PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — The San Diego Padres have agreed on a multiyear contract extension with general manager A.J. Preller, who has the second-longest tenure among baseball operations chiefs in the big leagues, behind Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees.
The Padres, who announced the deal Monday without disclosing terms, have made the postseason four of the past six years following a stretch of 13 seasons without reaching the playoffs that started in 2007, seven years before the club hired Preller. Cashman has been general manager of the Yankees since 1998.
The 48-year-old Preller, who also has the title of president of baseball operations, has presided over the free agent signings of Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts; trades that landed the likes of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto; and a farm system that produced center fielder Jackson Merrill, who was an All-Star as a rookie in 2024.
Preller was suspended for 30 days in 2016 after MLB investigated the handling of medical information in a trade between San Diego and Boston. The Red Sox sent top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza to the Padres for All-Star left-hander Drew Pomeranz. Boston had concerns over whether it had received all relevant medical information on Pomeranz.
The Padres are coming off consecutive 90-win seasons for the first time in club history and have set attendance records at Petco Park each of the past three seasons. San Diego reached the National League championship series in 2022, losing to Philadelphia in five games.
“Under his guidance, our organization has continued to invest in elite talent at both the major and minor league levels while building a strong baseball operations, scouting and player development group,” Padres chairman John Seidler said. “We are confident he will continue to tirelessly pursue the first World Series championship for San Diego.”
The Padres hired Preller away from the Texas Rangers, where he was the assistant general manager. Preller spent the previous three years in baseball operations with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego’s biggest rival.
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