the first one to tell you that.”

Starting pitcher James Shields, signed by Preller to the largest free agent contract in Padres history and at the expense of their 2015 first-round pick, was singled out for specific criticism by Fowler. Shields is 2-7, 4.82 and allowed 10 runs in 2 2/3 innings in a 16-4 loss to Seattle on Tuesday.

“To have a starter like Shields perform as poorly as he did (Tuesday) is an embarrassment to the team, an embarrassment to him,” Fowler said. “It’s about as frustrating as it can get. In a normal environment, if you had performed as well as we have over the last three years, you’d probably be unemployed. But it’s baseball, with guaranteed contracts. We’ve got to get through it.”

Padres manager Andy Green addressed the criticism before Wednesday’s game.

“I think the first thing that comes to mind is (Fowler’s) passion, his desire to win, his desire to have something here this city can be proud of and I think we all share that desire,” Green said.

“I appreciate his passion and his energy and his desire to win. I appreciate an ownership that cares and wants to win and wants this to be special. I share that with him. I recognize the frustration and can appreciate the sentiment.”