San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
U-T RANKS TEAM’S MID-YEAR TOP 10 PROSPECTS
Preller thinks the Friars have more in the system than rankings suggest
A.J. Preller heard that after he emptied the system for Mike Clevinger, Austin Nola, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove and still traded for Juan Soto last summer. The industry is again saying the same sort of things as the trade deadline approaches — especially of the Padres’ upper levels, where most of the players at Triple-a El Paso and Double-a San Antonio are closer to 30 years old than prospect status — but the Padres president of baseball operations doesn’t agree.
He’s got four guys in Mlb.com’s top 100 in Jackson Merrill (10), Ethan Salas (49), Dylan Lesko (66) and Robby Snelling (84). He’s got a 24-year-old lefthander rising quickly at Double-a San Antonio. Much of the fruit from the 2022 draft class is leading high Single-a Fort Wayne’s second-half turnaround.
The Padres don’t have depth? It’s probably not a surprise that Preller doesn’t see things the way everybody else does. Not that the typically trade-happy GM is forecasting anything in particular. Just that he could.
If he wanted.
“I think going into (last) year there was a lot of talk about where our system was; obviously we got to the deadline (and) we have the ability to trade for anybody in baseball,” Preller said after the first day of the amateur draft. “To look up a year later and every night it feels like there’s something exciting happening on the farm, top to bottom. Seeing the progress of guys like Jackson Wolf, seeing (Dylan) Lesko get on the mound, what Ethan Salas has done in Elsinore and … Jackson Merrill (having) a nice last couple months. The list goes on and on. From a system standpoint, there’s a lot of good stories. There’s a lot of guys that we like quite a bit.”
Preller added: “It enables us to make a big deal like Juan Soto, and I don’t think that’s something we’re going to do every year, but I think … a year later to look up at the system, it’s progressing nicely.”
A look at the Union-tribune’s midseason top 10 Padres prospects:
1 | C Ethan Salas (A)
He signed for $5.6 million in January, tops among all prospects in the 2023 international class, was unveiled in big-league camp and ultimately made his professional debut in late May as a rare 16-yearold in full-season ball. Salas has since turned 17 and is hitting .259/ .381/.500 with six homers, 25 RBIS and five steals in 30 games, which includes pairing five homers with a 1.136 OPS over his last 15 games after adjusting to advanced pitching.
2 | SS Jackson Merrill (A+)
The organization’s consensus No. 1 prospect heading into the season and the Padres’ rep in the All-star Futures Game last weekend in Seattle, the 20-year-old Merrill was slowed by two bouts of flu to start the year at high Single-a Fort Wayne. He’s hitting .280/ .318/.444 with 10 homers and 10 steals in 68 games but has six homers and an .867 OPS in his last 24 games. Merrill’s productive lateseason return from injuries last year helped push the Storm to a California League championship.
3 | RHP Dylan Lesko (R)
A “Bugs Bunny” change-up was rated among the best from a highschooler in years and was one reason he was in consideration for a top-five selection last summer. Tommy John surgery allowed the Padres to grab him with the 15th overall pick and take over his rehab. Lesko finally showed off that changeup and mid-90s velocity last month in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League, threw two shutout innings on the Fourth of July and could find his way into Lake Elsinore’s rotation before the end of the season.
4 | LHP Robby Snelling (A+)
The 19-year-old was in consideration for the Padres’ 15th overall pick last summer, signed a $3 million over-slot deal when he was still available in the second round and was promoted last week to high Single-a Fort Wayne after opening the year with 59 strikeouts over 512⁄3 innings (1.57 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) to start his professional career in Lake Elsinore. Snelling sits in the mid-90s with a plus spike-grip curveball and a developing change-up that he never needed to throw as an amateur. He has struck out nine across his first 102⁄3 innings (2.53 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) with Fort Wayne.
5 | OF Samuel Zavala (A)
Before Ethan Salas made his professional debut as a rare 16year-old in the California League, it was Zavala advancing to low Single-a Lake Elsinore around this time last year as a 17-year-old. Zavala more than held his own last year (.896 OPS) before breaking a hamate bone and is hitting .257/ .404/.411 with eight homers and 14 steals in 69 games in a return to the Storm. He has six homers and an .870 OPS since May 3.
6 | OF Dillon Head (R)
Provided the Padres can sign him away from his commitment to Clemson, the 18-year-old Head — the 25th overall pick on Sunday — boasts top-of-the-scale speed that serves him well in center and blossoming extra-base power. He hit .485/.568/.814 with six homers and just five strikeouts in 118 plate appearances his senior year. He’ll start his career in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League upon signing.
7 | RHP Adam Mazur (A+)
The 22-year-old signed for $1.25 million as last year’s secondrounder out of Iowa and began his professional career this spring at high Single-a Fort Wayne, where he is 4-1 with a 2.02 ERA, 47 strikeouts and a 1.03 WHIP over 58 innings (12 games, 11 starts). Working out of a three-quarters slot, Mazur pairs an upper 90s fastball with an 87-90 mph power slider, a mid-80s changeup with arm-side life and a developing 12-to-6 curve.
8 | RHP Jairo Iriarte (A+)
A $75,000 signee out of Venezuela in 2018, Iriarte pairs as fastball that touches the upper 90s with plus offerings in a change-up and slider, an arsenal that will work well out of the bullpen if he can’t throw more strikes. The 21-yearold Iriarte is again walking about four batters per nine innings in his first look at high Single-a Fort Wayne, but he’s also sitting on a 3.10 ERA and 77 strikeouts over 14 starts (61 innings), which includes throwing the first six innings of a combined no-hitter.
9 | LHP Jackson Wolf (AA)
The 24-year-old signed for $300,000 as a fourth-round pick in 2021 and has struck out 98 while holding hitters to a .208 average over 80 innings (3.49 ERA) in his first full year at Double-a San Antonio. At 6-foot-7, Wolf has knowhow and more extension and deception with his delivery than pure stuff as he sits 90-93 mph with average secondaries.
10 | RHP Victor Lizarraga (A+)
The 19-year-old signed for $1 million in the 2021 international window, spent all of last year in Lake Elsinore’s championship rotation and has struck out 42 batters in 58 innings (4.32 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) over 13 starts at high Single-a Fort Wayne. The 6-foot-3 Lizarraga pairs a 90-94 mph fastball with a fading mid-80s changeup and a downward breaking curve, the least developed of his pitches.
On the horizon
A year after making his MLB debut, infielder Eguy Rosario’s broken ankle has slowed him in his return to Triple-a El Paso. Other names to keep an eye on include outfielder Tirso Ornelas (Triple-a El Paso), catcher Brandon Valenzuela (Double-a San Antonio), infielders Nerwilian Cedeno and Graham Pauley (high Single-a Fort Wayne) and infielder Rosman Verdugo and right-hander Henry Williams (low Single-a Lake Elsinore).