Black is synergizing Padres' talented mix

We're not going to look at this year's Padres as a truly surprising team if they win. They won't come out of nowhere; they'll come out of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, a five-minute drive from the team's offices at Petco Park.

That's where rookie general manager A.J. Preller started the blitzkrieg of player acquisitions that culminated with his landing his Opening Day starter, James Shields, only a week before the start of Spring Training. But one of the reasons that Preller felt he could import so many veterans in such a hurry was that he trusted his manager, Bud Black.

Black has overseen preparations for the upcoming season that were remarkably smooth. He and his coaching staff (headed by bench coach Dave Roberts, pitching coach Darren Balsley and new hitting coach Mark Kotsay) worked on a daily basis to show new guys like Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Wil Myers, Derek Norris and Will Middlebrooks how the Padres handle the details, while keeping an eye on how their most important holdover players were welcoming the newcomers.

Given that 35 of 60 players in camp were in their first Spring Training with the team, this was a huge consideration. And as Black prepared to fly back to San Diego for the start of the season, he almost let out a sigh of relief over how well the spring had gone.

Black discusses takeaways on last day of Padres camp

Bud Black wraps up the final day of Padres Spring Training and looks ahead to the 2015 season

"Both groups -- new and holdovers -- they understand what it takes for a team to gel, and they took it on themselves to get to know each other," Black said. "The conversations, dialogue, have been great. [In] the clubhouse [and] on the field, the coaches have been great as far as the instruction and teaching, as far as getting the new guys on board to what we do fundamentally: bunt defenses, cutoffs and relays, pickoffs, rundowns, all those things. Guys have really done a nice job of being on point there."

With Seth Smith being the only holdover outfielder who was traded, the Padres' Opening Day roster will be a tight fit. Playing time seems uncertain for Will Venable, Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin, but Black says the infusion of talent has actually reinvigorated veteran players who were around for parts of the stretch in which San Diego had six losing seasons in the past seven years.

"All the guys who were new, down the line -- Kemp, Upton, Myers, Middlebrooks, Norris, [Brandon] Morrow, [Brandon] Maurer, [Shawn] Kelley -- these guys were excited to be Padres, really excited to be here," Black said. "The holdovers from last year's group -- Venable, [Jedd] Gyorko, [Yonder] Alonso, Maybin -- they're excited for the new guys to be here."

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Black is synergizing Padres' talented mix