Will Padres play themselves out of Top 10 draft pick?

Wednesday August 12, 2009

The San Diego Padres won their 7 game in August tonight and are playing well on both sides of the ball right now.

They have climbed from the 2nd worst to the 5th worst record in baseball in just the last 3 weeks.

Which begs the question, if the Padres keep playing this well, what draft pick will they get?

As recently as the All Star break, many people on the message boardsand the blogosphere (see the Padres ESPN forums, Friar Nation's board and the Gaslamp Ball) had been saying that the Padres should just throw in the towel and get the #1 overall pick in 2010, which is expected to be 16 yr old uber-prospect Bryce Harper.

Now it is looking like the Padres may not be in the top 5 or 6 (or bottom, depending on how you look at it) and maybe not the top 10 if they can continue to play above .500 ball the rest of the way this season.

With 47 games left if the Padres win 24 games, 1 game above .500, they will finish the season 73-89. That .451 winning percentage would place them 23rd in baseball today. If they continue to win at Augusts .636 clip, they would finish at 78-84 - a .481 winning percentage.

With the Reds, Mets, Brewers and Twins slumping right now and the Diamondbacks playing .452 ball, the Padres could conceivably find themselves in 18th or 19th place in baseball and out of the top 10 in next years June Amateur draft.

Would you be happy or a little sad if the Padres continue to play as well the rest of the season as they have since July 28th and lose out on a top 10 draft pick in 2010?