San Diego Padres
For a team like the Padres, “surprising” is a relative term. We’re not expecting a playoff appearance or really even a winning season from San Diego in 2017. What we are expecting is a team that can provide some hope for light at the end of the tunnel that the Padres have been stuck in for the last six seasons.
The last two years have been especially bad. In 2015, San Diego made a series of offseason moves with hopes of immediately contending. The Friars went 74-88. For much of the 2016 season, optimism was hard to find. But at the end of that 68-94 campaign, some glimmers of hope emerged.
Manuel Margot had a tremendous Minor League season. Hunter Renfroe did as well, and he also showed massive power in his brief MLB time. Those two should see a lot of time at the front end of the Padres’ lineup in 2017, batting around star Wil Myers.
These aren’t players who are several years away. Margot and Renfroe are top prospects who are MLB ready right now. That should lead to a better record, and if nothing else, it will lead to more realistically high expectations in future seasons.
What the record will be remains to be seen. But regardless of wins and losses, expect 2017 to be a big step in the right direction for San Diego.