High-upside Padres prospect viewed as trade chip in ever-shrinking farm system

The San Diego Padres' farm system has been gutted over the last few seasons. The blockbuster trade for Juan Soto in 2022 saw players like James Wood, CJ Abrams, and MacKenzie Gore leave the Padres' pipeline.

Even after recouping some of their losses by dealing Soto to the New York Yankees this past offseason, president of baseball operations AJ Preller immediately turned one of the Padres' key acquisitions (Drew Thorpe) into trade fodder to help land Dylan Cease before Opening Day. Pitchers Jairo Iriarte and Steven Wilson were included in that package, as was outfield prospect Samuel Zavala.

Still not satisfied, Preller dipped into the Padres' prospect pool once again and pulled out outfielders Jakob Marsee and Dillon Head along with first baseman Nathan Martorella in order to secure Luis Arráez from the Miami Marlins. Will Preller look to trade another one or two of San Diego's top prospects at this year's MLB trade deadline?

Padres prospect Robby Snelling could be dealt at the MLB trade deadline

Dennis Lin of The Athletic (subscription required) believes that the Padres may be willing to sell low on top pitching prospect Robby Snelling before the July 30 deadline passes. Lin cites the fact that Snelling is not yet major league-ready, in addition to Preller's job security, as the biggest factors that may lead to San Diego parting ways with one of their best young players. It also helps that they sent top prospects Dylan Lesko and Homer Bush Jr. to the Rays on Sunday for reliever Jason Adam.

Snelling was selected with the 39th overall pick just two years ago. As a two-sport athlete in high school, Snelling's record-breaking 146 strikeouts as a pitcher in the state of Nevada caught the eye of scouts and saw him sign an over-slot deal of $3 million coming out of Robert McQueen High School in Reno.

Snelling has a three-pitch arsenal and can touch the mid-to-upper 90s with his four-seam fastball. A left-handed pitcher, Snelling is currently at Double-A San Antonio. Though his numbers (6.14 ERA, 8.1 K/9) are down in 2024, it can't be overlooked that Snelling is facing batters that are generally 3-4 years older than him. The southpaw won't turn 21 years old until this coming winter and still has plenty of time before he must be added to the Padres' 40-man roster.

If the Padres do indeed decide to part with Snelling at the trade deadline, they may well live to regret that decision. While the opportunity to bring a generational hitter like Soto was too good to pass up, Preller and Co. are now watching Wood, Abrams, and Gore thrive in D.C. But with the Friars in win-now mode, most Pads fans assume that San Diego will be dealing some of their highly-coveted prospects at this year's trade deadline. Will Snelling be in the mix?

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