Last year was a cinderella season for the Padres, the kind of season all fans hope for during the spring, and they will be hoping for lightning to strike twice once again come April. I like to always refer to PECOTA rankings in these countdown to opening day previews as it gives a good look at what a team looks like on paper. That being said, the margin of error for PECOTA projections is usually plus or minus 8 wins, and thus as a purely predictive tool they aren't overly reliable. Critics of such projection systems would love to point to the fact that in 2010 the Padres were projected to win 74 games and instead won 90 while being in the pennant race all the way into the last weekend.
