The 2024 Player of the Year

A prospect puts it together — one decade later

It started with an eye roll and an exaggerated exhale. There was probably a shrug and a smirk, too. They were doing it again.

One of my good friends, a Padres season ticket holder for many years, could only laugh through his disbelief. He had seen this move before.

In the more recent and most urgent years of his decade presiding over Padres baseball operations, AJ Preller has found his way back to some old flames.

Luis Sardiñas. Jorge Alfaro. Nomar Mazara. Rougned Odor. Nelson Cruz.

Preller has made a habit of reuniting with several of the players he signed while running international scouting and player personnel for the Texas Rangers. Such a practice is not uncommon among baseball executives. That initial belief that a scout feels rarely goes away. It’s a remnant of the subjective side of the game; I’m grateful it remains.

Nick Martinez. Yu Darvish. Martin Perez.

Some of these players have contributed to the organization’s success. Demand for their services has been renewed as well. Martinez, selected in the 18th round of the 2011 Draft by Texas, will make more than $21 million in 2025 after accepting a Qualifying Offer from the Reds. His professional career included a four-year stint in Japan after domestic interest waned. Preller offered the contract that brought the right-hander back to the states, back to MLB.

These transactions transcend sentimentality. They’ve also contributed to an environment that the likes of Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, and Craig Kimbrel couldn’t establish 10 years ago.

The Preller Era in San Diego has been well documented. Marked by constant wheeling and dealing, spending, selling, flipping coveted prospects for established big-league talent, and more spending, results have varied.

Yes, presenting the Padres roster through minor-league free agents without acknowledging the nine-figure contracts issued to Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Xander Bogaerts is like telling the story of the Moneyball A’s and ignoring their starting rotation. Nonetheless, the more recent reliance on players with whom Preller has history illustrates a bet on himself. Who cares about public perception? There are ballgames to win.

This year’s WTP Player of the Year justifies years of roster tinkering. Jurickson Profar delivered the promise that Preller, undoubtedly, had seen in the player shortly after his time as a Little League World Series champion.

Preller was the Rangers’ director of international scouting in 2009 when Profar signed with Texas for $1.55 million. In 2013, the switch-hitting Curaçao native graced the cover of the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. He was recognized as the game’s top prospect, ahead of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Correa, Christian Yelich, Francisco Lindor, Nolan Arenado, and plenty of other players you know well.

In 2024, the trademark smile that the player wore on the cover of that annual guide returned. Profar’s season included his first All-Star selection, his first Silver Slugger Award, and down-ballot MVP votes. At the age of 31, a dozen years after making his MLB debut as a teenager, Profar became the player whose tools earned him top-prospect status. The potential that the Rangers saw in a 16-year-old shortstop was realized.

For a base salary less than the signing bonus that accompanied his first professional contract, Profar became the X-factor that so many championship-caliber teams lean on. Preller, perhaps fueled by desperation and roster uncertainty, rescued Profar from free agency as Spring Training was beginning. The player’s performance justified a decade of feverish transactions.

During the offseason, David Peralta hits near his Florida home with Michael Brantley, the five-time All-Star who retired prior to the 2024 season. “You’re always one swing away from getting locked in,” Brantley preaches. It was advice Peralta took to heart after the Padres called him up from Triple-A in late May of last season.

Hitters need to swing, just like shooters gotta shoot. Preller, an avid pickup basketball player, never stopped shooting, never lost trust in his instincts or abilities.

As we’ve established, Preller was instrumental in landing Profar as an international amateur. Then, as general manager of the Padres, Preller acquired Profar in a trade with the A’s prior to the 2020 season. Following the shortened season, Preller inked Profar to a three-year deal for a guaranteed $21 million. The player, however, exercised an opt-out after the second year of the contract.

He overestimated his market, and the Rockies signed him to a one-year deal worth only slightly more than the guarantee he walked away from in San Diego. By the end of August, he had been was released.

The Padres made room for him on September’s expanded roster, once again providing a home. Player and executive were reunited. At the end of the 2023 season, Profar was declared a free agent only to wind up, yet again, at Petco Park.

By my count, that’s four times that Preller and Profar have found each other. Maybe this story excites me because I spent too much time during my formative years watching similar storylines unfold on ’90s Fox dramas. But I’m not sure that the creators of 90210 would buy this saga.

From the outside looking in, Profar was the glue for a talented but fraught team. He played in a team-leading 158 games. He drew 76 walks and scored 94 runs, both team highs. But what we perceive from the outside rarely comprises the complete story.

I spoke recently with David Peralta, a teammate of Profar’s this past season, to learn more about the WTP Player of the Year.

“I’m gonna tell you this story first because it completely changed how I saw [Profar] inside versus outside,” Peralta begins.

“We had an incident in 2021, an argument. When I’m playing I’m friendly, but if you mess with one of my teammates, I’m gonna let you know.” During that game in question, Profar did something against the Diamondbacks that Peralta didn’t appreciate. The two players got into it a bit and created “a little dislike.”

In 2023, Peralta faced Profar several times when Arizona and Colorado squared off. Nothing happened, but Peralta hadn’t forgotten.

Last season, when Peralta joined the Padres, the stage was set for the kind of drama that the 90210 writers would definitely condone.

Peralta wanted to make a good first impression on his new teammates. He had no time for drama. At the beginning of a routine pre-game meeting, Padres manager Mike Shildt introduced Peralta, who expressed gratitude for the opportunity before addressing Profar.

Peralta acknowledged the quarrel and also acknowledged that it was in the past. “We’re teammates… and we both have one goal here, which is to win,” he told his former foe. The two hugged it out and moved on. They had other things to do.

“You cannot judge people for what you see from the outside,” Peralta shares. “This is not the same guy... totally different personality inside the clubhouse.”

Peralta learned that Profar “takes everything personally.” The losses affected Profar more deeply than most other players, he observed. “On the other side, you can take that the wrong way.”

Peralta was struck by the type of team player Profar was. On multiple occasions, he would forsake his own numbers to move a runner over on his own. Peralta would ask, “Pro, why you didn’t swing [away]? You’re hot right now!”

The reply: “I want to move the runner, and I trust the guy behind me.” Perception from the outside met reality. Profar was who we thought he was.

His selflessness and energy drove the team on the field and in the clubhouse. Peralta embraced his teammate’s energy: “He has a little bit of everything: He’s gonna fight. He’s gonna get everyone excited and crazy in the clubhouse… You need those guys to bring the energy and the craziness… The chemistry of the team — the success of the team — starts inside the clubhouse.”

“I don’t know if you can write this,” Peralta says to me, giggling with what I interpret as nervous excitement. “Profar, he’s a crazy motherfucker!” He laughs some more before continuing: “In a good way. We had so much fun. Any team, any manager, would love to have him because he’s gonna give everything he’s got every single day. I saw it.”

Everyone in San Diego saw it. I like to think that Preller saw it years ago and still believed.

The 2024 WTP Player of the Year loves the game, and he plays it the right way. The only question remains: Where will he play it next year?

Thank you for another great year. WTP is four years old and 200+ stories deep — and that’s only possible because of your support. Thank you for letting me in your inboxes!