A.J. Preller isn\u2019t the sentimental type, much to the delight of baseball-trade enthusiasts.<\/p>\n
One big reason the Padres are once again a team to watch in the summer trade market is that Preller, their top baseball executive since August 2015, is more willing than his peers to deal well-paid minor leaguers before long.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how a non-Padres scout with put it:<\/p>\n
The Padres, compared to almost everyone else, lean more into present value than future value.<\/p>\n
Players whom the Padres drafted highly are especially well-advised not to expect that Preller will keep them around for many years.<\/p>\n
You might think that, at some point, the Padres would run out of minor leaguers who attract trade offers involving big leaguers.<\/p>\n
This summer, for example.<\/p>\n
Diluted by Preller\u2019s trades, San Diego\u2019s farm system sits last of 30 as judged by former MLB-employed evaluators who now work with ESPN and The Athletic. As for the lower-level minor leaguers the Padres drafted a few weeks ago, an MLB rule prevents them from being traded before the 2026 World Series is completed, or else Preller might be fielding offers on them, too.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s nothing personal. It\u2019s all about supporting the big league team, year after year.<\/p>\n
Even so, it appears that if Preller decides to acquire big leaguers before Monday afternoon\u2019s trade deadline, the farm system will attract viable offers.<\/p>\n
The system\u2019s top prospect, Double-A catcher Ethan Salas, would interest a large number of teams.<\/p>\n
Beyond Salas, would other minor leaguers attract legitimate interest? Yes, said the scout.<\/p>\n
Left-handed pitchers Kash Mayfield and Kruz Schoolcraft, each in Single-A, head that list, per the scout.<\/p>\n
Mayfield, 21, went in the first round of the 2024 draft and got $3.44 million from the Padres to forgo a scholarship to Oklahoma State.<\/p>\n
He has a very good changeup.<\/p>\n
Also, he\u2019s something of a mystery.<\/p>\n
Mayfield\u2019s first eight games this year in the high-A Midwest League yielded a 1.30 ERA, a .103 batting average allowed and 43 strikeouts in 34.2 innings.<\/p>\n
Over the next seven games, he went just 18.2 innings and posted a 7.71 ERA, allowing four home runs, showing reduced stuff and command.<\/p>\n
Schoolcraft, 19, went in the first round of last year\u2019s draft, getting $3.6 million instead of going to a Tennessee program headed by current Giants manager Tony Vitello.<\/p>\n
He has made all 17 starts on scheduled time. Best of all, he has 64 innings in the Cal League after the draft-and-sign process limited him to just one minor league game last year.<\/p>\n
Schoolcraft has a 5.77 ERA, owing mostly to a poor five-game start to the season in which he gave up 16 earned runs and 13 walks in 10.2 innings.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder has rallied, posting a 4.22 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 531\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
The scout called Schoolcraft a \u201chuge wild card,\u201d citing his 6.2 walks per nine innings.<\/p>\n
A Padres draft-and-trade trend may be evolving.<\/p>\n
Last year, Preller dealt large lefty pitcher Boston Bateman just a year after the Padres drafted him.<\/p>\n
The 6-8, 240-pounder from Ventura County, who was 19 when Preller dealt him to the Orioles, headlined the six-prospect package that brought back Ramon Laureano and Ryan O\u2019Hearn.<\/p>\n
The Padres outcompeted LSU to get Bateman, a second-round pick who signed for $2.5 million.<\/p>\n
Now in high-A, Bateman shows a 4.21 ERA in 68.1 innings and higher strikeout and walk rates than last year.<\/p>\n
Left-handed pitcher Robby Snelling can share notes with Bateman.<\/p>\n
Preller traded Snelling, then 20, two years after paying him $3 million to spurn LSU as a first-round sandwich pick. By sending Snelling with lesser prospects to the Marlins two summers ago, Preller got lefty closer Tanner Scott, who would dominate Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani in several duels of the 2024 playoff series.<\/p>\n
In May, Selling underwent elbow surgery.<\/p>\n
Preller\u2019s trade history in this niche provides much fodder for debate, but this seems certain:<\/p>\n
Preller believes in making sure that if a minor leaguer isn\u2019t close to providing reliable help to the big league team, it\u2019s worth finding out what he can bring in a trade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A.J. Preller isn\u2019t the sentimental type, much to the delight of baseball-trade enthusiasts. One big reason the Padres…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1334,74,76,75,2611,127],"class_list":["post-416136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}