Sunday Brunch: The One Thing Preller Must Do

When a new GM comes into town, it’s like a breath of fresh air. A fresh start for the organization. A.J. Preller is the new sheriff in town. One of the reasons why he was hired is part of the Padres plan to increase their international spending.  Preller was a part of the Rangers getting guys like Jurickson Profar. He was there when they traded for Elvis Andrus. He helped sign Colby Lewis as a free agent. The one thing Preller has to do is continue to draft well.

The Pads have the sixth ranked farm system according to BP.com, but a lot of that had to do with what was done recently, with guys that are a couple of years away. The problems date back to 2009. They had the third pick in the draft an selected Donavan Tate. Here’s a list of guys in the majors who were drafted behind him: Mike Trout, Shelby Miller, Zack Wheeler, Mike Minor, Garrett Richards. Oops.

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They did draft Keyvius Sampson, who’s one of their top prospects, but no one else of impact at the major league level.

In 2010, they did land Jedd Gyorko, who if he gets right, can be a big part of the team moving forward. They did draft Tommy Medica. But they drafted, Karsten Whitson in the first round and failed to sign him.

2011 landed them Kevin Quackenbush and Jace Peterson. Cory Spangenberg is continuing to develop as is pitcher Joe Ross. But Spagenberg was picked ahead of guys like George Springer and Jose Fernandez.

If the Padres are going to compete with Giants and Dodgers, they need to not only draft well, but draft impact players. The Padres have arms coming, and maybe they send an arm or two for a bat (like Javier Baez). Maybe those impact guys will come from the international market. Maybe Austin Hedges bat continues to develop to make him even more of an elite prospect.

The point is, the Padres need to draft some impact guys, especially bats, because they aren’t going to be like the Dodgers and Yankees and buy one. If Preller is a good as his track record has been with Texas, the Padres could be in very nice shape moving forward.