Over the past several seasons the San Diego Padres’ president of baseball operations, A.J. Preller, has traded from the team’s minor league talent pool to acquire major league players. In an effort to keep their window of contention open for as long as possible, the Friars have used their prospect capital to buy major league talent rather than develop that capital.
That has resulted in the present minor league system being the lowest-ranked in baseball by many evaluators. Although the internal evaluations usually differ from the wide view, it cannot be argued that upper-level position player prospects are largely missing. Preller spent most of his offseason signing free agent minor league players that the team believes will help in the present and the future.
Through the course of spring games, some of that talent has had an opportunity to show some of their abilities. Even though the Spring Training environment is not the same as the regular season, the quality of some of the players should give the organization some minor league depth that has been lacking in years past.
Position player options
The whole of spring has provided a platform for the bench competition that has multiple players vying for the last bench job available. When healthy, Sung-Mun Song will be the utility player for the Padres. He will start the season on the IL and will be built up as he recovers from a reoccurring oblique strain. The plan was to get him work at all the infield positions, as well as corner outfield spots, during spring workouts and games. That work will now have to occur in the minor leagues as Song is on the IL and recovers/rehabs.
This leaves a spot open for an opportunity while Song gets to where he needs to be for the Padres purposes. The leading candidates for that opportunity are Jose Miranda and Ty France. They have both distinguished themselves with Miranda hitting .325/.386/.575 with four doubles, two home runs and nine RBI in 40 at-bats. France has a .325/.372/.500 line with four doubles a home run and eight RBI in 40 at-bats. They both play first base and third base with France having experience at second base as well.
Both are on minor league deals but France has an opt-out on March 21 that allows him to leave and take a job elsewhere if he is not placed on the roster. If placed on the roster, neither can be optioned to the minors. If the Padres want to keep both, they can place France on the roster and Miranda can start in El Paso. The problem occurs when Song is activated as France has two more opt-outs during the season and can then choose to find another team.
No matter which way this ends up going, it provides the Padres with Miranda as depth to begin the season. They also have Nick Solak, Mason McCoy, Pablo Reyes and a currently injured Will Wagner for added infield depth available. Both McCoy and Wagner have less major league success and experience compared to France and Miranda.
It should be pointed out the outstanding performance by an infielder this spring belongs to prospect Romeo Sanabria. The first baseman is tied with outfielder Jase Bowen for the team lead in RBI with 11. He has hit all spring and opened some eyes during the early weeks of camp.
The outfield is also in good shape. Bryce Johnson has played well the past two weeks after starting slow. He has a .310/.356/.524 line with three doubles and two home runs with six RBI. He is a switch-hitter with speed and plays good defense. He is also the only other true centerfield talent besides Jackson Merrill. Ramon Laureano can play centerfield in a pinch but his range is not as good.
The minor leagues will boast Samad Taylor, Nick Schnell, Carlos Rodriquez and Bowen. Bowen is a legitimate five-tool player who has shown up this spring. He is hitting .289/.333/.667 with five doubles, four homers and 11 RBI (tied with Sanabria) while playing excellent defense with five-of-six stolen bases. He is also a centerfielder but is not on the roster and Johnson is out of minor league options. If Bowen was given the opportunity to start with the Padres, Johnson would have to clear waivers and choose to stay. At 25, Bowen still has plenty of time to prove he is a major league player and the Padres could use him as the season progresses.
Catchers
Catching depth is an issue for the Padres. Freddy Fermin will be the primary catcher but has never played a whole season as the No. 1 and will need a 1-B. As of now, Luis Campusano is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. He has spent the spring working on his catching skills and developing a working relationship with the pitching staff. It is not surprising that his hitting has suffered. The reality is that he has yet to establish himself as a major league hitter. His lack of success over multiple seasons ends this year if he wants to be considered a major league catcher.
Manager Craig Stammen and the Padres are expressing unwavering faith in him in order to bolster his confidence and provide him with the best environment to succeed. If he doesn’t come through, there is no fallback option.
