April 7, 2015
(UPDATE 4/7/15) 2014 was another year of forget for the San Diego Padres, who failed to clinch a postseason berth for the eight consecutive season. Hope springs eternal at Petco Park in 2015, however, as the team made several splashes in the offseason and acquired a bevy of talent from across the league.
With James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Melvin and Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Derek Norris all dressing in midnight blue, expectations are high for the Padres to break from the chains of obscurity this season. Those expectations have bled into the secondary ticket market as well, and the average price for Padres tickets on TicketIQ this season is $93.74, up 65.3% from 2014’s average of $56.71.
Opening Day at Petco won’t be much easier on the eyes. The Padres are set to return home for their first home game against the defending World Series champion Giants on Thursday, and the average secondary price for Padres Opening Day tickets is $123.40. That’s 31.6% above season average at home. The cheapest ticket available forThursday’s game is $48.
With playoff connotations setting the bar this season, the Padres are poised to make noise in a competitive N.L. West that also features the Dodgers and Giants. Expect the new-look Padres to emerge from the depths of the divisional basement and fight for elbow room in the standings through the late summer.
The Padres haven’t finished above .500 since 2010, when the team won 90 games under the leadership of then-first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Since then, the Padres have failed to finish higher than third place in the N.L. West. Equipped with what is widely considered the most dominant core of talent in the Majors this year, the Padres will hope to return to their winning ways in 2015, something that’s been void in San Diego since the turn of the decade.
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(12/31/2014) The San Diego Padres continued their streak of not making the postseason, as they failed to do so for the eighth straight season. The main reason for their losing record was the complete and utter lack of offense by the Padres. They ranked dead last in the MLB in runs, batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage, among other offensive categories.
A barrage of injuries and suspensions plaguing the Padres didn’t help either, with Cameron Maybin, Everth Cabrera, Carlos Quentin, and Yonder Alonso all missing time during the 2014 season. The highlight of the Padres’ season was their pitching rotation. Tyson Ross was top 10 in the NL in ERA, and had Jesse Hahn and Andrew Cashner as quality pitchers to compliment him. Jedd Gyorko led the team in RBI, but was unable to propel a stagnant Padres offense. There wasn’t any power in the lineup either, as Yasmani Grandal led the team in homeruns with a paltry total of 15. If the Padres want to be contenders in future seasons, the offense is the area that needs the most improvement. Thanks to their dominant pitching, the Padres finished 3rd in the NL West, 17 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for 1st.
Currently, opening day prices for Padres tickets on the secondary market have risen from $140.52 in 2014 to $226.23 in 2015, a jump of 61%. The average ticket price on the secondary market for Petco Park also rose from $55.06 in 2014 to $96.30 in 2015, an increase of around 75%. The most expensive games of the 2015 season come when the San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Kansas City Royals visit San Diego.
| Year | Opponent | Avg Price | Get-in Price |
| 2015 | SF | $226.23 | $75.00 |
| 2014 | LAD | $140.52 | $38.00 |
| 2013 | LAD | $99.80 | $28.00 |
| 2012 | LAD | $155.84 | $39.00 |
| 2011 | SF | $80.21 | $25.00 |
| 2010 | ATL | $63.18 | $12.00 |
The overall rise in ticket prices on the secondary market has to do with the increased expectations of the Padres. Thanks in large part to their aggressive offseason moves, San Diego is being considered a real contender in the NL West. The front office of the Padres has made an enormous splash this offseason with a handful of big name trades. To pull their offense out of the league’s basement, the Padres traded for Matt Kemp from the Dodgers and Justin Upton from the Braves, among others. The Padres also picked up Derek Norris from the Oakland Athletics, a solid defensive catcher. They also picked up Wil Myers from a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.
The addition of these players, plus a handful of bullpen acquisitions, ramps up the expectations for the San Diego Padres as they will look to finish above .500 for the first time since 2010. The Padres will debut in 2015 as an almost completely different team than the one that finished the 2014 season, thanks to a new GM and the massivetrade efforts undergone this offseason. The Padres’ offense can’t get worse, so it’s only up from here for San Diego.
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