Padres GM A.J. Preller Told A Story About Getting Kicked Out Of A High School Football Stadium By Security While Secretly Scouting Jackson Merrill When He Was In High School

Big, big day for the Padres and their organization yesterday as they officially signed 21-year old superstar Jackson Merrill to a healthy nine year deal that can get up to $204 Million. Hubbs talked about it here and how he willed it to happen via Twitter, but the best part of the signing was Merrill's press conference where he and GM A.J. Preller sat down with the media and let it all hang out. Merrill had some comments directed towards Juan Soto and how you can't ask for $700 Million and expect everything to be perfect, ballsy of the kid. But my favorite part that came from the presser was Preller telling a story about how he tried to go undercover and put on a covert mission to scout Merrill in person. 

Preller mentions coming down to good ole Anne Arundel County to watch the Severna Park native play ball a little after Covid. He didn't want to draw attention to himself or let them know that Preller was in attendance for the road game, so Preller avoided the diamond and snuck onto the football field a few hundred yards away from the baseball field and that is how he got eyes on Merrill for the first time. A security guard eventually spotted Preller and forced him to leave the football field and that is when he was spotted by a fan who thought he was a scout. He eventually met with Merrill's dad so the cover was blown and the covert mission was unsuccessful but I think it's safe to say it all worked out for Preller and the Padres in the end because they got their guy. Merrill has been nothing but a stud since making his debut last year and was rewarded handsomely for it, I mean you knew the Padres would extend him just because of the lengths that their GM went through to see this kid with his own 2 eyes. He's not traveling to Severna Park, MD on a whim, they knew this kid would be good and they got it right. 

I remember the buzz around Merrill at that time too, Severna Park isn't too far from me and I had read about him a ton when he was a senior. Cool to see him turn into an absolute beast and get paid like one too. Safe to say Preller isn't going to give up his day job to be a detective though, doesn't sound like he's very good at hiding and camping out.