San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler reminded folks about his boss, general manager A.J. Preller, on Sunday morning, saying, “He doesn’t sleep and he’s relentless,” and then a couple hours later, Preller made his third and fourth weekend trades between coffees or reboots or zombie apocalypses or whatever keeps him upright and frenetic.
As they played in Colorado, the Padres swung a deal with the sinking Los Angeles Angels for veteran catcher Jason Castro, at precisely the point where one franchise’s opportunity met another’s debacle, where the trade deadline flowers.
In the oddest of summers, at a deadline in which many contenders are measuring full commitment against the havoc of a 16-team postseason that opens with a best-of-three prayer, Preller and the Padres have chosen to embrace the chaos.