A.J. Preller hired as the Padres new GM according to Ken Rosenthal

According to Ken Rosenthal the Padres have hired A.J. Preller as their new GM.  The Padres lose one A.J. and pick up another the same day.   It'll be nice to hang the "no vacancy" sign on the GM's office door once again.

Sources: #Padres hire A.J. Preller as GM.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 6, 2014

That's some surprising news considering CBS's Jon Heyman wrote yesterday that  Preller was longer the favorite to get the job.  Instead Heyman reported that Mike Eppler of the Yankees was supposed to be the focus of the search.  As it turns out the sources from last week seem to be correct when they hinted that Preller would be offered the position.

Judging by the disappointment on Twitter last night with the revelation about Eppler there seems to be a consensus that Preller was the fan favorite.  I'll say this, he's got his work cut out for him.  Maybe now with the Front Office filled with Ron Fowler's "guys" and purged of most of the executives from the past ownership group they can get down to business and start winning ball games.  Let's hope.