San Diego Padres

Long ago, the Padres had an eye for brilliant young shortstops. The franchise drafted Ozzie

Smith in 1977 but after four years traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he became a Hall of Famer. A signing three years later brought Venezuelan Ozzie

Guillen, a future three-time All-Star — with the Chicago White Sox.

They used the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft to select Matt Bush, but he never made it above Class A with the franchise. After spending 31⁄ years in prison for a 2 drunk-driving arrest, he has turned himself into a reliever for the Texas Rangers.

Today, the Padres’ shortstop problem persists. Alexei Rami

rez lost the job in July, and it’s expected that general manager

A.J. Preller will buy out Ramirez for $1 million in November.

Javy Guerra, regarded as the shortstop of the future when Preller got him from the Boston Red Sox last offseason in the Craig Kimbrel trade, had a poor 2016 season in Class A at the plate and

in the field.

With outfielder Jabari Blash sidelined by a sprained finger, the team might be more inclined to promote Class AAA slugger Hunter Renfroe, who had 28 homers and 96 RBI through 118 games at Class AAA El Paso (Texas).