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With guys like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Kirby Yates, and Eric Hosmer on your team, you’d think being a playoff contender would be a foregone conclusion.
The Padres were 22 games under .500. The way the team played this season infuriated the fans.
The teams’ performance also frustrated the teams executive chairman, Ron Fowler.
“... It was a cathartic process just to sit down and say it was the worst 2 1⁄2 of ownership for me.
“It was embarrassing for me. We sucked. There were some days, quite honestly, I didn’t want to get out of bed,” Fowler said.
Fowler’s point of the entire interview was to apologize to fans and he wanted everybody to know that “heads will roll” if the 2020 season isn’t better.
“I said if we don’t win in 2020, heads will roll.
“Mine will be the first,” he said.
Fowler also mentioned that he told the team the same thing he told reporters.
“I wasn’t spitting fire. … I don’t run and hide from stuff. It was a terrible year. To be 45-45 and end up winning 25 games after that, God forbid.
“There was nothing I said today I didn’t say to the players after Andy (Green) was fired,” Fowler said. “And I was far more direct then,” he said.
Depending on who the Padres hire as their manager, they will be in the running for the pennant next season. Many fans are upset because the Padres did not meet the high expectation that were set for them.
In 2018, the Padres had a 66-96 record. With all the skill and potential they had in 2019, they still had the same manager. Andy Green had a 274-366 record with the Padres.
The Padres gave Green his last chance this year to see what he could do with the skill they had. Now that Green was unable to succeed with this team, he was fired and the Padres will have a new manager for next season.
Fowler apologized to the fans, which he should’ve. But Padres fans should not be worried about next year. They will be a contender for the National League Pennant.