Scouting Report on San Diego Padres OF Manny Margot
San Diego Padres outfielder Manuel Margot has taken the center field job this season and run with it.
Player Profile
The San Diego Padres originally acquired Margot from the Boston Red Sox for closer Craig Kimbrel.
Manny Margot was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Boston Red Sox in 2011 for a reported bonus of $800K. He made his pro debut in 2012 in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .285/.382/.423 with 7 triples, 4 home runs, and 33 stolen bases over 309 plate appearances with a 11.65 BB% and a 8.09 K%.
The Red Sox skipped Margot completely over their Gulf Coast League team to their New York-Penn League team with Lowell. The jump hardly phased the 18 year-old Margot, as he hit .270/.346/.351 with 1 home run and 18 stolen bases, posting a 10.19% walk rate and 18.52% strikeout rate.
Margot was bumped up to to low-A Greenville in the South Atlantic League to open 2014. He finished the year with a 16 game run in high-A Salem. Combined, he hit .293/.356/.462 with 5 triples, 12 home runs, and 42 stolen bases, posting a 8.32 BB% and 11.51 K%.
His big season got the notice of prospect ranking services as Margot made the offseason top prospect lists for the first time, ranking #72 in Baseball America’s list, #99 with MLB Pipeline, and #61 with Baseball Prospectus.
2015 saw Margot split his season nearly evenly between high-A Salem in the Carolina League and AA Portland in the Eastern League. Combined, he hit .276/.324/.419 with 9 triples, 6 home runs, and 39 stolen bases, posting a 6.67% walk rate and 10.63% strikeout rate.
The offseason lists bumped Margot up after showing well in the upper minors at 20 years old, ranking #56 with Baseball America, #45 with MLB Pipeline, and #14 with Baseball Prospectus.
November 2015, the Boston Red Sox traded Margot along with Carlos Asuaje, Javier Guerra, and Logan Allen to the San Diego Padres in exchange for closer Craig Kimbrel.
In his first season in the Padres season, Margot spent his minor league time entirely with El Paso in the AAA Pacific Coast League where he hit .304/.351/.426 with 12 triples, 6 home runs, and 30 stolen bases, posting a 6.36 BB% and 11.31 K%. He was called up to the majors for 10 games, hitting .243/.243/.405 with 2 SB.
He was bumped up a bit further in most lists, ranking the #24 prospect in Baseball America’s list, #23 prospect with MLB Pipeline, and #18 by Baseball Prospectus.
He was ranked #24 in the Call To The Pen Top 125 in the offseason.
Tagged with the starting center field job to open 2017, Margot has hit fairly well for a rookie, posting a .259/.305/.389 line with 3 triples, 4 home runs, and 5 stolen bases, posting a 6.5% walk rate and 19.5% strikeout rate.
Next: Margot's scouting report