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San Diego Padres
Overall: 80
Title track: 117
Ownership: 102
Coaching: 120
Players: 96
Fan relations: 83
Affordability: 66
Stadium experience: 28
Bang for the buck: 12
Change from last year: +26
There were high hopes for October baseball in San Diego back in April, but nothing clicked quite the way fans -- or management -- had hoped. Still, even though the on-field product has been lacking, the organization has made a trip to Petco Park as pleasant and inexpensive as possible, enabling a solid 26-point jump in our overall standings.
What's good
The Padres again have the lowest average ticket price in the majors at $16.37, and their $8 parking fee is one of just three in the big leagues under $10. That explains a No. 12 bang for the buck rating, the Padres' best in any category. Already in its 12th season, Petco Park remains a great place to watch a game, and home attendance is up over 14 percent to almost 31,000 per game. The Padres emphasize mobile fan engagement with a fully digital loyalty program that provides for ticketing and fan rewards.
What's bad
Wunderkind GM A.J. Preller executed a massive roster overhaul that, in retrospect, might have been doomed from the start, and the Padres ended the year with a fifth straight losing record. The end result is a 117 ranking in title track, the third straight year in triple digits. "Preller didn't set out to tear anything down, but what's done is now done. And something needed to be done," blogged Wonko on gaslampball.com. "Now something else has to be tried, and that something is probably going to take a while." The worst ranking was reserved for coaching (120th), where Padres fans lost patience with skipper Bud Black -- a former NL manager of the year who was fired a month before our voting -- as well as interim replacement Pat Murphy.
What's new
A 23-point improvement in stadium experience was well earned. Plenty of upgrades can be found in the left-field area, including a new group seating space for more than 300 fans, along with a 7,564-square-foot video board that is the largest in the National League. (Unfortunately, Padres highlights on that board have been few and far between.) Successful promotions include a Padres hoodie giveaway and "Party in the Park," a festival of entertainment and happy hour drinks before Friday home games. The Padres also introduced their first Pride Night for a Sept. 1 game against Texas that included a Pride-themed Padres cap for the first 1,000 fans to enter the park and the national anthem performed by the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus.
Next: Atlanta Braves | Full rankings