Padres get Two A Ball Players in Rule V Draft

December 12, 2008

The Padres two draft picks in the Major League portion of the Rule V draft has left me wondering what the heck the guys in the Padres Front Office were thinking?

They drafted a Sally League 2B (low A) with a mediocre arm (his arm strength is why he normally starts at 2B and only a few games a year at SS) and a Florida State League pitcher (high A)?

TWO A ball players? WHY? HOW are they supposed to help at the MAJOR league level?

NEITHER of them were even mentioned on any of the pre-draft discussions on Baseball America or Baseball Analysts or Baseball Prospectus or even ESPN. We have seen a rumor posted after the draft that the Blue Jays wanted Cabrera, but its just that, an unsubstantiated rumor. AFTER the draft Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus commented about Cabrera, but NOT in his pre-draft RULE V Draft article.

The Padres certainly should have better scouting than I do, but WHY would they even scout players at that level who have little to no chance of producing immediately at the major league level?

Obviously a Rule V draftee HAS to produce immediately at the major league level since they have to be kept on the major league roster all season.

Padres personnel, please explain what were you thinking, because for the life of me I can't figure it out.

It just makes no sense whatsoever.

And Mr. DePodesta, while we appreciate that you actually HAVE a blog, your blog post about this draft does not clear the confusion at all.

Despite your assertion, Everth's stats don't bear out that he will be a Furcal type player. At the same age and at HIGH A and AA, Furcal hit 40 points higher, his obp was 30 points higher, he stole 25% more bases and his slugging was only 10 points lower(that is just two extra base hits over a season).

That is a huge difference in production.

As for Nova, where exactly can we see him listed as a top prospect for the Yankees as DePodesta claims in his blog post? I can't even find a mention of him on the prospect lists on Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus or John Sickel's Minor League Ball. None of them considered him a Top Yankees prospect.

Even Kevin T. Czerwinski & Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, the Yankees Beat Writers, didn't consider him a Top PITCHING Prospect in their system.

The only place I can even find him mentioned was in the Baseball America 2008 Prospects Handbook where he was initially ranked 18th among Yankees prospects, but that was revised with him out of the top 20 in February 2008.

Nova is not a strike out pitcher and he has not shown he has good control and he just gave up a .294 baa in High A Ball with no appreciable improvement over the 2007 season in Low A Ball. Just what did the Padres see in him that no one else saw?

It seems to me that the Padres drafted these guys just to send them BACK in a couple of months like they did with their Rule V draftees last year. Will these two even make through spring training as Padres? What good does that do the team? All they are doing is wasting 25 man roster slots.

I could see drafting a high potential player, but I don't see where anyone but the Padres front office thinks they actually HAVE potential.

I can certainly HOPE that I will eat my words when Cabrera morphs from a marginal 2B with speed into a Furcal type SS.

I can certainly HOPE that Nova suddenly starts allowing LESS than a .294 BAA in the major leagues.

But I am not going to hold my breath.

I've had my say. Now what do you think?