San Diego Padres trade for Minnesota Twins draft pick…and Phil Hughes

It may not count as a blockbuster deal, but the San Diego Padres have acquired the 76th pick in the upcoming MLB Amateur Draft from the Minnesota Twins. In exchange, they had to take on Phil Hughes.

One of the complaints about the MLB Amateur Draft is that teams do not trade draft picks. In theory, this is done to keep allow those weaker teams to acquire premier talent, especially with the caps on signing bonuses. However, it leads to a fairly predictable draft without much drama, as teams are locked in to those positions.

This changed when it was announced that teams could trade their compensatory picks; however, none of those trades had occurred. That is, until today, when the San Deigo Padres acquired the 76th pick in the upcoming draft, and cash considerations, from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for minor league catcher Janigson Villalobos. The Padres also had to take on the remains of Phil Hughes as well.

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This is an intriguing trade for the Padres in terms of draft flexibility. They had lost their second round selection after signing Eric Hosmer this past offseason. Now, the Padres have the 7th, 38th, and 76th selections in the upcoming draft, with those picks being worth approximately $8 million. San Diego now has a bit of flexibility in regards to their selection at 38, potentially allowing them to draft someone that slid down the boards due to expected financial demands.

The Padres also took on Hughes, who is signed through 2019. He has battled injuries and ineffectiveness over the past three seasons, posting a horrendous 5.99 ERA and a 1.548 WHiP in 124.2 innings since the start of the 2016 campaign. While he does add another veteran presence to the Padres, that may be all he has to offer at this point. Perhaps he can rediscover himself in the bullpen, but even that seems to be a stretch given his production in the past two plus seasons.

Meanwhile, the Twins get back an interesting prospect in Villalobos. He has spent the past two seasons in the low minors for the Padres, and will presumably end up playing for the Twins Gulf Coast League entry. However, over his minor league career, the 21 year old backstop has posted a respectable .252/.408/.322 batting line, with 48 walks and 42 strikeouts in his 233 plate appearances. Possessing a strong arm, Villalobos threw out 31% of would be base stealers last season, and even fired a scoreless inning on the mound.

For the Twins, as interesting as Villalobos may be, this move is entirely about moving on from Hughes. He is still due over $20 million through 2019, and the Twins would have been on the hook for that money after designating him for assignment. At least this way, they can get something back for the sunk cost that Hughes had become.

Next: Padres top ten prospects

The San Diego Padres have acquired a draft pick and cash from the Minnesota Twins. In exchange, they had to take on Phil Hughes.