ORLANDO, Fla. — As of midday Wednesday, A.J. Preller’s flight plans were nebulous.

He had a reservation for later in the day and another for Thursday morning.

His travel depended largely on how things progressed in the various talks in which the Padres were engaged.

If Preller not being willing to commit to a Wednesday departure was an indication the team was close to swinging a deal, it was pretty much the lone apparent sign.

Speaking around noon in the suite that served as the Padres’ operations hub this week, Preller characterized discussions at baseball’s winter meetings as more informative than intense.

“Got a lot more information from teams and got a little better sense of what’s out there for the market,” Preller said. “Obviously, some players are signing, so that kind of start

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