PEORIA, Ariz. -- Officially, at least, Tuesday morning marked the Padres’ first full-squad workout in 2023, the dawn of a season with sky-high expectations in San Diego. Then again, considering that the entirety of this group had already reported to camp and worked out together, Tuesday really only brought more of the same on the Peoria Sports Complex fields.
Behind the scenes, however, there was one notable difference: a 20-minute team meeting to acknowledge the new beginning. With Tuesday's official start date, the team, the staff and the ownership group gathered in the clubhouse prior to the workout for a traditional start-of-camp meeting.
The message? Well, coming off their first NLCS in 24 years and out of an offseason in which the Padres made significant additions across their roster, there could really only be one message:
"Grab onto what was great about last year," owner Peter Seidler said. "And we have the people in the room that can take it to the next level and win the world championship. That's why we're here."
Said manager Bob Melvin: “There are going to be expectations, but it really only matters what we expect out of ourselves, and I don’t know that you can expect much more. … We had a great year last year, finishing in a spot where we feel like there’s more on our plate.”
Indeed, the ambitions at the Peoria Sports Complex are perhaps greater than ever. The Padres have built a bona fide contender. And while Seidler wouldn't go so far as to say it's World Series or bust in 2023, he did offer, "One year soon, the baseball gods will smile on the San Diego Padres, and we'll have a parade."
If it so happens that 2023 is the year those baseball gods smile on San Diego, well, Seidler's commitment will have played no small part. As the Padres crept toward contention, Seidler's investment increased.
This offseason, it soared to new heights. It wasn't merely the 11-year, $280 million acquisition of Xander Bogaerts. It was the simultaneous commitment to filling out a complete roster, with the signings of Robert Suarez, Nick Martinez, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Matt Carpenter and Nelson Cruz. Those moves came on the heels of a Trade Deadline that saw the Padres bring in Juan Soto and Josh Hader.
“To me, it just feels great,” Seidler said. “We have a great chance to go after that trophy and deliver to San Diego its first parade."
On the business side, the Padres have seen a direct response from the fan base to the organization's upward trajectory. Team CEO Erik Greupner noted that since the team capped season-ticket sales in early February, there have been hundreds of fans added to a wait list -- the first time in franchise history. They expect to top the franchise's attendance record (3,016,752 fans) set in 2004, the year Petco Park opened.
"I think it's a validation of our strategy that Peter has led, which is to get out in front of the fan base by giving them a team that they can believe in and they can be excited about and then trusting that they will respond and show up," Greupner said. "And they've done that."
Seidler acknowledged the risk in making such a substantial investment, but was quick to point out, "When we talk about risk, there's a risk to doing nothing."