San Diego Padres
Day One
Round 1, Overall 7 – Ryan Weathers, LHP, Tennessee HS
Round 1s, Overall 38 – Xavier Edwards, SS, Florida HS
Round 2s, Overall 74 – Grant Little, OF, Texas Tech
Picking up the 74th selection in a trade with the Minnesota Twins allowed the Padres to be very aggressive with their first two selections, and they grabbed two top-notch high school selections in Weathers and Edwards. I’m personally a big fan of Edwards and think he could be an elite offensive shortstop if he can stick there or one of the better offensive second basemen or center fielders if he ends up moving off of short.
Day Two
Round 3, Overall 84 – Owen Miller, SS, Illinois State
Round 4, Overall 111 – Dylan Coleman, RHP, Missouri State
Round 5, Overall 141 – Dwanya Williams-Sutton, OF, East Carolina
Round 6, Overall 171 – Alexuan Vega, LHP, Puerto Rico HS
Round 7, Overall 201 – Jawuan Harris, OF, Rutgers
Round 8, Overall 231 – Steven Wilson, RHP, Santa Clara
Round 9, Overall 261 – Luke Becker, 2B, Kentucky
Round 10, Overall 291 – Jose Quezada, RHP, Texas Tech
Rather than go for typical senior sign types, the Padres worked the MLB draft by going for small school college guys well in Miller and Coleman and could have two contributors down the road. Vega has just recently made the move to the mound, and he is very intriguing with a fresh arm but already showing feel for a breaker and easy low-90s velocity.
Day Three
Round 11, Overall 321 – Nick Gatewood, C, Georgia State
Round 12, Overall 351 – Sean Guilbe, 2B, Pennsylvania HS
Round 13, Overall 381 – Antoine Kelly, LHP, Illinois HS
Round 14, Overall 411 – Erik Sobrowski, LHP, Cloud County JuCo
Round 15, Overall 441 – Nick Thwaits, RHP, Ohio HS
Round 16, Overall 471 – Michael Curry, OF, Georgia
Round 17, Overall 501 – Hazahel Quijada, LHP, UC Riverside
Round 18, Overall 531 – Dylan Smith, RHP, Texas HS
Round 19, Overall 561 – Ian Villers, RHP, California HS
Round 20, Overall 591 – Reiss Kneirr, RHP, Fordham
Round 21, Overall 621 – Mason Fox, RHP, Gardner-Webb
Round 22, Overall 651 – Payton Smith, OF, South Carolina HS
Round 23, Overall 681 – Nelson Alvarez, RHP, Miami Dade JuCo
Round 24, Overall 711 – Pavin Parks, 3B, Kent State
Round 25, Overall 741 – Lee Solomon, 2B, Lipscomb
Round 26, Overall 771 – Tyler Mortensen, LHP, California HS
Round 27, Overall 801 – Gabe Mosser, RHP, Shippensburg
Round 28, Overall 831 – Jake Plastiak, 3B, Illinois HS
Round 29, Overall 861 – William Duncan, RHP, Texas HS
Round 30, Overall 891 – Cullen Dana, LHP, Seton Hall
Round 31, Overall 921 – Jake Sims, RHP, St. Leo
Round 32, Overall 951 – Cody Tyler, LHP, Wichita State
Round 33, Overall 981 – Rainier Aguilar, C, Redlands
Round 34, Overall 1011 – George Arias, RHP, Arizona HS
Round 35, Overall 1041 – Jake Pfennigs, RHP, Idaho HS
Round 36, Overall 1071 – Will Freeman, RHP, Jones County JuCo
Round 37, Overall 1101 – Ben Abram, RHP, Canada HS
Round 38, Overall 1131 – Michael Suarez, 1B, Florida HS
Round 39, Overall 1161 – Seth Mayberry, RHP, Virginia HS
Round 40, Overall 1191 – Michael Knorr, RHP, California HS
The Padres have depth all over their impressive farm system, and while many teams are finding filler players in the later rounds, the Padres can take flyers on guys to see who will sign and bring in high-end talent. They worked the third day of the 2018 MLB draft exactly that way, starting with Guilbe, who is likely going to move to a corner infield spot, but should be a fun one to watch with impressive raw power.
One player I’m a personal fan of (and not just because of his name) is Ben Abram, a big 6’8 pitcher from Canada. While Abram works in the upper 80s with his fastball, he has such good feel of his four-pitch mix and control as well that he is able to attack hitters with good downward plane. If he could develop another tick on the fastball, he could really be something special. He’s going to be tough to sign as a 37th rounder with a strong commitment to Oklahoma.
Overall Outlook
The Padres were able to be more aggressive early with the extra pick, and it allowed them to set up the draft that really helps get a targeted few into the system rather than brings in a whole slew of players to fill out rosters. Weathers and Edwards at the top is a very potent 1-2 combination.