Padres Shortstop Prospects: Who's Left?

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Trea Turner at bat

Well, the first answer to that question is “not the guy shown above” – Trea Turner. He was, if you remember, traded to Washington in the three-way deal to send Wil Myers to San Diego. Turner was the Padres’ top shortstop prospect and the heir apparent. He was a few years away, but an exciting idea. Now, he’s an exciting idea for the Nationals.

The next best prospect at short was Jace Peterson. Despite struggling in the majors, hitting for only a .161 OBP in his 27 games, he had quite the potential. He is now in the Braves organization while Justin Upton is now a Padre.

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The Friars did not have much by way of good shortstop prospects beyond Turner before the off-season started. As it stands today, they have far less. Out of the Pads’ weaknesses – lead-off, speed at center field, (first base?) – shortstop is clearly the biggest. So whom can we expect to join the roster as a shortstop in 2015? Will it be anyone? Will we be stuck with Alexi Amarista, Clint Barmes, and maybe someone in a trade? The top shortstop prospects will be counted down.

Mandatory Credit: metstoday.com

5. Juan Carlos Gamboa

Current Level: Triple-A

Opening Day Age: 23

B/T: L/R

Height/Weight: 5’7″ 155 lbs.

Gamboa played last year in Mexico. His last year on a minor league roster that was affiliated with a major league team was in 2013. Gamboa was in low A-ball with the Mets’ organization where in 2013 he had only a .266 OBP. (This should give you an idea about how thin the minor league teams are at shortstop). However, in the Mexican leagues, he hit .306/.386/.472/.859, last season. When he plays in the Mexican leagues, he performs very well. Otherwise, not so much.

Defensively, he has quite a bit of range, logging a 4.82 range factor per game (league average 4.29). So he takes away a single one out of every two games that the average NL shortstop would not.

It’s unlikely he will get a shot in the majors though as his hitting is just too inconsistent.

Josh VanMeter-Mandatory Credit: MiLB.com

4. Josh Van Meter

Current Level: A

Opening Day Age: 20

B/T: L/R

Height/Weight: 5’11” 165 lbs.

Van Meter was a fifth round pick out of Norwell High School in Indiana back in 2013. After a good 44 games in rookie ball that year, Van Meter spent last season with the Fort Wayne TinCaps. His numbers dipped to .254/.311/.333/.644. Not great. His trademark plate discipline suffered along with his contact and power. Thankfully his numbers did not dip drastically and with Trea Turner gone, Van Meter will have more playing time to develop his skills.

Unfortunately, one of those skills doesn’t appear to be speed. Van Meter has only stolen 18 bases in 26 attempts in his 160 minor league games. This could of course improve, but his below-average range does not indicate he is the fleetest of shortstops.

Do not expect Van Meter to be up to the big leagues in 2015 or even 2016.

Mandatory Credit: milb.com

3. Diego Goris

Current Level: AA

Opening Day Age: 24

B/T: R/R

Height/Weight: 5’10” 215 lbs.

The first thing that pops out is his 215-pound frame. This may very well land him at second base or third base, but it did not keep him from playing 93 of his 126 games last year at shortstop between Lake Elsinore and San Antonio. The Dominican-native did predictably poorer while in Double-A, but still hit for a .302/.323/.471/.794 slashline. Clearly Goris can hit a baseball. His severe and possibly fatal amount of walks might do him in though. To have a career OBP only 28 points higher than one’s batting average is a major red flag.

Shockingly, despite his thick build, Goris had a 4.45 range factor per game (4.29 league average). With fielding like that, he could stay at shortstop.

Because Goris is more developed than Van Meter, he took the number three slot on this list. He is closer to the majors, but not ready to come up this year. Maybe 2016, if he can draw some more walks.

Mandatory Credit: milb.com

2. Franchy Cordero

Current Level: A

Opening Day Age: 20

B/T: L/R

Height/Weight: 6’3″ 175 lbs.

For a guy who is so thin, Cordero has a surprising amount of pop in his bat. He only hit 9 home runs last year between low-A and high-A ball. But look a little deeper and you notice that his slugging percentage was 145 points higher than his average – similar to Chase Headley and Will Venable throughout their careers. In a 162-game season, he would have hit 17 HRs. Cordero is a shortstop and at 20-years old he’s not done filling out. He draws an average number of walks and certainly puts the ball in play enough while in low-A ball. Look for him to build off of his decent 2014.

The knock on Cordero is his defense. It’s… well… he made 51 errors last season…in 83 games. In his 143 games in the field, Cordero has committed 107 errors. Wow, just wow and not in a good way.

Cordero’s poor offensive performance after being promoted to Fort Wayne and his indescribably bad defense will keep him in the minors for another couple years, perhaps a few. Look for him in 2018.

Mandatory Credit: entornointeligente.com

1. Jose Rondon

Current Level: high-A

Opening Day Age: 21

B/T: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’1″ 160 lbs.

Rondon came over in the deal that sent Huston Street to the Angels. He has been a consistently good player in his four minor league seasons with 2014 being his best. In his 111 games between the Los Angeles and San Diego systems, he hit .315/.363/.404/.767. What we can take away is that Rondon has limited power, an average ability to draw walks, but a great ability to turn putting the ball in play into a hit. By limited power, I mean that he tied a career high with one home run. Some have tabbed him as a future second baseman or utility player, but his ability to get on base should make him a future lead-off candidate.

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