First rounder Kruz Schoolcraft is the main attraction in the Padres 2025 draft class. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
By the time day two of the Padres’ 2025 draft opened Monday morning, the club knew that the bulk of their signing pool was already committed. Left-handed pitcher Kruz Schoolcraft and third-rounder Ryan Wideman will likely take up the majority of the $6.9 million the club can pay in bonuses.
That didn’t stop scouting director Chris Kemp and his group from some aggressive bets on upside.
“Any time you don’t have a second-rounder, it’s going to make it more difficult,” said Kemp. “But like I’ve said before, it’s a good challenge for our group and find a way to put together a great class.”
The club started the day by drafting pitcher Michael Salina out of St. Bonaventure in Western New York. The right-hander jumped up draft boards this spring before blowing out his elbow and requiring Tommy John surgery.
“The first thing with Salina is he’s a 70-grade athlete, really twitchy, bouncy. A 70 make-up in terms of the work ethic and the mindset,” said Kemp, who often focuses on intangibles in his evaluations of players using the 20-80 scout evaluation scale. “We had someone at every outing this spring before he went down. At the University of Tennessee where he got hurt, he was 98 to 101.”
“Then we meet with him at the combine and it was one of our better meetings as a group. Just kind of the energy, the focus, everything he brought as a person, kind of aligned with where we’re at.”
Behind Salina, the club went overslot for Florida prep catcher Ty Harvey. A physically imposing right-handed hitter, there are some obvious comparisons to be made with Lamar King Jr., another high school backstop the club drafted in the fourth round three years ago.
“Harvey is a little more polished offensively at the same stage, but their toolsets are similar,” said Kemp. “You see what Lamar’s turning into and that gave us even more excitement to take him. Ty’s upside is immense.”
To make dollars line up, for the second year in a row, the Padres went on a run of college seniors in rounds six through 10 who will all likely sign for five-figure bonuses.
From Kemp’s seat, that approach gives the Padres an advantage, not just in reallocating bonus pool dollars, but in getting to some potential contributors before some other clubs have turned their attention to the senior signs.
Kerrington Cross earned Big 10 Player of the Year honors as a redshirt senior. (Photo Courtesy: University of Cincinnati)
“We kind of got first crack at some of the top seniors,” said Kemp. “And we might be in that $20-$25 K range and we were able to get Big 10 Player of the Year in Kerrington Cross and some of these other guys that are real performers. We still think they’re just as talented as some of the others.”
Having saved around $1.5 million at the back of the first 10 rounds, the club took one more big swing on upside in the 11th round with another prep catcher, Truitt Madonna from Seattle.
Madonna pairs with Harvey a rather unique duo.
“They’re just ultra-physical, athletic catchers that can hit. They’ve got real bat-to ball ability, they’ve got real in-game power,” said Kemp. “To get two guys like that is real exciting.”
Madonna, who didn’t have a huge amount of exposure to high-level talent in his high school season, solidified himself as a target for the Padres in this summer’s Draft League, where he faced off against a number of college pitchers with a wood bat.
“It gave us a really good chance to scout Truitt Madonna against college pitching and he’s raking. We’re sending scouts in, and it’s actually a better look.”
Madonna exemplifies the Padres organization’s commitment to having area scouts who deeply know their territories. Justin Baughman, who oversees the Pacific Northwest for the Padres, had flagged the slugging backstop as an underclassman before he wound up on the same team as Schoolcraft for the Area Code Games, one of the key summer scouting showcases.
With a number of potential first-round picks playing in Oregon and Washington, the club had many of their cross-checkers and senior talent evaluators in and out of the Pacific Northwest all spring which allowed them to get multiple opinions on Madonna.
“Then, when Justin let us know, ‘hey, this guy’s going to the Draft League, we need to stay on this and see where it goes, get a better feel.’ We just stayed on it,” said Kemp at his typical frenetic pace. “When a kid like Truitt Madonna goes to the draft league and does what he does and you’re like, ‘this is real.’”
