Growing up a Padres fan, I have spent countless hours watching the San Diego Padres. And if you’re reading this, you probably have too. My wife calls it an obsession, my friends call it blind faith, and twitter, well twitter says a lot of things. The Padres fan base is one that has been dragged through the mud and back over the years. The fans that have stuck around through all of this are hopeful (desperate) for some light at the end of the tunnel.
The Padres seem to be turning a corner and going in the right direction. When Ron Fowler and friends purchased the team nearly two seasons ago, they told us that they would invest more money into the team and that they would bring us the winning team that the fans of San Diego deserve. As far as the payroll goes, the ownership group has held true to their word raising the payroll to numbers that long tenured Padres fans have not seen in quite sometime. When Josh Byrnes was let go, I was excited to see what the next move was going to be. Then, with the announcement of AJ Preller, my excitement reached new heights. Preller, being known for his skill in the foreign market could do great things for a club that could really use some rejuvenation throughout the majority of its layers.
One could say that I am simply drinking the kool-aid, or just hoping for the best, but has the ownership group and Preller really done anything to take away any faith or given us reasons to distrust them?
Yes, I know that I am looking at the glass as half full, or maybe even blindly, but from my house, the future is bright for my San Diego Padres. I believe that the ownership group will continue to raise the payroll and make wiser player investments. I know that Padres fans are known for, "Next year is our year!", and such but the more I read from ‘smart’ baseball people, the Padres are a team that is about to start its’s winning ways.
Go Padres!