GM Preller scouts New Zealand and considers a Padres investment in baseball

Padres GM A.J. Preller is famous for scouring the planet for baseball talent, but mostly in the Americas. I had no idea that Preller had recently traveled to visit our antipodean friends until I received a tweet from Kiwi Padres fan Fraser Morgan. The New Zealand Harold reports that Preller was on a fact finding mission to consider whether the Padres were going to make an investment in baseball there.

New Zealand Harold:

"The question is whether there is a way of growing the game of baseball here. New Zealand is a country that has a track record of producing good athletes and now the question is how can we help grow the game here."

Baseball New Zealand visited San Diego and convinced them to visit the Southern Hemisphere, where tanking teams travel clockwise down the drain. Preller watched club teams play as well as youths as young as 7-8. He concluded that there is definitely a passion for the game, but no decision has yet to be made.

Soon there may be more Padres fans and Padres money to keep Fraser and friends company. It’s pretty exciting to see the Padres being first to travel there.