Padres Draft: Best players drafted 34th overall

The Padres hold the 34th overall pick, a competitive balance draft pick, in next month’s draft. Let’s look at several players who have been taken here.

As part of MLB’s 2012-2016 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the ten lowest-revenue clubs and clubs from the ten smallest markets enter into a lottery. There, six teams are each selected for Rounds A and B that supplement the first round of draft picks.

And while slots outside of the competitive balance pool cannot be traded, those within can be. The Padres hold the eighth overall pick in next month’s draft, and before jumping into the second round, they also hold the 34th overall pick.

Linked to one of the top high school pitchers in Justin Lange in recent mock drafts, the Friars have the opportunity to add another prospect to the highly-touted farm system. And looking back at players selected in the same slot, the pick holds much potential.

Mark Gubicza

The Kansas City Royals acquired the 34th overall pick from the St. Louis Cardinals and took Gubicza out of William Penn Charter School in 1981. The big right-hander made his Major League debut in 1984, with 29 starts for the Royals, posting a 4.05 ERA and finishing seventh in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Despite not being a big strikeout guy, Gubicza limited the damage and led the AL in home-runs-per-nine innings in 1988 and 1989 with matching 0.4 values. In the former season, he finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting with a career-best 7.7 WAR.

He earned All-Star selections in both 1988 and 1989 and pitched for the Royals through the 1996 season. During the Royals World Series run in 1985, Gubicza made two appearances, including one start, in the ALCS series, posting a 3.24 ERA. Over his 14-year career, he registered a 37.4 WAR.