Padres sneakily add big pop to the system with savvy minor league move

The San Diego Padres have a ton of legitimate prospects developing in their system. But, those top-end players are predominantly pitchers, or top prospect Ethan Salas. There's a bit of a hole in the Friars' outfield farmhands, but their latest transaction helps to fulfill that vacancy.

San Diego acquired Nationals' 25-year-old outfielder Nick Schnell this week, who adds a world of power to the team's minor league circuit.

Padres sign 2018 first-rounder Nick Schnell to minor league deal

Signed 32nd overall in the 2018 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, Schnell crushed 23 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A in 2025. He logged 92 games in Triple-A and roped 21 of those home runs in Rochester.

A sweet left-handed swing, Schnell didn't have much room to stick out in the Nationals' organization, a team he signed with out of free agency last winter. The problem with Washington is that they are a club with several top outfield prospects, so it was probably time to move on. Enter San Diego. The Padres' best prospect in the outfield is Tirso Ornelas, who is also 25 years old, but already has MLB experience.

Across seven minor league seasons, Schnell owns a career .242/.319/.425/.745 slash line. The overall numbers aren't impressive, but Schnell tends to hit in bunches. He'll work on his consistenct with the Padres, but when he is hot, he is tough to slow down. Just this past season, he hit .333 in April, then .385 in July with 11 home runs.

The problem is, he clipped a .189 average in June, .192 average in August, and .143 average in September. The pieces are in place for him to succeed, but he just needs to learn to stay within himself throughout a full season. Strikeouts have also been a problem. He was set down 175 times this year in 129 games.

The good news is that he can work with Triple-A El Paso's hitting coach, Raul Padron. Padron just spent his 10th season within the Padres' organization, so he is well-established following a solid professional career that saw an impressive strikeout rate. El Paso struck out the second-least among all teams in the Pacific Coast League, too. In 2024, El Paso had the least amount of punch-outs among all teams in the league. So, Padron's track record looks strong. Maybe he can help Schnell step into the next phase of his career to ready him for the big leagues.