The Padres right now are 20-33, in last place in the NL West, and being outscored by their opponents by a hefty 54 runs. As well, they're fresh off a 1-7 road trip and Tuesday night ritualized beating at the hands of the Mariners (SEA 16, SD 4). These indignities occasioned a rather spirited on-air rant from Padres exec/something-or-other Ron Fowler. In addition to calling his team "miserable failures" during an appearance on the Mighty 1090 AM, Fowler also said things like this (via Fox's Ken Rosenthal) ...
"It's been embarrassing. I don't know how else to put it," Fowler said. "Our performance on the road trip, 1-7, was pathetic.
"I'm a very competitive individual. I think I've won a lot more than lost in my life. This baseball experience has been very frustrating, very embarrassing."
Rosenthal's recap has more, including Fowler's very pointed comments regarding James Shields, Tuesday night's starter.
However, it says something about Fowler's baseball acumen that he's in any way surprised by his team's struggles this season. The Padres were a bad team last year after GM A.J. Preller spent all kinds of money and young talent to, in essence, hoard right-handed power. This isn't hindsight at work, either. A number of observers (including this scribe) saw this as a flawed approach to roster-building. This past winter, they lost their best player in 2015, Justin Upton, to free agency. It takes a remarkable optimist to look at the 2016 Padres and see even a fringe contender.
To be fair, Fowler doesn't spare himself or the front office for their signings and trades since Preller took over (and, let it be said, the trade that sent Craig Kimbrel to Boston has the potential to be a huge win for the Padres). In the end, though, this is a bad team playing like a bad team. Fowler's certainly entitled to be disappointed in the results to date, but he shouldn't be surprised by them.
