- Draft Prep Tiers: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP
- Heath's Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts
- Scott's Top 100 prospects | Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts | Dynasty Top 100
The 2017 Padres achieved a remarkable feat: They turned in only the sixth-worst record despite having a roster comprised of nobodies.
Partly it's because some of those nobodies became somebodies. Mostly it's because, you know, baseball. Their Pythagorean win-loss pegged them at 59-103, 12 games worse than their actual record.
Guys, they're still bad -- like just plain non-competitive. Of the 300 players I ranked, whether in Rotisserie or Head-to-Head, only five are Padres -- and that includes big-ticket free agent Eric Hosmer. It's an amazingly bad ratio.
That isn't to say Wil Myers, Brad Hand, Manuel Margot and Dinelson Lamet, in addition to Hosmer, are the only Padres who'll factor in Fantasy. No, the most notable of the nobodies who became a somebody, Jose Pirela, is a sneaky late-round pick in five-outfielder leagues. Slugging Hunter Renfroe, if he wins the job instead, still has yet to reach his full potential, and catcher Austin Hedges showed his first real signs of competence last year.
Still, it's clear the Padres are just going through the motions at the major-league level right now and are more invested in what they're building in the minors -- which is indeed impressive but also not particularly close to breaking through.
But hey, they have a 20-20 man!
| Player | Roto Rank | H2H Rank | Roto Pos Rank | H2H Pos Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Eric Hosmer
KC 1B
| #63 | #72 | #11 | #12 |
Wil Myers
SD 1B
| #68 | #118 | #12 | #15 |
Brad Hand
SD RP
| #141 | #165 | #15 | #16 |
Manuel Margot
SD CF
| #213 | #255 | #55 | #59 |
Dinelson Lamet
SD SP
| #229 | #189 | #63 | #67 |
Players in Scott's Top 100 Prospects
| 16 | Fernando Tatis |
| How much do the White Sox regret that James Shields trade from a couple years ago? Tatis has since emerged as one of the highest-upside bats in the minors. Yet another second-generation talent, he's about as promising as Vladimir Guerrero but is a step behind on his respective team's organizational ladder. Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: don't count on it | |
| 28 | MacKenzie Gore |
| If I didn't naturally favor hitters to pitchers when assessing long-term Fantasy impact, Gore rather than Royce Lewis would be my top choice from the 2017 draft. He looks like a beast of prospect, having delivered a 0.19 ERA and 19.1 strikeouts per nine innings during his senior year of high school thanks to a deceiving leg kick and top-of-the-line stuff. Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: don't count on it | |
| 53 | Michel Baez |
| Despite standing 6-feet-8 and throwing a 98-mph fastball, Baez has unusually good control, issuing 1.4 walks compared to 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings in his first season stateside. He was old for his level, which tempers this ranking a bit, but he could find himself in best-pitching-prospect-in-baseball conversations this summer. Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: don't count on it | |
| 56 | Luis Urias |
| A throwback to the days of Tony Fernandez and Gregg Jefferies, when hitters walked more than they struck out and station-to-station ball was the norm, Urias is particularly hard to rank in today's offensive environment. Certainly, those skills have value, even if they put him at the mercy of his surroundings, and his exit velocities suggest more power could come. Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: cup of coffee | |
| 60 | Cal Quantrill |
| Quantrill gets a pass for his first full season back from the Tommy John surgery that wrecked his collegiate career. The stuff was what the Padres hoped they were getting with the eighth pick in the 2016 draft: a fastball that peaks at 97 and a cartoonish changeup that slows to nothing as it crosses the plate. Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: cup of coffee | |
| 82 | Adrian Morejon |
| Morejon made a name for himself competing internationally for Cuba, so it stands to reason he'd be ahead of his age group in poise and pitching smarts. His mechanics are still those of a teenager, meaning not especially disciplined and susceptible to poor command, but he's so advanced in so many other ways that you have to like his future. Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: don't count on it | |
Things to Know
- Seeing as their only starting pitcher with any staying power is Dinelson Lamet, the Padres figure to break in some of their other young hurlers this year. Of those in my top 100 prospects, only Cal Quantrill has a reasonable chance of getting the call, but check out what Joey Lucchesi has done in the minors. He may not measure up to some of the others in pure stuff, but he could make up for it with deception.
- Carlos Asuaje is merely keeping the sort warm for Luis Urias, who may be one of the most interesting prospects in all the minors, lacking the power profile that's ubiquitous in today's game but looking like an offensive force nonetheless. Keeper value aside, he might be worth a draft-and-stash in deeper NL-only leagues.
- The Padres did upgrade the left side of their infield this offseason with the additions of Chase Headley and Freddy Galvis, but the former is more or less trade bait and the latter mainly a glove man. I would have preferred to see Cory Spangenberg get a shot, frankly, even though his offensive ceiling is probably something akin to Kevin Pillar.
- Coming off back-to-back seasons with more than 100 strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 2.16 and WHIP to 0.93 in the last one, Brad Hand has the makings of an ace closer, but on a team that may not win even 60 games, his upside is limited in Fantasy.
Lineup & Rotation
| Batting order | ||
| 1 | Manuel Margot | CF |
| 2 | Jose Pirela | LF |
| 3 | Eric Hosmer | 1B |
| 4 | Wil Myers | RF |
| 5 | Chase Headley | 3B |
| 6 | Freddy Galvis | SS |
| 7 | Austin Hedges | C |
| 8 | Carlos Asuaje | 2B |
| Pitchers | ||
| SP | Dinelson Lamet | |
| SP | Luis Perdomo | |
| SP | Clayton Richard | |
| SP | Tyson Ross | |
| SP | Bryan Mitchell | |
| CL | Brad Hand | |
| RP | Kirby Yates | |
| RP | Craig Stammen | |
