Padres proving rancid in early going
It may only be three games into the Major League Baseball season, but the San Diego Padres might as well start thinking about sometime deep into the future.
San Diego has not been relevant for years, and it appears 2016 won’t be the time to break through that streak. The Padres have lost their first three contests of the regular season to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Worse than that, they have been outscored 25-0. Yes, San Diego has not scored a single run yet this season.
At some point, the front office has to go out and acquire some real talent in whatever way possible. We thought that was the case last year when the Padres traded for outfielder Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, B.J. Upton and Wil Myers, along with All-Star catcher Derek Norris.
All of them came with some legitimate question marks and as it turned out, the Padres were terrible. San Diego never got on track despite a starting rotation that included James Shields and Tyson Ross, sputtering to a fourth-place finish in the NL West with a 74-88 mark.
This offseason saw a mass exodus without much coming back in return. The Padres allowed reliever Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Justin Upton to leave, while failing to deal the aging Shields. The roster looks like a disjointed puzzle with a few pieces missing and with a few more pieces from another puzzle.
Not only because of the record-setting start – not team had ever been shut out in its first three games – but because of the obvious hopelessness of the current roster, San Diego needs to hit the reset button. Players with any value whatsoever should be packaged and traded, with nobody on the team being off limits. San Diego should be doing everything in its power to acquire young players with high upside, whether they are in the minors or just broke into the major leagues.
The Padres have a beautiful new ballpark and a fan base that would welcome a rebuild. There is nothing wrong with being bad for a few seasons with the knowledge that better days are coming. However, San Diego has been rancid for years and mostly because of one of the worst offenses in modern-day baseball. Since Adrian Gonzalez left town, there has not been a legitimate bat in the middle of the order. For perspective, Gonzalez last played for the Padres in 2010.
San Diego has little talent and low expectations. Considering the looks of this current configuration, that is likely accurate, and for the best.
