Padres FanFest provides few answers
The Padres still have a ton of unanswered questions as they head to AZ for spring training, Alcaraz is on a GOAT trajectory, Aztecs can't hang with Utah State, and a lot more.
Padres FanFest was this weekend. I don’t think I’ve been to one of those in a few years, as a long-standing hater of crowds and autographs, but it was at least useful in an offseason that hasn’t had much Padres news in a while.
Below, I’ll link to some of the stories that include some quotes that may or may not be newsworthy. Later, I’ll do a Substack live video about it (and then probably push the audio out in podcast form) with my actual thoughts on what it all means.
Onto the links!
San Diego Padres
Padres acknowledge there’s work to be done with spring training around the corner - San Diego Union-Tribune
Preller was speaking near the end of FanFest, the annual gathering at Petco Park where fans hear from team personnel. During a Q&A session in Gallagher Square, Preller spoke about needing a bat or two and adding to the starting rotation, sentiments he echoed when addressing the media a short while later.
He also was more expansive Saturday than he had previously been on one personnel issue the Padres expected to have resolved by now — an extension to his contract, which expires after this season.
“I think part of the timing piece, a little bit is on me in terms of you get into these offseasons … (with) the focus on winning and putting a team together (and) I’m not great at focusing on anything other than that this time of year. So I think that’s been part of it. … I think the biggest thing is when you have win-win deals, when everybody is fair and they’re they’re honest and realistic, and I expect something to get done and to talk.”
Padres’ A.J. Preller still expects contract extension despite turnover-heavy offseason - The Athletic
In the meantime, Preller will continue attempting to sustain the momentum from the club’s first pair of consecutive 90-win seasons. That presently appears to be a sizable challenge; the Padres lost several key players in free agency, and their only notable acquisitions have been the return of starting pitcher Michael King and the addition of infielder Sung-Mun Song. Preller said Saturday he is still searching for more starting pitching and “multiple” bats, particularly at first base and designated hitter.
“It doesn’t really ever end,” Preller said of the offseason. “There’s no, like, deadline on transactions, and you kind of get to this point and obviously you get the opportunity to hopefully get some players that are motivated, that want to be here, to get some deals that we feel like line up for us from a price standpoint and how we’re valuing players.”
Padres Notes: Sheets, DH, Preller - MLB Trade Rumors
While improved defense as a result of moving from the outfield to first base would be helpful, it won’t fix the hefty platoon split Sheets had last season. He posted a 119 wRC+ against righties while struggling to the tune of an 89 wRC+ against same-handed pitching. That difference was mostly seen in the power department; Sheets slugged 17 of his 19 homers against right-handers in 2025, as well as 37 of his 48 extra-base hits overall. Getting a right-handed complement to Sheets in the door would make plenty of sense, with Paul Goldschmidt, Ty France, and Rhys Hoskins among the right-handed first baseman still available on the market.
San Diego Padres 2026 top 20 prospects: Ethan Salas, Kruz Schoolcraft lead the way - The Athletic
When healthy, he’s a plus defender who as a hitter has a good feel for the strike zone, flashing raw power in batting practice that hasn’t shown up in games. I don’t like giving up on prospects who are this young and inexperienced unless there’s some clear evidence that they can’t hit or they won’t throw strikes or something like that, and we don’t have enough evidence either way on Salas.
Australian Open
Australian Open: Novak Djokovic may be the greatest now, but Carlos Alcaraz is coming for his GOAT status - Yahoo Sports
Now that he has won the Australian Open, now that he is the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam, now that the major title count is at No. 7 with so much career runway to go, we no longer need to be afraid of saying what is obvious.
Novak Djokovic may currently stand as the greatest and most accomplished tennis player of all time, but Carlos Alcaraz is the most gifted person who has ever held a racket.
We are watching Michael Jordan in 1992, Tiger Woods in 2000, Secretariat in 1973. The job is not done, the résumé is still evolving, and the records are not yet theirs.
But our eyes do not deceive us.
Rybakina beats Sabalenka for first Australian Open title - BBC
Elena Rybakina inflicted further Grand Slam final heartbreak on world number one Aryna Sabalenka with a dramatic third-set fightback to win her first Australian Open title.
San Diego FC
San Diego FC transfer Paddy McNair to Hull City - MLSsoccer.com
San Diego FC have transfered defender Paddy McNair to EFL Championship side Hull City and retain a sell-on percentage, the club announced Wednesday.
The fifth signing in club history, McNair contributed one assist in 23 regular-season appearances during SDFC’s historic 2025 expansion campaign.
SDFC welcomes Liga MX’s Puma UNAM in Champions Cup, key test ahead of regular season - Times of San Diego
The upcoming MLS season doesn’t begin for three weeks, but San Diego FC’s next competitive match – one with championship implications – comes much sooner than that.
On Tuesday, SDFC begins play in its first-ever Concacaf Champions Cup. The Cup is an annual international competition between clubs based in the globe’s northwest hemisphere – sort of like a mini-World Cup for soccer franchises in the region.
San Diego college athletics
Aztecs Come Up Short at Utah State 71-66 - SDSU Aztecs
Reese Dixon-Waters scored 19 points, but it was not nearly enough as San Diego State fell 71-66 at Utah State on Saturday morning.
