NL West Farm System Rankings: Padres falling behind after trades, promotions

Where did all the San Diego Padres' top prospects go? Oh, that's right, AJ Preller traded almost all of them this past season. All kidding aside, the Padres' farm system took quite a hit this year after Preller used a lot of San Diego's farm system to secure Dylan Cease, Tanner Scott, and Luis Arráez.

Most Padres fans probably aren't too upset with the majority of Preller's wheeling and dealing over the past year, but there's no denying that doing so has put a tremendous strain on the organization. While the Pads' top two prospects are some of the best in baseball, there's not much beyond that. How does the Padres farm system stack up the rest of the National League West?

NL West Farm System Rankings: Padres falling behind after trades, promotions

5. San Franciso Giants

The San Francisco Giants watched Kyle Harrison and Marco Luciano graduate to the big leagues last season and the cupboard is rather bare. Bryce Eldridge is the Giants best prospect, but after San Fran abandoned the idea of deploying him as a two-way player, his overall profile took a hit. Without Harrison and Luciano, the Giants have very little pitching depth in the upper-minor leagues heading into 2025.

4. San Diego Padres

Outside of Ethan Salas and Leodalis De Vries, there's very little to get excited about if you're a Padres fan. Yes, both prospects are among the top 100 in baseball, but after that, there's a tremendous drop off in talent. Most of the Friars' young talent is years away from making it to the big leagues. The talent pool has been sucked dry of late, and San Diego cannot rely on their farm system to enhance their major league roster next season.

3. Arizona Diamondbacks

While the Padres' farm system is questionable at best, the prospects residing in the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization are not much better. The D-backs, like the Friars, have two top-shelf talents in Andruw Jones Jr. and Jordan Lawlar, but after that Arizona has very little to offer. The prospect promotion incentive helped the Diamondbacks land an extra draft pick last year, but Ryan Waldschmidt has a ways to go.

2. Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies have a lot of young talent, but the organization does not have the best track record when it comes to developing it. Charlie Condon was the team's first-round pick last July, and the former University of Georgia standout could be fast-tracked to the majors in 2025. Chase Dollander is atop the Rockies' farm system as well, but so many pitching prospect have tried and failed in Colorado over the years.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Despite always being involved in numerous trades, the Los Angeles Dodgers always find a way to maintain a top-tier farm system. Daulton Rushing and Josue De Paula are viewed as top-50 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, and LA also has some talented teenage prospects in Jeondry Vargas and Emil Morales. Once again, the Dodgers have the best farm system in the NL West, and it might not be particularly close.

More San Diego Padres News and Rumors