The San Diego Padres have a farm system that annually draws more than its share of criticism, largely because GM A.J. Preller constantly uses it as a kind of prospect ATM, withdrawing minor leaguers for players who can deliver high-level MLB performance right away.
But is that kind of criticism really valid? The Padres do field a good team on an annual basis, after all, and you have to have good prospects to make that happen. Keith Law of The Athletic did a rundown of the Padres’ farm system, and while most of the top names are familiar to the fan base, he did offer some interesting comments and assessments.
First the names. Padres fans will instantly recognize catcher Ethan Salas and pitcher Kruz Schoolcraft as the big ones, and Schoolcraft is considered especially promising. Other prominent names include right-hander Miguel Mendez, who could be making an appearance in the San Diego rotation according to some experts, and reliever Bradgley Rodriguez actually did make his big league debut. According to Law he’s ready as a one-inning reliever, and for those who are into such things, they also have a 6’6” 225 pound pitcher who has one of the coolest names in the game—Kannon Kemp.
Law also added two direct criticisms of the Padres draft and how they develop prospects. One is that the Pads tend to focus on high-risk, high-upside prospects, including high-school pitchers who typically fail at a high rate.
His other criticism was familiar. To quote Law directly, he stated that, “you just can’t trade that many prospects in that short a period of time without it affecting your system.”
When it comes to immediate impact, Law cited Mendez as a pitcher who could get some starts, and he also mentioned right-handed reliever Garrett Hawkins as a hurler who should spend most of the year in the Padres pen.
Interestingly enough, most of the Padres prospects who landed in Law’s “Fallen” category are now all with other teams, which would seem to indicate that Preller knows what he’s doing to at least some extent with his approach. Specifically, he mentioned infielder Rosman Verdugo and right-hander Isaiah Lowe as former Padres signees who had disappointing seasons.
The sleeper in all of this is Schoolcraft, but this isn’t exactly front-page news in the prospect world. He’s been lauded across the board by both baseball outlets and mainstream sports sources, and Law adds that he could go from being just outside the Top 100 list to the Top 50 if he can continue to develop his breaking ball.