The Padres haven’t had the best farm system in baseball since graduating Fernando Tatis Jr. to the majors on opening day in 2019. There was still plenty of depth, though, which became apparent again Sunday night when General Manager A.J. Preller, in his continued push to thrust the team’s competitive window wide open, agreed to send multiple prospects to Tampa Bay. Outgoing: A tough goodbye to prized pitching prospect Luis Patiño, as well as catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt and 2020 third-round pitcher Cole Wilcox. The deal with the Cubs cost the Padres major leaguer Zach Davies and young prospects Reginald Preciado, Owen Caissie, Yeison Santana and Ismael Mena.
Copy Link Starting in October and running through the end of the year, MiLB.com s State of the System series will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each Major League organization, highlights prospects who ve made the biggest strides in 2020 and offers a peek at 2021. Starting in October and running through the end of the year, MiLB.com s State of the System series will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each Major League organization, highlights prospects who ve made the biggest strides in 2020 and offers a peek at 2021. If there s one thing San Diego made clear in 2020, it was this: these are not your Padres of yesteryear.