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Who San Diego Padres should take in the 2020 MLB Draft

By Jake Mastroianni |
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 07: Starting pitcher Karl Kauffmann #37 congratulates relief pitcher Jeff Criswell #17 of the Michigan Wolverines after a save in the ninth inning of game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional against the UCLA Bruins at Jackie Robinson Stadium on June 7, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UCLA Bruins 3-2. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 07: Starting pitcher Karl Kauffmann #37 congratulates relief pitcher Jeff Criswell #17 of the Michigan Wolverines after a save in the ninth inning of game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional against the UCLA Bruins at Jackie Robinson Stadium on June 7, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UCLA Bruins 3-2. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
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San Diego Padres. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
San Diego Padres. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

We take a look at who I think the San Diego Padres should take in the upcoming 2020 MLB Draft with their six selections.

The San Diego Padres should have a big couple of days in the 2020 MLB Draft with six picks in the shortened five-round draft.

As I always say, and is always true, it’s virtually impossible to guess who teams will take in a baseball draft — especially one as weird as this one is.

With the bonus pool limitations in play and taking into account the signability of players, it’s nearly impossible to predict outside of the top five picks.

This the Padres’ picks are eighth, 34th, 45th, 80th, 110th, and 140th.

FanGraphs currently has 2020 MLB Draft prospects ranked past 230, so that gives us a good size of players to choose from for those five picks in the top 140.

Eighth Overall Pick — Mick Abel (RHP)

With the extra bonus pool money they have because of all their picks, I’d take a shot on a high school kid with a lot of upside like Able.

I know, taking high school players is risky business and I almost never like when my team does it, but I think it’s worth the risk here.

And if you can’t sign him, then you get that pick back the following year when we’ll likely have a normal draft again.

Players of the Florida Gators. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Players of the Florida Gators. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

34th Overall Pick — Aaron Sabato (1B)

After making a risky pick at eight, the Padres have to go safe at 34 with a college player.

Sabato is someone I’ve really enjoyed watching at North Carolina and he absolutely mashes. The righty hit .335 as a freshman in 2019 with 13 home runs and had 7 home runs in just 19 games this season before it was canceled.

Being a draft-eligible sophomore, this pick does come with some risk as well. They’d have to pay him well to keep him from going back to North Carolina for another year, but I also think he could be the first baseman of the future in the not so distant future.

45th Overall Pick — Tommy Mace (RHP)

If this guy is available at 45 — he’s ranked 47th on FanGraphs’ big board — the Padres better jump all over him.

This is a righty who has the talent to be a top 10 pick but couldn’t really put it together in his first two seasons at Florida and fell out of favor with a lot of scouts.

He was proving just how dominant he can be this year with a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings before the college season was shut down.

80th Overall Pick — Gage Workman (INF)

Now I’m just kind of going with names that I recognize. Workman was part of a deadly offensive lineup at Arizona State along with Spencer Torkelson.

He broke out in 2019 as a sophomore hitting .330 with 8 home runs in 57 games. And then he hit .266 in the Cape Cod League that summer.

With the first three guys likely being hard to sign, this is someone the Padres could probably get under slot.

Workman has the ability to be a solid utility player at the big league level.

(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

110th Overall Pick — Alec Burleson – OF/LHP

If the Padres want to join the two-way player train then Alec Burleson could be a good pick at 110.

The East Carolina product hit .370 in 2019 with 9 home runs while posting a 3.28 ERA in 60.1 innings with 68 strikeouts and 5 saves.

This could be a really fun pick if Burleson is able to do both at the next level. But either way, I think he’ll do one or the other very well.

140th Overall Pick — Jeff Criswell (RHP)

There are several interesting names around this pick. I really wanted to go with Kevin Able from Oregon State, but with him coming off Tommy John surgery I think most teams will shy away and he’ll end up going back to Oregon State for another year.

So instead I went with the guy who led the Michigan Wolverines to the 2019 College World Series in Jeff Criswell.

In 2019 the righty posted a 2.74 ERA in 95.1 innings with 99 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.31.

He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but I could easily see him being a solid middle of the rotation arm and you’ll take that all day from a fifth-round pick.

Bryce Elder from Texas, Elijah Cabell from Florida State, and Gabe Shepard from Southern Mississippi are all ranked in this range and would be solid picks as well.

Next. Latest 5-Round Mock. dark

That’s how I would do things on Wednesday and Thursday if I were running the Padres. Let me know what you think about those picks in the comments below and what you would do.

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