Summary: While won-loss records don’t mean much in the complex leagues, the 2025 ACL Padres showed there are exceptions. The 2026 edition of the team saw much more success, finishing the year 34-26, just outside the playoff push.
The squad’s success in the offense-heavy environment of the desert was largely a credit to the pitching, which gave up fewer runs than all but one staff on the 15-team circuit. The offense didn’t finish higher than 10th in any category at the plate and the top offenses scored over two runs more per game.
After two straight years when most of the players included in this exercise struggled to even make it out of the desert, the 2026 club had some players who have a chance to progress through the system.
Overview: Our approach to eligibility remains the same. Players are considered at whichever affiliate they logged the most service time. So, while Dawson Willis put up some impressive results early in the desert, we’ll address his performance in the Lake Elsinore wrap-up since he logged more games there. We recognize the top contributor to this year’s team as the top player, while the top prospect is based on our expectations for the future based on his production, age, and projectability.
Level: Since MLB moved the draft to the all-star break in a delusional attempt to build a television audience for it, the Arizona Complex League is largely made up of international free agents interspersed with players working back from injury. No 2026 drafted players reported to the Peoria Sports Complex before the ACL season ended.
The limit of 165 active players on domestic rosters and newly-configured minor league levels have incentivized even organizations not as prone to aggressive promotions as the Padres to move players to and through full-season ball very quickly. Long-time scouts are still trying to recalibrate to the new, lower level of competition they see in the the Valley of the Sun, especially when only two pitchers in the entire league reached 50 innings of work.
Nothing you imagine U.S. professional sports to look like applies to the lowest level of domestic baseball. Games – mostly played on back fields rather than the main stadiums – are rarely watched by more than a half dozen people who aren’t team employees or players’ family members. Game-time temperatures often exceed 100 degrees, and even with the pitch clock, games frequently lumber well past three hours. Watching an ACL contest will test even the heartiest fan’s commitment.
Jesmaylin Arias added power in his second stint in the ACL. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Player of the Year: Jesmaylin Arias (Ben, Clark, David, Kevin)
Others Receiving Votes: Eddson Martinez (John)
Left-handed outfielder Jesmaylin Arias connected on eight home runs, double any teammate’s results, and he also led the squad with 11 doubles. The 19-year-old took a big step forward while repeating the ACL, adding more than 300 points to his OPS from 2025 to finish at .883 in 47 games in Peoria. Encouragingly, Arias nearly halved his strikeout rate to a strong 16.8% this year, while more than doubling his isolated power rate to .239. While his setup in the box is a bit unorthodox, the native of the Dominican Republic generates impressive bat speed, recording marks north of 82 mph during games. He finished the year with a wRC+ of 109, slightly behind Eddson Martinez for the team lead, but over nearly 100 more plate appearances. Arias also held down right field well, recording 10 assists.
Martinez got a vote here after starting the year back in the DSL for the third straight year. He put up an absurd .442/.583/.698 line in 12 games, ensuring that the Padres finally brought him stateside in June. Over the next five weeks, the diminutive outfielder put together a .372/.435/.487 line and swiped eight bases in 11 attempts. A native of Nicaragua, the 19-year-old punched out at a 22.9% rate that is higher than you’d like from a low-power hitter. Martinez, who is listed at just 5-foot-5, largely patrolled left field, but oddly is seeing some time at first base during instructional league work.
Jhoan De La Cruz got better results from the right side. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Top Position Prospect: Jesmaylin Arias (Ben, Clark, David, John)
Others Receiving Votes: Jhoan De La Cruz (Kevin)
Arias only signed for $30,000 in 2024, but after Leodalis De Vries was traded, Humberto Cruz was expelled from the United States, and Clay Winklaar bombed out after two seasons in the DSL, he is one of only two players from his class who signed for more than $10,000 left in the system. While it took more than 550 plate appearances before he got his first taste of full-season ball, Arias was promoted to Lake Elsinore after the ACL season wrapped up. He’ll need to show that he can maintain his improved bat-to-ball results against Single-A pitching, but the strides he took in the last 12 months are a positive indicator for being able to make additional adjustments in the future.
Jhoan De La Cruz took down the largest bonus the Padres agreed to in 2025, but his stateside debut this year was a brutal one. The switch-hitting shortstop punched out an untenable 44% of the time while he hit just .178/.319/.289 over 46 games. Nonetheless, at 18 years old, the switch-hitting shortstop has showed across-the-board skills that, if he can get the bat to the ball consistently, that could propel him up the system. De La Cruz had more viable results against left-handed pitching, posting a .729 OPS, but he struck out 64 times in 132 plate appearances when he flipped over to the other side of the plate.
Luis De Leon returned to the ACL again in 2026. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Others of Note: A year after handily leading the club’s offense, undersized infielder Luis De Leon was back in the desert for a second season, and things didn’t go as well for the 20-year-old. The left-handed batter saw his OPS slide to .731, never getting close to a call to full-season ball. Originally signed in 2023, De Leon will hope for one more opportunity to get to Lake Elsinore next spring. … Switch-hitter Santiago Vargas showed mixed results in his first professional season since signing out of Colombia for $10,000 as a 17-year-old. The infielder, who missed all of 2025 in the Dominican with an injury, had a slightly below-average .707 OPS while striking out 22.7% of the time. He’ll need to add strength as he continues in the system, but he has shown good feel for getting the bat to the ball.
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