ESPN Chalk's Joe Peta is sharing his season win total projections for every MLB team, including a reason for optimism and pessimism.
Plus, he recommends an over/under play, or a pass. This is the entry for the San Diego Padres.
San Diego Padres
Reason for optimism: Aggressive offseason moves by the front office have yielded the best Padres team in at least five years.
Reason for pessimism: Maybe there is a reason all those other teams were willing to part with those players.
Yes, the Padres are going to be better this season; yes, the front office deserves a ton of credit for its aggressive remaking of the roster; and yes, the team that's finished above .500 only once (2010) since 2007 has positioned itself to have a winning record in 2015. Still, expectations seem to have gotten a bit ahead of themselves.