Padres extend GM Preller through 2022

The San Diego Padres have reaffirmed their faith in A.J. Preller, signing the 40-year-old general manager to a three-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2022.

The deal, which was reportedly agreed to in October, was formally announced Sunday.

"As in other business models, when people are doing a good job you tend to want to reward them," Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune. "We felt the extension of his contract would show the confidence we have in him. Frankly, people award long-term contracts to players. We feel we should do it with the people running our baseball organization. We think they’re very good. We don't want them looking over their shoulders as to a contract being over."

Under Preller, who took over as GM shortly after the 2014 All-Star break, the Padres' existence has been somewhat turbulent. In his first offseason with the club, Preller's aggressiveness made him the talk of the league, as the intrepid newbie acquired Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, James Shields, and Craig Kimbrel in a flurry of moves intended to immediately transform the perennial also-ran into a contender. It didn't work out, as the revamped Padres stumbled to fourth in the National League West, managing a worse record in 2015 than the season prior.

The following year, after Preller re-calibrated his expectations and committed to the future, a frustrating season for the Padres - at 68-94, they finished last in their division - was bookended by an ignominious 30-day suspension the GM received in September for the improper handling of medical information on players he intended to trade. This past season, with the rebuild in full swing, the Padres finished fourth in the NL West, enduring a second successive 90-loss season.

Still, Preller's success in cultivating young talent over the past few years has fueled optimism within the organization - the Padres have a consensus top-five farm system - and ownership remains hopeful the club can snap its playoff drought by 2020.

"A.J.'s really earned this extension," managing partner Peter Seidler said. "He's built a great organization around him, and that’s seen from scouting all the way through Andy Green and the major-league staff. Personally, I couldn't be happier. We've got a ways to go, but I think it’s with confidence we extend him and with confidence we think we’re on the right path."