MLB Exec Says Padres' A.J. Preller 'Drives Everyone Nuts' in Trade Negotiations

A.J. Preller of the San Diego Padres is arguably the most fun general manager in MLB because of his insatiable desire to make trades, but that also makes him difficult for people around the league to deal with.

One executive for an American League team told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand that Preller "drives everyone nuts" in response to how he negotiated with multiple clubs for deals involving top prospect Leo De Vries.

"Preller drives everyone nuts!" the executive said. "He basically kept multiple teams on the hook as he shopped De Vries. He was a buyer, but kind of operated like a seller in terms of auctioning off De Vries to the highest bidder."

The Padres traded De Vries, the 18-year-old shortstop who signed for a $4.2 million bonus as an international free agent in January 2024, as part of a package to the Athletics for Mason Miller and JP Sears before the deadline on July 31.

It was a stunning move for several reasons, especially because Preller keeps finding top-tier prospects to trade for established MLB stars every single year, even when San Diego's farm system overall is regarded as one of the worst in the league.

There was also a lot of speculation about teams pursuing De Vries in a trade before the deadline. ESPN's Jeff Passan noted the Padres were willing to put him in a deal with the Cleveland Guardians for Steven Kwan.

It would have been interesting to see what Preller might have done if the deal with the A's didn't materialize. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal noted the New York Mets also had serious discussions about Miller and were considered the "most serious" suitor for the closer after San Diego.

By the way, the Padres also acquired Ryan O'Hearn and Ramon Laureano from the Baltimore Orioles that same day to boost their outfield depth.

Preller did what he does as well as any general manager. He leveraged a promising young talent to add a player who can help the MLB club right now.

Dating back to his initial hiring as San Diego's general manager in August 2014, Preller has traded away Max Fried, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, CJ Abrams, Emmanuel Clase and Josh Naylor.

With the exception of the Fried trade, who was part of a six-player deal that brought Justin Upton to San Diego, it's hard to argue Preller has lost many of those deals. Giving up Gore, Wood and Abrams hurts, but he did it for 214 games of Juan Soto.

Even the trade that sent Soto to the New York Yankees in December 2023 looks good for Preller because Michael King has been excellent for the Padres and he is set to return from a shoulder injury on Saturday.

Despite the difficulties opposing executives might have in dealing with Preller, he does a great job of adding players who keep the Padres competitive at the MLB level.

Ultimately, that's the most important part of the job. There may come a point when the lack of a prospect pipeline hurts the Padres, but he can adjust as needed when that time comes.