Less than five years ago, the San Diego Padres seemed destined for a championship.
They had a great homegrown prospect in Fernando Tatis Jr., and then went the extra mile to sign (and later extend) star infielder Manny Machado. Lots of young pitching, plus Yu Darvish! Now add a trade for Juan Soto and overpaying, er, signing Xander Bogaerts away from the Padres.
This leaves the Padres in a strange place in the NL West, even after making the NLCS two years ago. Last year was a flop and saw manager Bob Melvin defect to the Giants after just two seasons.