Blake Hunt was signed during the offseason to be the safety valve and he was injured early in camp and has not played in a game. Rodolfo Durán, 28, has played the most next to Fermin and Campusano. He has 19 at-bats and has a double and two home runs for a .263/.462/.632 line. Should either Fermin or Campusano get injured, a catcher would have to placed on the roster in order to be called up.
Pitchers
This is where the organization has its most and least depth. For the starters, the depth does not go very far. While Joe Musgrove and Griffin Canning work their way back from surgical rehab, the Padres will have to rely on Michael King, Nick Pivetta, Randy Vasquez and the two pitchers who win the spring battle for the rotation.
At this point, it seems likely that Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez will be those two pitchers. Buehler has been very good and easily gets the fourth spot. Márquez has been up and down but really excelled in his start on Tuesday, completing five innings with nine strikeouts and allowing three runs, including two home runs. He commanded his knuckle-curve exceptionally well and his velocity on his fastball was up to 95 mph at times.
They both have one more Cactus League start before the season begins.
The rest of the depth is shaky with Musgrove and Canning unavailable. Triston McKenzie is wild but has exceptional velocity on his fastball. He is a project and will need more time. JP Sears is a workhorse but with very unreliable command up to this point. Marco Gonzales hasn’t fooled anyone and needs pinpoint command as his fastball tops out in the low 90s.
Matt Waldron pitched two innings on Tuesday versus the Seattle Mariners, showing increased velocity on his fastball (up to 95 mph) and good use of his off-speed, including his knuckleball. He will start on the IL and be built up to starter status. Unfortunately, he is out of options and has to be promoted to the Padres or they will lose him.
The minor leagues otherwise have lefty Jackson Wolf, who has pitched very well this spring but is not on the roster. Miguel Mendez is on the roster but still has command issues to work out in the minors.
The emergency option would be to deploy either Kyle Hart or Logan Gillaspie, both of whom are being used as “bridge” pitchers currently. Gillaspie is not on the roster and is out of options. Hart is a lefty who has pitched very well, so well that his ERA is still 0.00 after 11.2 innings pitched.
This is the area of most concern for the organization. When everyone is healthy, there will be a logjam with both Buehler and Márquez being veterans with opt-outs and/or no options. Baseball has a way of working these issues out and injuries always figure into these situations. You can never have too many starters but keeping them all on the team could be a challenge.
Bullpen depth
The bullpen, on the other hand, is the biggest strength on this team. There will be very good pitchers who don’t make this roster, probably more than one.
The for sure choices?
Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada, Wandy Peralta and some combination of Kyle Hart, Ron Marinaccio or Logan Gillaspie as the long/bridge pitchers. Marinaccio is out of options and Gillaspie is not on the roster.
It appears Jason Adam and Yuki Matsui will begin the season on the IL to recover/rehab from their injuries. The options to fill out the bullpen are David Morgan, Bradgley Rodriquez, Alek Jacob and Ty Adcock. Adcock just came back from an oblique injury and the team announced Tuesday he was optioned to El Paso.
If they keep Marinaccio and Gillaspie, not wanting to lose major league quality arms, then both have to be on the roster and can’t be sent to the minors. But Hart is the only lefty besides Peralta, and Matsui is down until he recovers from his groin strain.
If there are no trades then the bullpen has room for Hart and one other, besides Gillaspie and Marinaccio. That means either Morgan or Rodriquez break with the team, but not both.
When Matsui and Adam are ready, there are more decisions to be made and losing pitchers without options remains a real possibility.
Having too much pitching should never be complained about. Preller and his team will have lots of decisions to make before March 26. The roster has to be set that morning. Those final cuts could be painful.
The upside of all this is that the depth of this team is the best we have seen for years. After depleting the minor league system over the past three to four years, Preller made some great moves this offseason to bolster the minor league options while adding to the major league team.
The competition is still on and the final decisions will prove to be difficult.
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