San Diego State (15-6, 9-2 Mountain West) is tied for first place in the conference heading into Tuesday’s contest against Wyoming.
Utah State (18-3, 9-2 MW) will look for its fourth straight win when it plays at New Mexico on Wednesday night.
San Diego Falls to Oregon State in Overtime - USD Toreros
In a complete inverse of last game's comeback overtime win at Pepperdine, USD men's basketball was on the other end this time as it fell to Oregon State, 78-76 after OT in the JCP.
The Toreros led by 10 with 1:28 remaining in regulation before the visiting Beavers stormed back to tie the game up and send it to overtime. In the extra period, OSU rode its momentum to edge the Toreros by two points.
UC San Diego Falls to UC Irvine in Triton Invitational Seventh-Place Game - UCSD Tritons
It was an eighth-place finish for UC San Diego women's water polo in its own Triton Invitational as the team dropped its final game to UC Irvine Sunday morning.
The Tritons kept it close for much of the contest but wound up on the losing end of a 14-9 decision at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
UC San Diego, ranked 12th nationally, went 1-3 over the three-day, 16-team tournament. The Tritons defeated No. 14 UC Davis and lost against No. 2 USC, No. 9 LMU, and the 11th-ranked Anteaters.
Odds & Ends
Justin Rose leads wire to wire in historic Farmers Insurance Open victory - San Diego Union-Tribune
With an all but insurmountable six-stroke lead coming into the final 18 holes, the only drama for spectators on another spectacular day at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla was whether Rose could set tournament records for scoring and margin of victory.
Rose shot a final-round 70, giving him a seven-shot victory over Pierceson Coody (65), Si Woo Kim (69) and Ryo Hisatsune (69) for the tournament’s first wire-to-wire win in 71 years. Rose’s four-day total of 265 was 23 under par, breaking the record of 22-under shared by Tiger Woods (1999) and George Burns (1987).
‘A Painful Lesson To Learn’ - PGA Tour Pro Explains Farmers Insurance Open Disqualification - Golf Monthly
Brennan said that he started working with a new course data analyst at the beginning of the week in order to improve his course strategy.
After receiving green maps to help him plan approach shots, Brennan said that he sketched a few arrows.
On the completion of his round, Brennan asked the analyst for clarification on the green maps feature, only to learn that he wasn’t allowed to transcribe any details on the greens from his diagram into his yardage book.
Monterrey And Tijuana Battle To Dramatic Draw In Liga MX - Grand Pinnacle Tribune
Saturday night at Estadio BBVA delivered just what fans of Liga MX have come to expect: drama, intensity, and a flurry of goals as Monterrey and Club Tijuana battled to a thrilling 2-2 draw in the fourth round of the Torneo Clausura 2025-26. With both teams eager to shake off inconsistent starts to the season, the clash was always going to be a high-octane affair—and it didn’t disappoint the 51,348 spectators who packed the stadium, nor the thousands more glued to their screens across Mexico and the United States.
10 numbers that helped define NFL’s 10 new head coaching hires, including how racial minorities did this cycle - Yahoo Sports
There were zero African Americans hired in this head coaching job cycle. The league's total number of African American head coaches fell to three after Mike Tomlin resigned from the Steelers, and Raheem Morris was fired by the Falcons. Also Mike McDaniel, who identifies as biracial, was dismissed from the Dolphins. Todd Bowles of the Bucs, Aaron Glenn of the Jets and DeMeco Ryans of the Texans are the lone Black head coaches in the NFL entering the 2026 season.
How Will We Remember the Luka Trade in 100 Years? - The Ringer
If the Mavs hadn’t fallen ass backward into the no. 1 pick and Cooper Flagg, NBA basketball in Dallas would be a wasteland. Flagg, at least, gives Mavs fans reason to hope: a teenage live wire, barracuda, and supreme bucket getter already taking NBA defenses to the inferno. His emergence has softened the blow of losing Doncic, but it hasn’t changed the way we look back at the trade … yet. Will it ever?
Will we ever remember the Luka trade differently? Will the march of time ever paint it in a more favorable light? How will we remember it in another year? Another 10? 200? Let’s forecast how it might play out.
Trump threatens to sue Trevor Noah over Epstein island joke at Grammys - USA Today
President Donald Trump threatened to sue Trevor Noah after the comedian joked during the Grammys about Trump and former President Bill Clinton visiting the private island of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump denied ever visiting Epstein’s Little St. James island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in an early morning Feb. 2 post on Truth Social.
Giants Co-Owner Steve Tisch Says His Creepy Emails With Jeffrey Epstein Were About “Adult Women” - Defector
The United States Department of Justice on Friday released another batch of files from its investigation into sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Included in these latest files are several emails between Epstein and New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, in which Epstein appeared to be scouting girls for Tisch.
How Much Longer Can The Politics Of Grievance Sustain Itself? - Defector
Though Obama is often considered the first president of the internet era, Trump was the first president created in the internet’s image: the worst, most venomous parts of the online world coalesced into an actionable political ideology. Conspiracy theorists, once coded as left-wing for their anti-government bent, now stand side by side with MRAs and NRA activists. Proud Boys stand alongside Zionists and Christians. TERFs stand with techies, oligarchs with lonely podcast bros. All are united around a common cause: grievance, and the desire for retribution against an infinitely amorphous “they.”