In baseball, there are typically two camps, (1) people who love prospects and the potential they bring for the long-term future of an organization or (2) people who see prospects as capital to be used to trade and improve the big-league club.
San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller has been in that second group for the past several years. He likes to build the farm up with young, promising talent and then tear it down by trading it away to acquire major league ready talent.
The 2025 deadline trade of minor league shortstop Leodalis De Vries for Mason Miller and JP Sears is the most recent example of this. As much as Preller builds up and tears down the farm, it is a wonder that there are any Padres prospects left that draw the attention of national baseball writers. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball looks at the top 10 San Diego farmhands according to Baseball America.