Quote from Henry Silvestre on December 15, 2022, 7:39 am

People keep saying our Sysyem is bare.. as soon as Ethan Salas signs on Jan 15th.. Padres will have one of the Best up the middle group of prospects in baseball with Salas C.. Merrill SS and Zavala CF

Plus a lot of potential with the pitchers ... think the issue is how far away they are from the big leagues and nothing in-between. That distance from the ML and lack of AAA/AA/A+ types makes the system bare for major trade purposes.

Same players in two years ... good chance they are saying the system is loaded ... but always risk that today's projection does not play out.

Side: Lizarraga might not be getting enough hype and could be in the Padres rotation in 2025. Very young (18) in low A last season and was very successful. #7 on the current MLB prospect list ... be interesting to see if he moves up in the next update. Pitching is a need now ... and will get more of a need over the next couple of years without a lot in the upper minors ... Lizarraga (in terms of helping the Padres) may be the most valuable player in the near term. Merrill may be a better player but with Machado - Bogaerts - Kim - Cronenworth not an immediate need ... Lizarrage would be.

Quote from fenn68 on December 15, 2022, 8:03 am

Quote from Henry Silvestre on December 15, 2022, 7:39 am

People keep saying our Sysyem is bare.. as soon as Ethan Salas signs on Jan 15th.. Padres will have one of the Best up the middle group of prospects in baseball with Salas C.. Merrill SS and Zavala CF

Plus a lot of potential with the pitchers ... think the issue is how far away they are from the big leagues and nothing in-between. That distance from the ML and lack of AAA/AA/A+ types makes the system bare for major trade purposes.

Same players in two years ... good chance they are saying the system is loaded ... but always risk that today's projection does not play out.

Side: Lizarraga might not be getting enough hype and could be in the Padres rotation in 2025. Very young (18) in low A last season and was very successful. #7 on the current MLB prospect list ... be interesting to see if he moves up in the next update. Pitching is a need now ... and will get more of a need over the next couple of years without a lot in the upper minors ... Lizarraga (in terms of helping the Padres) may be the most valuable player in the near term. Merrill may be a better player but with Machado - Bogaerts - Kim - Cronenworth not an immediate need ... Lizarrage would be.

And this is why I wouldn't be completely surprised if Merrill was in trade talks for a young controllable SP......like with the Fish.

We are trying to win a Ship in the years before Merrill will even be up.

The Marlins aren't competing in 2023 or 24'...esp considering they have THREE teams like the dodgers on their Division now.

They may be willing to trade a Lopez/Luzardo/Cabrera for Merrill ++.

16 Year Old Venezuelan Ethan Salas is expected to sign with the San Diego Padres.

He’s currently the #1 Ranked International Prospect.

Switch Hitting Catcher.

Here is some highlights.

🎥( Youtube / Gameday Baseball) pic.twitter.com/QyXJ8BtIqw

— Devine Sports Gospel (@DevineGospel) December 15, 2022

Could open top 30 as #1 over Merrill... he is THAT Good!

CIENFUEGOS SIGNS! An amazing, amazing story.

From not playing baseball two years ago, to winning every award possible in the Frontier League, to shoving with the Giants and now signing his first MLB affiliate contract.

READ MORE: https://t.co/h2IZQthWjO pic.twitter.com/PG0mxguAN9

— Adelaide Giants Baseball Club (@AdelaideGiants) December 17, 2022

Nice find by AJP and Team ..looks good on video wirey dude with lots of elbows and knees coming at u in his delivery

The San Diego Padres are favorites to sign Dominican SS Leodalis "Leo" De Vries when the 2024 international FA period opens on Jan. 15, 2024. De Vries is a consensus "Top 2" prospect in the 2024 class. Sky high ceiling, wiry, athletic, rangy, power from both sides of the plate. pic.twitter.com/3SXRrRZ4Pn

— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) December 20, 2022

Well with Ethan Salas in a couple weeks and this kid in 1 yr and 2 weeks... Padres System about to go top 5 again soon... one more draft in between and the development of prospects already home Salinas/Montesino/Zavala and others... AJP is a "Crazy Genius" the Salvador Dali of baseball...

This kid looks like a young Jazz Chisholm.

I assume the penalties for signing Bogaerts isn't going to be a factor here right?

I'm sure things are "worked out" ahead of time with these 14 year olds but.....

Quote from MrPadre19 on December 20, 2022, 12:33 pm

This kid looks like a young Jazz Chisholm.

I assume the penalties for signing Bogaerts isn't going to be a factor here right?

I'm sure things are "worked out" ahead of time with these 14 year olds but.....

Should still have around $5 mil for 2024 after the penalty for Xander ($1mil) and Padres c an always trade a BP arm or lesser spec for another teams Intl bonus $$ like teams often do.. not all teams use theor Intl $$ ...

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/lhp/

Robbie Snelling comes in at #10 for lefty Pitching prospects in MLB best lhp prospect rankings.. that is somekind of nice

In reviewing the current state of the Padres' minor league system, it is true that we paid a huge price in top projectable talent for the Soto/Bell/Drury adds at the end of the year.  However, much like other recent trades for pitchers when we gave up a lot of talent, much of what we gave up has not come close to the impact of the players we obtained, the exceptions being the unexpected demise of Clevinger's health after trading with Cleveland and getting absolutely robbed by Seattle in the Nola et. al acquisitions.

The low evaluation of our system (bottom 3rd?) is probably based on how far away most of these prospects are from contributing at the major league level, if they even get there.  Still there is developing talent just below the expected fast-movers like Merrill, Zavala, Lesko and soon to be signed Ethan Salas.  They may be way down in the Dominican Summer or Arizona Complex leagues or Low A Lake Elsinore this year but IF their talent carries forward there are a lot of intriguing bats and arms that will make our system comparable to where we were when we started to dismantle it to make a playoff run in 2020.  Look for a lot of new names on our Top 30 list during the 2023 season, as we see the growth of these younger players and a re-evaluation by industry sources into at least middle 3rd of all minor league systems as the year progresses.  Of course, Preller could blow it up again, but I think even he sees the need for projectable lower cost talent to keep the team sustainable over time.