LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Ultimately, Shohei Ohtani didn't choose San Diego. But the Padres still surprised many in the baseball world by becoming one of the favorites in the sweepstakes for the two-way Japanese phenom.
Speaking for the first time since Ohtani's decision to sign with the Angels, Padres general manager A.J. Preller noted that he was proud of his team's pitch, even though "disappointment" came with the end result.
"I'm really proud of our group," Preller said from his media availability at the Winter Meetings. "We put a lot of time and effort into it, and I think we just tried to show him why San Diego was a great fit.