Minor League Monday: New Prospects from the Padres
First and foremost, if you are reading this, you have officially survived the year 2020. Congratulations! You made it! We might not be out of the fire quite yet, but we've passed a milestone.
The Cubs traded away Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini to the San Diego Padres for Zach Davies and a package of four prospects. Today, we'll take a closer look at the prospects that came over in that deal.
The four prospects:
Reginald Preciado, age 17, SS (ranked 11th for SD, now 10th for CHC according to mlb.com)
Owen Caissie, age 18, OF (ranked 13th for SD, 11th for CHC)
Ismael Mena, age 18, OF (ranked 15th for SD, 16th for CHC)
Yeison Santana, age 20, SS (ranked 16th for SD, 17th for CHC)
Reginald Preciado
a Panama native who was signed for a record $1.3m deal via the 2019 international class. He is a switch hitting shortstop, who projects to potentially shift to 3B or the OF eventually. He's so young that he's has no professional baseball statistics.
Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale, MLB.com)
HIT 55
POWER 50
RUN 45
ARM 55
FIELD 50
OVERALL 45
Owen Caissie
A draft prospect from Canada, he was taken as the 25th overall pick by the Padres in the 2020 draft. He was one of the youngest players taken in that draft. He factors to be a solid corner outfielder who is a LHB. He also has no professional baseball statistics, as he did not play after being drafted this year.
Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale, MLB.com)
HIT 45
POWER 55
RUN 55
ARM 60
FIELD 50
OVERALL 45
Ismael Mena
Hailing from the Dominican Republic, he was signed as an international free agent in 2019. He received a $2.2m bonus then, so the Padres thought pretty highly of him. He is a LHB who plays the outfield. He has no professional statistics. His ceiling could be a 1-3 hitter at the MLB level, with speed potential to be a great leadoff man.
Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale, MLB.com)
HIT 50
POWER 45
RUN 70
ARM 55
FIELD 60
OVERALL 45
Yeison Santana
Also coming from the Dominican Republic, he was signed by the Padres in 2017. He is a RHB shortstop, projecting to remain there as he moves up through the minors. Santana has actual statistics to share, playing in the Dominican summer league in 2018, then the AZL in 2019. He's played in 77 games overall, but has a nice .306 .418 .425 .843 slash line, showing some on base skills.
Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale, MLB.com)
HIT 55
POWER 45
RUN 55
ARM 60
FIELD 55
OVERALL 45
As you can tell, the four prospects are pretty young an inexperienced. Three out of four have no game experience. It will take a while for them to develop, and there really are no guarantees of a big league career at this point. That said, the Padres put a lot of resource into acquiring these four prospects. They might not be top ranked, but there is upside. Let's hope for the best.