(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Pitching wins championships. At least, that seems to be the mantra of general manager AJ Preller as he assembled a roster built not only to contend in 2021, but for years to come.
The San Diego Padres landed two of the game’s premier arms in Yu Darvish and Blake Snell this offseason – and did so without ransacking their farm system, something that was thought to be undoable by followers of both the Rays and the Cubs. And the team’s top talent, left-hander MacKenzie Gore, shortly thereafter earned praise as the best left-handed pitching prospect in the game – just rubbing salt in the wounds of those on the other side of those trades.