Are the San Diego Padres done?

The San Diego Padres have made very few roster moves this offseason after a disappointing season in 2021. Are they confident they'll be better and not worse in 2022?

The 2021 San Diego Padres finished the season with a 79-83 record, missing the playoffs and most everyone’s projections by a mile. It was seen as a huge disappointment, and one that would have a huge impact on offseason decisions made by ownership.

Here’s a list of what they have done to try and change the team’s direction in the shortened offseason:

-New coaching staff (Bob Melvin & Co.)
-Traded for backup catcher Jorge Alfaro
-Signed RHP Nick Martinez out of Japan
-Signed RHP Robert Suarez out of Japan
-Signed RHP Luis Garcia
-Traded a minor-league pitching prospect for Luke Voit

If that seems like it’s not a lot of change for a team that hasn’t finished above .500 in a full season since 2010, it’s because it’s not.

For reference, here are the guys that the team lost in free agency this offseason:

-OF Tommy Pham
-RHP Mark Melancon
-RHP Daniel Hudson
-LHP Matt Strahm
-RHP Keone Kela
-OF Jake Marisnick
-RHP Vince Velasquez

All of the above guys played some role on the 2021 Padres and all of them have since signed to other teams. That’s fine, but you’ll notice there’s a lot more leaving than going in. That leads to questions like…

Who is going to replace Tommy Pham at the starting LF?
Who is going to replace Mark Melancon as the closer out of the bullpen?
Who is going to replace Jake Marisnick as the 4th OF?

These are serious questions. I’m not just playing devil’s advocate here. On an (eventual) roster of 26 men, the roles of starting OF, 4th OF, and closer are vitally important. This feels like one of those times where A.J. Preller has a stance of “4th OFs are overrated” and we end up playing half the season with Nomar Mazara and Wil Myers giving up runs in center field.

Maybe the front office has some sort of plan that we don’t know about, or don’t want to know about, but the Padres roster is incredibly incomplete compared to the teams they are battling in the NL West.

It feels as if they put together a $200M payroll and thought that would be enough to compete. The problem with that is the money spent on utility infielders (Profar, Kim) and non-closer bullpen arms (Pomeranz, Martinez, Stammen, etc.) adds up to a lot but doesn’t fill any of the holes the team has. Spending the money itself is not enough.

So, I’ll ask again: Are the Padres done? Are they intending to take on the two best teams in the National League last year with two outfielders and uncertainty in the bullpen? Maybe. That’s certainly asking a lot of Bob Melvin and all of the new coaches.

It also leads to my final question, which I’ll pose and not answer: Are the lack of moves a sign that A.J. Preller has confidence in this roster, a sign that he doesn’t have anything of value in trade that he’s willing to part with, or a sign that he’s been denied the chance to make trades that could impact the future of the club? Is this offseason the first signs of division between the GM and the Padres ownership?

I guess we’ll see…