What we learned from Padres' 2024 season -- and what comes next

SAN DIEGO -- The 2024 Padres reeled off dramatic victory after dramatic victory all summer. It made the end of their season so confounding. When they needed to do the thing they did best, they just ... couldn't.

"There’s no way to explain the hard moments,” said Jurickson Profar. "Just sad for this team. We had everything to go all the way. But -- baseball."

And so, the Padres' offseason is underway after last week's NLDS exit at the hands of the rival Dodgers.

It should be a busy winter in San Diego. But before that, here's a quick recap of the season that was:

Defining moment: A clinching triple play

For all of this year’s late-game heroics, there was nothing more dramatic than San Diego's postseason-clinching triple play on Sept. 24 at Dodger Stadium.

Manny Machado started it expertly and went around the horn. It was the Padres' first triple play in 14 years -- and the first by any team to win a clincher.

For a team that recorded a no-hitter, multiple comebacks of five-plus runs and a record streak of walk-off homers, Machado's triple play was the defining moment.

What we learned: The Padres are in position to contend

The ending was bitter, but think back to February. The Padres were coming off an 82-win season and their roster looked nothing like a contender.

General manager A.J. Preller entirely retooled that roster. He swung a number of in-season trades for players such as Luis Arraez, Dylan Cease and Jason Adam -- all of whom are under control for next season. Meanwhile, Michael King, the headliner of the Juan Soto deal, lived up to the billing.

The Padres got younger and better in 2024. In the aftermath of their early exit, it was no consolation. But the future is brighter than it seemed a season ago.

Best development: Jackson Merrill's breakout

The Padres knew they had something special with Merrill. But this special? They asked Merrill to play center field, one of the sport’s toughest positions, despite the fact that he'd never played there before at any level. He thrived.

They asked Merrill to hit in the middle of a playoff-caliber lineup. He thrived there, too.

Merrill now seems like a long-term anchor for this franchise -- at a premium position. (He came up as a shortstop, but considering his obvious defensive prowess in center, it's hard to envision the Padres playing him anywhere else.)

Area for improvement: Replenishing the farm

Those in-season trades for Arraez, Cease, Adam, Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing came with a cost. San Diego's once highly touted farm system took a hit.

But, hey, these Padres have rebuilt that system before. (Every other year, it seems.)

Plus, they didn't quite go all-in at the Trade Deadline. They hung onto Ethan Salas and Leodalis De Vries, their top two prospects. With a strong Draft haul, the Padres could be on their way to rebuilding the farm system once again.

On the rise: The bullpen

The Padres didn't just lose Josh Hader last winter. They lost their entire bullpen. That's not hyperbole. The eight pitchers who threw the most relief innings for the 2023 Padres hardly factored for the '24 club.

Yet San Diego built its ‘pen into a force. That group loses Scott. But Robert Suarez remains at the back end with Adam setting him up. Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon and Hoeing are back for leverage spots, too. Estrada's breakout was one of the stories of the season.

There are other tantalizing pieces to add to that mix, too. Namely, rookies Sean Reynolds and Alek Jacob. Bullpens are volatile by nature, but the Padres are set up to have a good one in 2025 and beyond.

Team MVP: Merrill

Not an easy call. There are cases for King and Cease, who anchored the rotation. There's a case for Profar, who carried the team through an up-and-down first half.

Perhaps most of all, there's a case for Machado. He struggled while dealing with the effects of a surgically repaired elbow. But when he started to play like a future Hall of Famer again, the Padres took off. That's no coincidence.

But the nod goes to Merrill. He was so steady throughout the season at a premium position, and he provided some remarkably clutch moments. He also clearly emerged as a leader in the Padres' clubhouse, even at 21 years old.

“I'm just super thankful to be here and be a part of this,” Merrill said recently -- and, for the Padres, that feeling is mutual.