The Padres' payroll is "on the verge" of $100M, and fan interest is at an "unmistakable high," according to Dennis Lin of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Padres President & CEO Mike Dee said, "Ticket sales are up, year over year, 600 percent since Jan. 1." He added, "It wasn't so long ago this team was drawing 2.8 million fans to Petco (Park), and our goal is to get back there as quickly as possible again." Lin notes the Padres "drew a little less than 2.2 million" in '14, finishing 20th out of 30 MLB teams. Approximately two dozen media members congregated yesterday at the team's Peoria Sports Complex in Ariz., which in recent years is "unprecedented." Padres Exec Chair Ron Fowler "beamed alongside" Dee and co-Owners Peter and Tom Seidler upon arriving yesterday morning (
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/26). USA TODAY's Jorge Ortiz writes the Padres' roster upgrades -- from a team with "perhaps the lowest wattage and least recognizable players in baseball" -- are the work of GM A.J. Preller, who "went about overhauling the team." Preller arrived in August and "got free reign from an ownership group chagrined by the club's failures -- and flush with cash" from a
$1.2B local TV deal. More than half of the players "are experiencing spring training as Padres for the first time." Fowler: "We knew we had to re-energize the community." He added, "It's exciting. Fans are re-engaged. I've been in San Diego for 40 years, and that energy's back" (
USA TODAY, 2/26). Fowler said, smiling, "I'm on food stamps, so I had to hitchhike over. No, we're all in. We spent our money wisely. Or I should say, A.J. spent our money wisely." He added of Preller, "He had
all kind of ideas. I think I'm pleasantly surprised that he was able to wheel and deal the way he did" (
AP, 2/25).
