11th-Round Pick Guinn Struggles, Gets Demoted

Some Padres 2010 draft picks, like Dan Meeley, Jedd Gyorko, Mark Hardy, and Adam Schrader, are off to good starts in their pro careers. One, however, clearly is not.

Infielder Brian Guinn, the team’s 11th-round selection out of California, became the first 2010 Padres draftee to suffer the indignity of being demoted. The 21-year-old’s .162/.262/.216 line in short-season Eugene got him sent to the AZL Padres.

Guinn was drafted with the reputation of being a defensive whiz who hit enough to be viable, but he made five errors in eleven games (three in one game), and failed to do much of anything with his 37 at-bats.

The eleventh round isn’t exactly high-profile, and most draftees there are unlikely to make the majors, but when late round guys like Hardy and Schrader are putting up good numbers and 18th-rounder Dan Meeley’s already been promoted to Fort Wayne (he’s younger than Guinn, I might add), it’s certainly something of a blow.

Then again, Guinn’s struggles (and demotion) may largely be due to a lack of playing time. With fourth-rounder Chris Bisson and Gyorko starting almost everyday, there was just one spot each day (between 2B, SS, and 3B) for Guinn or Chris Tremblay, who’s hitting .361. 22nd-rounder Tyler Stubblefield also figured into the infield picture. Of all those players, only Bisson and Guinn were hitting below .300, and with the fourth-rounder’s development more important than the 11th-rounder’s, Guinn was the odd man out.

Hopefully more regular time in the AZL will get Guinn smoothed out on both sides of the ball.