PEORIA, Ariz. — Individually, the players A.J. Preller threw into the Padres clubhouse a year ago were accustomed to winning.
Matt Kemp won Gold Gloves, MVP votes and a handful of division titles under a Hollywood microscope. James Shields won pennants and big games against all sorts of odds in Tampa Bay and Kansas City, as did Derek Norris as a member of three straight playoff-qualifying teams that ranked in the bottom third in spending. Too, the Upton brothers, Craig Kimbrel and Wil Myers all experienced team success to varying degrees in their careers.
The sum of those parts, however, didn’t quite add up as hoped.