SEIDLER GIVES FULL BACKING TO PRELLER
Chairman saw Padres’ dysfunction back in June, vows to get right manager
Padres Chairman and lead investor Peter Seidler said he noticed the hints of dysfunction as the team stood neck and neck with the Giants all the way back in June. He saw the communication issues left to fester and sensed broader cracks as late-season losses mounted.
He stayed silent, at least publicly. Until now.
Seidler addressed wide-ranging questions about the organization, the general manager leading it, the relationship status with the clubhouse and much more during a 25-minute discussion Wednesday — shortly after the team fired manager Jayce Tingler a mere 222 games into the job.
“A lot of things didn’t go well,” Seidler said. “These decisions are only partially about wins and losses. It’s about, how did the organization function? Even in June, some of the things where our organization wasn’t operating like a fine-tuned automobile was evident, even then.”
Two things seemed clear as Seidler talked.
Communication issues and the inability for everyone to stay on the same page with decision-making soured things too often and, sometimes, too deeply. The other: He remains firmly entrenched behind General Manager A.J. Preller.
“My trust level with A.J. is as high as it can be,” Seidler said. “I look at the step by step and methodical way he’s built our baseball organization. I see it getting stronger by the year. From a performance standpoint, we obviously took a step back this season. But last season we won our first postseason series in decades.
“I fully believe the chapter that is written in 2022 will be thoroughly different than the chapter we wrote this year.”
When it was suggested that a vocal portion of the Padres fan base will receive that vote of unwavering support as if their property taxes had doubled, Seidler said you can’t leave context on the dugout steps.
“These are the same fans that wanted to build a statue of A.J. last year, so it goes back to the rough year,” Seidler said of Preller, who has not guided the Padres to a .500 record in his six 162-game seasons. “Our fans care and our organization cares. There’s frustration everywhere when you finished like we did. It’s unacceptable for an organization with the talent and ability we have to finish like that.
“But there’s no reason being impulsive about things. Our organization doesn’t operate that way. We’re going to work deliberately to make sure what happened this year
never happens in this organization again.”
It’s easy to view a managerial change as low-hanging fruit, especially for a team that struggled through a wide range of issues with veteran players left fumbling for answers about why and how things unraveled so spectacularly.
Seidler said the franchise dug far deeper to uproot problems.
“We’ve got a new head of scouting, a new head of player development and a new manager coming,” said Seidler, not mentioning the firing of pitching coach Larry Rothschild and a restart with many or all big-league coaching positions. “We’ve made some substantial changes.
“We’ve done more than just
•