San Diego Padres: Jorge Ona on similar path as Franmil Reyes

The San Diego Padres sent a message when they decided to protect outfielder Jorge Ona from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.

It was certainly interesting that the San Diego Padres added Jorge Ona to the 40-man roster protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft.

Ona, by resume, was certainly someone who should have been protected, but there are question marks behind Ona the player.

What’s interesting about protecting Ona was that the Padres had a similar decision with Franmil Reyes in 2017.

Reyes was eligible for the Rule 5 Draft that year but had a wrist injury that ended his season early.

The Padres gambled that no one would draft the big-hitting outfielder who had reached Double-A.

The gamble paid off.

In 2018, Reyes was fully healed and went on a tear at Triple-A El Paso and was promoted to the big leagues.

Once there full-time, Reyes hit 16 home runs in 87 games to go with a .280 average.

He continued to rake in 2019 for the Padres until he was traded mid-season in a three-way deal with the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds that netted prospect Taylor Trammell.

Ona, an outfield from Havana, Cuba, was signed by the Padres on July 20, 2016 for $7 million as part of a heralded international signing class that also included Michel Baez and Adrian Morejon.

He’s been beset by injuries so far as a Padre farmhand, having never played more than 107 games in a season.

Ona had been a fixture in the Padres Top 30 prospect list until most recently when he fell off the grid.

Last season, however, Ona was on the verge of a breakthrough when he was promoted to Double-A Amarillo and hit .348 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI in 25 games. He also had an OBP of .417 and OPS of .957.

But his season was cut short by a shoulder injury that required surgery.

San Diego decided to drop left-handed-hitting Nick Martini to make room for Ona.

The Padres had a few decisions to make regarding the Rule 5 Draft. They left Esteury Ruiz, Buddy Reed, Michael Gettys, Dauris Valdez, and Trevor Megill exposed to the draft.

Ruiz, an infielder, is their 18th ranked prospect while Reed ranks 25th. Of those exposed, only Gettys and McGill had reached Triple-A.

Ruiz had only advanced to High-A Lake Elsinore and Reed at Double-A Amarillo.

Since any team drafting a player in the Rule 5 Draft needs to keep that player on their Major League roster for the entire season, it’s not likely that Ruiz gets picked up.

Gettys had a big season at El Paso (didn’t everyone?) and could be selected, as could McGill.

Whether Reed or Valdez gets chosen is a toss-up, although Valdez has a big arm that a team may want to take a chance on.

But one thing is for certain, the Padres see something special and Ona — enough to protect him ahead of all those guys.