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Padres hope to stay relevant in NL playoff picture

On the first day of this most anticipated season in the half-century of the San Diego franchise, I asked Padres general manager A.J. Preller how the hype of 2021 compared with the hype of 2015.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Preller said, with a thin laugh. “I’ve kind of blacked out that 2015 season.”

You might remember 2015, even if our friends in San Diego would rather not. The Padres loaded up on veterans — Matt Kemp, Craig Kimbrel, Wil Myers, James Shields, the Upton brothers — and Kemp lauded Preller as a “rock star GM.