SLIM PICKINGS FOR PADRES’ BEST IN 2010S
It’s not a squad that would strike fear in opposing dugouts
With ownership prepared to commit more money to a team than ever to start next season, the Padres appear to be trending up heading into the 2020s.
Of course, they’ve got nowhere to go but up after a miserable run through the 2010s.
They’re working off nine straight losing seasons.
Their one bid at a postseason berth collapsed beneath a late 10-game losing streak.
They’ve spent most of the period rebuilding but you’re not exactly cynical to ask what exactly they’ve torn down in the 13 years since their last playoff game.
A look at the Union-tribune’s all-2010s Padres team will provide all you need to know about what the organization is hoping to turn the page on when the next season begins March 26.
Catcher
The Padres’ plight heading
No. 16 into the 2020s is finding a catcher who can hit and play defense — sort of like they had in the emerging, switchhitting (yes, imagine that) Yasmani Grandal. Yes, he served a PED suspension but was lauded defensively for his pitch-framing skills, was beginning to come into his power when he hit 15 home runs and 49 RBIS in 2014 and had a .350 on-base percentage in his three years in San Diego. Then he was traded to the Dodgers for a one-time superstar whose best years were behind him (you remember Matt Kemp?).
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First baseman
OK, Adrian Gonzalez played one of the past 10 years for the Padres — but his production in 2010 was decidedly better than anything put forth at first base. He homered 31 times, drove in 101 runs in 160 games and fashioned a .904 OPS in helping a surprising push at a NL West title. It was also his last hurrah as Gonzalez was traded away as the Padres settled in for the first of two full-on rebuilds in the 2010s. What came after Gonzalez’s 2010 season (4.4 WAR, per fangraphs.com): four years
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