I will not draw any conclusions from what I am about to post. All I will say is that Preller has a .490 winning percentage since he took over in San Diego. Here’s a best-effort, year-by-year rollup of Padres prospects/minor-leaguers A.J. Preller has traded away since he took over on August 6, 2014 (i.e., players who were prospects or very early-career depth at the time they were dealt). I grouped them under the incoming MLB deal that sent them out.
2014 (the first “Rockstar” winter)
Wil Myers three-team deal (Dec 19, 2014) → Rays/Nationals
Prospects sent: Trea Turner, Joe Ross, Jake Bauers, Burch Smith.
Justin Upton trade (Dec 19, 2014) → Braves
Prospects sent: Max Fried, Mallex Smith, Dustin Peterson, (young MLB infielder Jace Peterson also included).
Derek Norris trade (Dec 18, 2014) → A’s
Prospects/young pitchers sent: Jesse Hahn, R.J. Alvarez.
Matt Kemp trade (Dec 18, 2014) → Dodgers
Prospects sent: Zach Eflin (plus Joe Wieland; both pre-arb arms).
2015
Craig Kimbrel/Melvin (B.J.) Upton Jr. trade (Apr 5, 2015) → Braves
Prospects sent: Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck. (Also Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, and the No. 41 pick.)
2017
Freddy Galvis trade (Dec 15, 2017) → Phillies
Prospect sent: Enyel De Los Santos.
2019
Alex Dickerson trade (Jun 10, 2019) → Giants
Prospect sent: Franklin Van Gurp (Padres traded Dickerson for Van Gurp; listing here because SD moved a former prospect up but received a minor leaguer). If you only want prospects leaving SD, skip this one.
2020 (deadline frenzy)
Mike Clevinger trade (Aug 31, 2020) → Indians/Guardians
Prospects sent: Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo, Owen Miller (plus young MLBers Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges).
Mitch Moreland trade (Aug 30, 2020) → Red Sox
Prospects sent: Hudson Potts, Jeisson Rosario.
Austin Nola / Austin Adams / Dan Altavilla trade (Aug 30, 2020) → Mariners
Prospects/young players sent: Taylor Trammell, Andrés Muñoz, Luis Torrens, Ty France.
Trevor Rosenthal trade (Aug 29, 2020) → Royals
Prospect sent: Edward Olivares (+ PTBNL).
Jason Castro trade (Aug 30, 2020) → Angels
Young pitcher sent: Gerardo Reyes.
2020–21 (the back-to-back ace spree)
Blake Snell trade (Dec 29–30, 2020) → Rays
Prospects sent: Luis Patiño, Cole Wilcox, Blake Hunt (plus Francisco Mejía).
Yu Darvish trade (Dec 28–30, 2020) → Cubs
Prospects sent: Reginald (Reggie) Preciado, Owen Caissie, Ismael Mena, Yeison Santana (plus Zach Davies).
Joe Musgrove three-team trade (Jan 19, 2021) → Pirates/Mets
Prospects/young arms sent: Hudson Head, Omar Cruz, David Bednar, Drake Fellows (and via Mets: Endy Rodríguez to PIT).
Adam Frazier trade (Jul 25–26, 2021) → Pirates
Prospects sent: Tucupita Marcano, Jack Suwinski, Michell Miliano.
2022
Matt Beaty trade (Mar 28, 2022) → Dodgers
Prospect sent: River Ryan. This remains to be seen.
Josh Hader trade (Aug 1, 2022) → Brewers
Prospects sent: Robert Gasser, Esteury Ruiz (plus Dinelson Lamet, Taylor Rogers).
Juan Soto (+ Josh Bell) blockbuster (Aug 2, 2022) → Nationals
Prospects/young players sent: C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana (plus Luke Voit).
2025 (deadline + mid-season)
Mason Miller & JP Sears trade (Jul 31, 2025) → A’s
Prospects sent: Leo De Vries (MLB Pipeline No. 3 overall), Braden Nett, Henry Báez, Eduarniel Núñez.
Ryan O’Hearn & Ramón Laureano trade (Jul 31, 2025) → Orioles
Prospects sent: Boston Bateman, Brandon Butterworth, Cobb Hightower, Tyson Neighbors, Victor Figueroa, Tanner Smith.
Freddy Fermin trade (Jul 2025) → Royals
Prospects sent: Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek.
Notable small (but later-impactful) prospect move
- Emmanuel Clase: Initially in the Padres complex, SD traded him to Texas in 2018 for Brett Nicholas (minors-for-minors deal). Clase later became an elite closer after subsequent trades. (Included here because he’s often cited as a “Preller-era prospect shipped out.”)
TL;DR — headliners Preller traded away while they were still prospects/early:
Trea Turner, Max Fried, C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana, Luis Patiño, Cole Wilcox, Luis Patiño, Hudson Head, Endy Rodríguez, Reginald Preciado, Owen Caissie, Ismael Mena, Yeison Santana, Taylor Trammell, Andrés Muñoz, Edward Olivares, River Ryan, Enyel De Los Santos, Leo De Vries, Braden Nett, Henry Báez, Eduarniel Núñez, Boston Bateman, Brandon Butterworth, Cobb Hightower, Tyson Neighbors, Victor Figueroa, Tanner Smith, Hudson Potts, Jeisson Rosario, Owen Miller, Joey Cantillo, Gabriel Arias …and more listed above with each deal.
Draw your own conclusions, but Preller has a .490 Winning Percentage with San Diego. I guarantee I could do better, and I am not that good!
nuff said! kinda like the lady who buys all the “in” fashions, takes them home, and realizes they don’t fit right! but she’s to ashamed to return them. listening to mlb network, you would think the padres were the world series favorites and the universe just burnt! They did put a monster bullpen together, but everything else was mid pack or worse. they made a run at a injury riddled dodgers team. but in the end, they were still the little fellas up the street.
Prellers’ tactics speak for themselves.
They don’t work!