Padres get rare farm system reminder they badly needed with Futures Game picks

The Padres really needed this. The All-Star Futures Game doesn’t fix anything happening at the major league level. But it does give the Friars something they haven’t had nearly enough of lately: an organizational win.

Ethan Salas and Kash Mayfield were selected to represent the National League in the 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game, giving San Diego two prospects on one of the sport’s biggest minor league stages. The game is going to be held on July 12 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and MLB’s announced roster includes 38 Top 100 prospects among the 50 players selected.

The Padres are an organization that has spent years living aggressively. Trading prospects. Chasing stars. Trading more prospects, and then trading those stars.

Trying to keep the major league roster relevant no matter how many times the farm system gets trimmed down in the process. But every once in a while, they need a reminder that the farm system isn’t always just there to be raided. Salas and Mayfield just provided it.

Padres finally get proof their farm system still has something worth protecting

Salas is the easy headline because he has been one for years. He signed as the No. 1 international prospect in the 2023 class, carried enormous expectations almost immediately, and has already lived through the prospect cycle where everyone gets excited, gets impatient, gets worried, and then forgets the player is still young.

After a back injury limited him to only 10 games in 2025, Salas is back in the Futures Game conversation. The Padres have a habit of making every prospect feel tradable. Salas has been the exception, proving there are some players an organization has to stomach through the uneven parts of development, and he still belongs in that group.

In 206 at-bats this season Salas is slashing .277/.347/.427 with seven home runs, 33 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases. He’s showing great patience at the plate with a 10.1 percent walk rate and a 15.2 percent strikeout rate for the Padres Double-A affiliate San Antonio Missions.

Mayfield is showing tremendous growth of his own for their High-A affiliate Fort Wayne TinCaps, flashing a 3.22 ERA with 53 strikeouts over 44 2/3 innings. It’s a continuation from a solid 2025 campaign in Single-A.

Salas and Mayfield have shown the Padres that the future isn’t empty just yet. Now the Padres have to decide if they are smart enough to protect it.

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Padres finally get proof their farm system still has something worth protecting

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