From 2011 to 2019, the San Diego Padres had a losing record every single year, with no exception.
But around the end of last decade, you could already tell that the Padres, after their long rebuild in which they had no direction or purpose, were starting to do things the right way.
They hired the right people to lead the baseball department, they dramatically improved their farm system, and they started spending like a team that wants to compete.
Since 2020, they have been very competitive.
They made the playoffs that year but fell in the first round.
They missed the postseason in 2021 but were in contention for much of the year, and made it again last year and reached the NL Championship Series.
They are getting closer and closer to the first World Series title in franchise history.
As you probably can imagine, interest from fans just wasn’t there in the middle of last decade.
They had been losing for years, and they would lose for a few more.
Now, fans are very much involved and engaged in everything that has to do with the franchise.
We can see a notable difference in fanfest attendance.
Some people have criticized fans for being there during the good times.
An MLB analyst, however, is downplaying that notion and pointing out to the logical fact that when there is interest by the ownership, there will be interest from fans because the on-field product will be attractive.
“Some folks will say bandwagon. I’m gonna go with, this is what happens when you have an owner who is all in. The past few years, there’s never been a question of whether or not the Padres have been all in on winning a championship,” Jared Carrabis tweeted.
Some folks will say bandwagon. I’m gonna go with, this is what happens when you have an owner who is all in. The past few years, there’s never been a question of whether or not the Padres have been all in on winning a championship. https://t.co/uCGcDMca5L
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) February 5, 2023
The Padres brought in shortstop Xander Bogaerts this offseason, plus Nelson Cruz and the re-signing of Robert Suarez.
Last year, they traded for Juan Soto and Josh Bell.
A few years back, it was Manny Machado.
You can tell that Padres ownership wants to win and acts like a team that wants to win.
Fans, obviously, are becoming more and more interested.
It’s how the business works and there is nothing wrong with that.
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