The ink had barely dried on James Shields’ franchise record deal in the winter of 2015 when Chris Kemp learned the Padres’ pursuit of Cuban phenom Yoan Moncada would come up short. The next morning, the Padres’ international scouting director was on the phone with General A.J. Preller discussing the next move:

Building the No. 1 class during the 2016-2017 international signing period.



For the record: As the 2016-17 international signing period approached, Padres executives anticipated rule changes to spending parameters. The original story said executives were anticipating a hard cap on spending. That was the ultimate result, but the precise rules were not known until the following collective bargaining negotiations.

It wasn’t a reaction.