A 29-year-old Randy Smith knew exactly what he was getting into when he signed on with the familiar Padres as the youngest general manager in baseball history. He’d watched from afar as his predecessor, Joe McIlvaine, shipped Darrin Jackson to Toronto not long after the Padres outfielder had won a $2.1 million salary in arbitration. Benito Santiago and Randy Myers already had walked without an ounce of compensation returning to San Diego. The marching orders as Smith, who grew up in the Padres organization, moved from Colorado back to San Diego was to reduce salary.
Smith got started on this date — June 24 — in 1993 by moving Gary Sheffield and Rich Rodriguez to the Florida Marlins for three young pitchers.