By Bill Center

By Bill Center

Earlier today, A.J. Preller met with the media for a season ending recap and announced that Bud Black will return as the Padres manager in 2015.

Baseball’s off-season is the domain of the general manager.

Although he has been the Padres general manager since the first week of August, A.J. Preller’s tenure as Padres general manager really began yesterday morning — which was, unofficially, the dawn of the 2015 season.

Preller has 4 ½ months to shape — some would say reshape — the Padres.

He has already made one decision. Bud Black will return for a ninth season as the club’s manager.

Almost everything else is open to discussion.

Preller’s missions are clear:

He wants to get the Padres into the playoffs ASAP.

He wants the Padres to annually be a competitive threat in the National League West.

There is much work to do, although there is more to work with than the common eye might see.

The Padres 77–85 season — which was a single win improvement over the past two seasons — was a collection of polar opposites.

The Padres were at or near the bottom of the Major Leagues in almost every offensive statistic. And they were at the top in most pitching categories.

The Padres again struggled early in the season. They finished strong, although they were virtually out of the playoff picture by the time they did get rolling.

So Preller heads into what promises to be an interesting winter looking for hitting without surrendering too much pitching in return. And teams are interested in Padres pitchers.

“I already get the sense that we have pitchers attractive to other clubs,” Preller said Monday morning while addressing the Padres media at Petco Park. “Our seventh, eighth, nine and 10th starters seem attractive along with some of our minor league pitchers.

“We’ve got frontline pitchers and depth. I’m willing to look at anything.”

Except for another manager.

Preller made it clear Monday that he is happy with Black, who has one year remaining on his contract as manager.

Preller and Black developed a solid relationship almost as soon as Preller came aboard as general manager.

“We hit it off,” said Preller. “I liked Buddy from what I saw from afar. Guys like playing for Buddy. And they play hard for him.”

On the flip side, Black says he’s never met a general manager who works harder than Preller.

Of course, the Padres haven’t made it to the playoffs in eight seasons under Black. So, if it’s not Buddy, it must be . . . the talent.

“It starts with talent,” admitted Preller.

And it’s Preller’s job to improve the talent.

Before every game, I play a little mind teaser where I match the opposition’s player at every position to the Padres’ player at the same position. Then I go down the starting lineup and do the same matchups. Ditto for the bench, starting pitcher and the bullpen.

It’s not often enough a winning exercise on the Padres side — until you get to the pitching end of the equation.

The Padres need help. And it could be hard to find and expensive. Pitching dominated Major League Baseball in 2014. Position players are at a premium — particularly when you are going to be shopping from Preller’s list of attributes.

“We want performers we can be proud of,” said Preller.

Pretty easy to read between the lines there. Preller’s Padres — and that’s what they are — will be expected to play to higher standards off the field as well as on.

We are going to see changes. The only unknowns are how soon and how many.