San Diego Padres: Farm System Earns More High Praise

In their recent “Organization Talent Rankings” release, Baseball America ranked the San Diego Padres prospects third in Major League Baseball. The Padres’ farm system has taken a tremendous leap forward over the last three years.

Although the current ownership group finalized the purchase of the San Diego Padres in August of 2012, the team had been in limbo since 2009. That year, Jeff Moorad launched his failed bid for the team.

According to Baseball America, the Padres farm system ranked eighth that year.  By 2015, the first full year of A.J. Preller’s tenure as general manager, the ranking had fallen to 14th, further plummeting to 25^th in 2016.

In a very short time, the Padres have turned the system around.  Baseball America’s 2018 Organization Talent Rankings place San Diego third. Only the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees rank higher. As would be expected, a number of Padres prospects show up in various rankings of the minor league talent.

San Diego Padres feature seven prospects in the MLB Top 100.

Seven San Diego Padres prospects appear in the top 100, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com and Keith Law of ESPN. The latter ranks Fernando Tatis Jr. third overall and second only to Gleyber Torres (New York Yankees).

Following Tatis on Law’s list is MacKenzie Gore (14), Luis Urias (38), Michel Baez (51), Adrian Morejon (72), Cal Quantrill (81), and Logan Allen (89). Mayo ranks Tatis 8th, Gore 19th, Urias 36th, Quantrill 40th, Baez 42^nd, Morejon 50th, Espinoza 89^th.

In the past, the organization had a tendency to draft players with lower ceilings but some measure of certainty they’d actually make it to the big leagues. These days the front office chooses players “who project as stars,” ESPN’s Keith Law recently told the San Diego Union Tribune’s Jeff Sanders.

Related Story: Padres Farm System Full Of Elite Talent

Of course, no discussion of prospects or rankings should be conducted without adding the caveat that the draft remains a crapshoot. In 2012 Mike Rosenbaum of Bleacher Report calculated that about 66 percent of first rounders make it to the majors.

By the second round, the percentage drops to 49 percent, the third round 32 percent.  Padres’ fans certainly remember names like Matt Bush, Donavan Tate, and Allan Dykstra; top draft picks who fizzled or worse.

San Diego Padres prospect Fernando Tatis, Jr. is making waves

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Fernando Tatis Jr. came to the Padres via the trade of pitcher James Shields to the White Sox in June 2016. Now only 19, he has rocketed through the Padres system from Rookie League to Double-A. Tatis begins 2018 with an invitation to big league camp for spring training.

Help may be on its way but, unfortunately, not this year. Most of this talent resides at the lower levels of the minors, and the prognosis for this season remains bleak.

The franchise has certainly tested its fans over the years, providing far more disappointment than elation.

The San Diego Padres’ front office has promised a tilt toward the latter, and these latest prospect rankings by knowledgeable sources outside the organization give those long-suffering fans additional reason for hope.

Next: The Swift Rise of Padres' Prospect Gabriel Arias