Speculation about a contract extension for San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller has been persistent this offseason. Multiple reports have stated that a deal between Preller and the Padres would be forthcoming but to this point nothing is done as of the team’s first full squad workout of Spring Training, Sunday.
Preller is entering the final year of his contract, making him a “lame duck” general manager. Questions about his future with the organization are to be expected but so far remain unanswered. Padres CEO Erik Greupner spoke with Ben Higgins and Steven Woods of “Ben and Woods” on 97.3 The Fan in October of 2025 about an extension for Preller.
“It’s always been the plan that the discussions around an extension for A.J. would take place at the beginning of the offseason as part of our review and evaluation,” Greupner said. “So those discussions have begun and we’re optimistic that A.J. will be our president of baseball operations past 2026.”
Now that February has arrived, Spring Training has begun and Preller still does not have a contract extension, the questions about his future with the team are becoming more prevalent and players are being asked for their thoughts on the situation. Manny Machado, who Preller brought to San Diego as a free agent in 2019, praised Preller and the work he has done with the Padres, adding his lack of an extension is “weird.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of weird,” Machado said. “They’ve been saying they’ve been working on it. Obviously, there’s a lot going on right now with the organization, but I think they’ll figure it out. At the end of the day, we all know the value of A.J. in this organization.”
It certainly cannot hurt Preller’s case for an extension if one of the locker room leaders who is connected to the team for the foreseeable future speaks on his behalf. To Preller’s credit, according to a social media post from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune, when Preller was asked about Machado’s comments he said, “You give out a $300 million contract, usually you get those kinds of comments.”
Preller had the backing of another prominent player well before the media scrums on Sunday. Michael King who re-signed with the Padres in the offseason after testing the free agent market credited Preller for his desire to return to San Diego.
“I’d say the main reason I signed back here was because of Preller,” King said at Padres FanFest in January. “Knowing him as a GM, I know he is going to put a winning team out there every time I’m a part of this contract. I wanted to win throughout the duration of it, and I have the trust in him to do that.”
Machado had similar sentiments to King about Preller and his ability to put together a roster, and for good reason. Preller has been the architect of the most successful run in franchise history, which has included trips to the playoffs in four of the last six seasons.
“We do what we can with the team and he does his best,” Machado said. “Obviously, it’s been successful the last two years with what we’ve had to navigate. This year is nothing different.
“He’s made three moves (Saturday) in a matter of 24 hours and made our team drastically better and he’s going to continue to do that,” Machado added.
Preller has been one of the most active and aggressive general managers in baseball during his time in San Diego. He has shown a willingness to trade from the roster and the minor league system to acquire current players like Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Jason Adam, Jake Cronenworth and more recently Mason Miller. He traded for players who have left the organization like Blake Snell, Juan Soto, Josh Hader, Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez. Not all the trades have gone in favor of San Diego, but each one has kept the Padres in the discussion of a team competing for a World Series championship.
“I think we all know that and we all have faith in him and know that he’s gonna want the best for this organization, the best for this team and he’s gonna try to put the best team out there to go out there and give us the best opportunity to win a championship,” Machado said Sunday.
Preller has also spent money, and this is an area where the part of the fanbase that was not upset about trading away prospects and potential, tends to stand up and make its voice heard. Preller initially signed Machado and then extended him for 11 years at $350 million, keeping him with the team until 2033. Preller extended Tatis Jr. on a 14-year $340 million deal in 2021 and Cronenworth on a seven-year, $80 million deal in April of 2023. Preller extended Jackson Merrill in 2025 with a nine-year, $135 million deal and gave shortstop Xander Bogaerts $280 million over 11 years in free agency in 2023.
Not all these contracts looked good at the time they were given out and some still do not look very good today. However, this offseason has shown the cost for star-level major league players is climbing rapidly and the contracts like the ones given to Cronenworth or Bogaerts may look better from one year to the next moving forward.
The farm system is depleted because of multiple trades over the past couple of seasons, but Preller has shown the ability to scout, identify and acquire talent that allows him to continue to make deadline deals year after year.
Depending on what you read or hear, the San Diego fanbase seems divided about Preller’s future with the Padres. He has his supporters and he has people who would happily pack his bags if it meant he could leave town faster. Preller has said he wants to be in San Diego, and the players seem to want him, too. Sooner or later a deal for Preller needs to get done and if it is not with the Padres, there is little doubt another team would not jump at the chance to bring him into their organization.
