To the immense credit of owner Peter Seidler, the San Diego Padres have made a strong commitment in recent years to fielding the best team possible. The newest addition to the marquee is shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who earlier this offseason signed a $280 million pact with San Diego. Add to that the signing of Manny Machado, the extension of Fernando Tatis Jr. and trades for Yu Darvish and Juan Soto — among other notable recent moves — and the Padres have star quality up and down in the game. listing.
In 2023, they could be the favorites to unseat the Dodgers from their usual position atop the National League West standings.
Additionally, the Padres currently manage the third-highest payroll in all of MLB, according to Cot’s Contracts, and they apparently do so despite San Diego being only the 27th-largest media market in the United States. the Padres operate this way and do so with not only viability but also profitability continues to be a source of consternation to other owners who would much rather continue not trying to win baseball games in relative peace and comfort.
The latest to voice his grievances with the Padres and their World Series efforts is Dick Monfort of the Colorado Rockies and their 16th payroll. Via Patrick Saunders of Denver PostHere’s what Monfort had to say about the Padres and their spending at a community event over the weekend:
“It puts a lot of pressure (on us),” Monfort said. “But it’s not just the Padres, it’s the Mets, it’s the Phillies. It’s been an interesting year.
“What the Padres are doing, I don’t agree with 100 percent, although I know our fans probably agree with that. We’ll see how it works out.
“I look at the Padres and they have a really talented team, but they also have holes. They have three, maybe four starting pitchers, and then they’re kind of like us. They have (Joe) Musgrave, (Blake) Snell and (Yu) Darvish, so I don’t know. They’ve spent a lot of money and they’ll have to spend a lot more if they want to keep (outfielder) Juan Soto. But it puts a lot of pressure on you. is the case.
The Padres’ recent mannerisms have slid off little more than a mask of ownership, and it’s not hard to draw some conclusions from this latest round of grievances. First, most owners don’t like other teams spending. Two, owners really I don’t like a team like the Padres denying market-based excuses for not spending. Third, these same owners know full well that the fans want them to try, you know, to win baseball games.
Major League Baseball’s biggest problem right now — and the driver of many related problems — is the owner who doesn’t care about winning, who views the franchise as a wallet rather than a civic treasure that carries with it some obligations. Worse still, owners can invest in payroll and still be quite profitable, such are the immense streams of revenue that teams enjoy in exchange for just existing. Too many, however, would prefer to cash these checks with very little effort for the one thing that justifies their existence. This thing tries to win baseball games like, you know, the San Diego Padres.
