TFHS Special: What colorway will the 2017 Padres wear?

Among many questions regarding next year’s Padres team is the one concerning their uniform set: after a fresh change of pace in 2016, what’s next for the Padres and their uniforms?

If you haven’t read the Dennis Lin article regarding the exit of yellow in next year’s uniforms, it seems that the Padres are once again going back to the drawing board for an on-field team identity.

Of course as the SD Hat Guy, caps and uniforms are what I do as a hobby. I’ve been mulling around what direction the Padres could decide to take next year much the same as you all have. Let’s explore some options together, shall we?

Navy/White

The navy/white colorway was relegated to away uniform status last year and has hung around in some iteration since the team switched logos and uniforms completely in 2004 (and first appeared in 1999). With the diminished the use of a third color in 2012, the Padres introduced the navy/white alternate jersey that has seen consistent field action and ranks among the least favorite jerseys in current use. With yellow departing, will the road cap become the home cap once again and will the same navy/white alternate jersey stick around for another season?

For many of you, this seems like a bygone conclusion; the Padres are ditching the yellow and are going back to the dull navy/white colorway. I’m hoping this is not the case, but ownership seems pretty set on keeping navy and white around for the foreseeable future.

Brown/Gold

The brown/gold colorway returned in force in 2016 as a Friday alternate uniform set seen by many as an appeasement for the Back the Brown community. The new cap and uniform did not disappoint; with references to Padres past and nuances of the possible future, the brown/gold cap was a unanimous winner in last year’s Padres Cap Tournament and the jersey garnered positive reviews. Many are clamoring for brown/gold to become the de-facto home uniform set, and who could blame them? This colorway was easily one of the best looks the Padres utilized last season.

Rumor has it that the brown/gold will return next year, though the capacity at which it will be used remains to be seen. Some even predict the cap may change to a simpler design. Here’s what such a cap would look like:

Navy/Sand/White

Alright, bear with me on this one.

While I don’t personally believe the sand will truly reappear in the Padres uniform set, I stumbled upon an interesting find.

I was carousing about while on my break and discovered this lanyard:

My first instinct is to assume this is an error, but it’s a pretty egregious error to make, isn’t it? An off-printing of the color yellow has yielded a sand color on the interlocking SD and as a border on the Padres wordmark. Pretty notable oversight, if you ask me.

What if this is a leak of the possible return of the sand? I know, highly unlikely...but I’ve stumbled upon these things before. Why not explore it a bit?

Here’s a mockup of what such a cap would look like with the same interlocking SD as featured on the lanyard. I know, I’m not sold either. I personally think it would be a step backward to go back to the sand, but I know a few people who wouldn’t mind putting the Sand back in San Diego...

Navy/Yellow/White

My biggest gripe in all of this: what’s wrong with keeping the yellow? I personally thought the splash of yellow made for a nice change in the Padres colorway. It tied in with the brown/yellow set and worked well as the third color in the Padres cap. The yellow squatcho even grew on me.

Speaking purely as a merchandiser, I’ve seen an awful lot of navy/yellow merchandise hit the shelves; not only that, navy/yellow items are still being released (hello, beanies/toques) into stores. It seems either odd or somewhat irresponsible to have all this 2016 colorway merchandise come out in time for Christmas only to have the team decide navy/yellow is not part of the Padres future. I can only shrug and declare that these happenings are a bit above my pay grade.

I have a general pulse of where Padres fans are hoping to go with the uniform options for 2017, but I want to hear from you. What colorway do you think the Padres should stick to for the new season?