SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Padres President of Baseball Operations/General Manager A.J. Preller said during a Wednesday media briefing that manager Bob Melvin will be back to lead the team for the 2024 season.
To open the press briefing, Preller said, “We started this year with World Series expectations. I think rightfully so, coming off the LCS berth and having a very talented Major League roster. Obviously, it was a frustrating and disappointing season. We never really fired on all cylinders. We didn’t play the baseball that we thought we were capable of from the starting point of the season.
Personally, for myself, it feels like a lost and missed opportunity. It’s not every year, as a general manager, that you can honestly look up at the start of the season and say ‘if we get a few breaks, we could hoist the World Series trophy,’ and I felt that way at the start of this year.”
The general manager added, “We’re going to learn from this year and be better for it.”
When asked about Melvin’s future with the club, Preller said, “Bob is our manager and is going to be our manager going forward … he and I are very excited about the challenge of getting this group back to the postseason next year.”
One reporter asked Preller to speak on recent media reports that his relationship with Melvin was fractured, and the GM answered, “The anonymous quotes and the unnamed sources, we don’t give any credibility to that … from my standpoint, a lot has been overblown … There have been reports that hey, we don't speak. We're talking four or five times a day. Personally, we have a friendship. I don't put a lot of stock into the unnamed reports and sources and stories that are out of context.”
Preller said the team would not comment publicly on a potential contract extension for Melvin, who enters 2024 in the final year of this three-year deal.
The Padres finished 2023 with an 82-80 record, placing third in the National League West and coming up just short in the NL Wild Card race despite a strong finish to the regular season.
Regarding questions on the team’s payroll possibly being reduced for next season, Preller said owner Peter Seidler and members of the organization will evaluate that situation in the coming weeks.
Preller was asked to comment on impending free agents Blake Snell and Josh Hader, and the GM said the organization has high interest in bringing both of them back and conversations will take place with the players and their respective agents.
A question was asked about Juan Soto’s long-term future with the Padres, and Preller said the team plans to speak to the star slugger and his agent about his future in San Diego.
