This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell¡¯s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
The Padres paid a steep price to sign Xander Bogaerts in December -- and not just financially. Earlier that offseason, Bogaerts declined his qualifying offer from the Red Sox. Additionally, the Padres¡¯ payroll had exceeded the collective bargaining tax.
Bogaerts¡¯ arrival meant that general manager A.J. Preller would be sacrificing his second- and fifth-round picks in this year¡¯s Draft.
¡°I like the challenge,¡± said scouting director Chris Kemp. ¡°Any time A.J. sees a move to help this big league team get better, I¡¯m all in for it. Our group, if we lose a pick or lose picks, I don¡¯t really care. As long as the team¡¯s getting better, we¡¯ll fill in the back side as best we can.¡±
That¡¯s the goal this week. The Padres pick 25th in the first round on Sunday, then they¡¯re off until the 96th overall selection. They sport just two picks in the top 100 and four in the top 200.
¡°Yeah, you can dock us a couple picks,¡± Kemp said. ¡°But we know when that sixth or seventh round comes around, we could hit big. We¡¯re pretty confident in that. ¡ Hey, we¡¯re losing picks early, but if we¡¯re good late, it doesn¡¯t really matter.¡±
In addition to the loss of Draft picks, the Padres also lose the bonus values attached to those picks. That leaves them with a pool of $5,416,000, the third lowest total behind the Phillies and Yankees (who also signed big-name free agents).
The 2023 MLB Draft begins Sunday amid All-Star festivities in Seattle. It will be broadcast on MLB Network and ESPN, beginning with a pre-Draft show at 3 p.m. PT. Every pick on Day 2 and 3 will stream on MLB.com.
¡°It¡¯s our Super Bowl as an amateur scouting group,¡± Kemp said. ¡°We¡¯re all excited.¡±
And sure, this year¡¯s ¡°Super Bowl¡± comes with a few hurdles. Part of the gig, Kemp says.
¡°When other teams have a more staggering amount of picks or money than you¡¯re dealing with, yeah, I would call that a challenge,¡± he said. ¡°But I think it¡¯s fun. Because in baseball, whether it¡¯s the ninth round or the second round, you can find real big leaguers.¡±