The Padres filled the rest of their picks with a mix of college juniors and seniors who will likely all approach the $150,000 limit before their signing bonuses count against the pool space.
Several of them also stood out with production in competition since the season ended.
“We have a motto where we scout to the wire. Just because a kid’s high school season is done in May or a kid’s college season is done, we don’t stop. … Cape Cod, Northwoods League, Coastal Plains League, Draft League, Appy League, we had coverage in every league. You know, West Coast League where we found David Morgan a couple years ago. Down here, even the Cal League Collegiate League. I was at an OC Riptides game versus the Santa Barbara Foresters,” said Kemp with some glee.
“For us, it’s just the third part of the season. I think if we, just because the college season ends, we stopped scouting, I think you’re losing opportunities to give players opportunity to showcase their abilities. With the draft being where it is in mid-July.”
The club also conducts more in-person private pre-draft workouts than many organizations. When pushed for a count, Kemp deferred with “a lot.”
“We do them around the country and give kids the best opportunity to get in front of our group and create an opportunity for players.”
The club will have until July 28 to come to terms with the 19 players from this year’s class and any undrafted free agents they target. That is likely to be a market in which they will be active, increasing the number of openings they will have to create on their domestic player roster, which sits just under the 165 maximum allowed.
Full 2025 Padres Draft Results
| Overall Pick | Last | First | DOB | Age on Draft Day | POS | L/R | School |
| 25 | Schoolcraft | Kruz | 4/18/2007 | 18 | LHP | L | Sunset HS (OR) |
| 99 | Wideman | Ryan | 11/4/03 | 21 | OF | R | Western Kentucky |
| 130 | Salina | Michael | 1/30/04 | 21 | RHP | R | St. Bonaventure |
| 160 | Harvey | Ty | 7/28/06 | 18 | C | R | Inspiration Academy (FL) |
| 190 | Dalena | Jaxon | 3/28/02 | 23 | RHP | R | Shippensburg U |
| 220 | Cross | Kerrington | 4/15/02 | 23 | 1B | R | Cincinnati U |
| 250 | Hitt | James | 7/8/02 | 23 | LHRP | L | Oklahoma |
| 280 | Koger | Will | 11/10/02 | 22 | RHRP | R | Arizona State |
| 310 | DeCriscio | Justin | 3/24/03 | 22 | SS | R | NC State |
| 340 | Madonna | Truitt | 3/12/07 | 18 | C | R | Ballard HS (WA) |
| 370 | Bilecki | George | 9/26/03 | 21 | OF | L | Lewis U |
| 400 | Grego | Dylan | 3/16/04 | 21 | SS | B | Ball State |
| 430 | Edmondson | Clay | 6/24/03 | 22 | RHP | R | UNC-Ashville |
| 460 | Reed | Ryan | 12/26/2003 | 21 | LHP | L | Pitt |
| 490 | Thibodeaux | Cardell | 12/18/03 | 21 | OF | L | Southern |
| 520 | Schmitt | Tyler | 8/10/04 | 20 | RHP | R | Illinois |
| 550 | Jurecka | Landry | 1/21/03 | 22 | RHP | R |
Queens University of Charlotte
|
| 580 | Vastine | Jonathan | 10/17/02 | 22 | SS | L | Vanderbilt |
| 610 | Cantwell | Luke | 1/14/03 | 22 | 1B | R | Pitt |
Undrafted Free Agent Signings (to be updated as additional names come in)
C Jake Bold, Princeton
RHRP Tyler Dietz, Florida Tech
RHP Nick Falter, Denison
SS Bradley Frye, Mercer
RHP Brandon Langley, Western Carolina
OF Qrey Lott, Northwest Florida University (JuCo)
RHP Cam Nohos, University of Illinois-Chicago
LHP Cal Riehl, Wingate
RHRP Charlie Walker, Northeastern
CF Conner Westenburg, McNeese State
SS Dawson Willis, Oklahoma
