December 16, 2006
Pick Horders
Tom Krasovic notes the San Diego Padres stock piled draft picks for this June:
From 2000-04, the Padres had an average of 2.8 picks among the amateur draft's top 100 selections. Under CEO Alderson, that total has averaged five the past two years, and in seven months the Padres will have six to nine picks among the top 100 and as many as 11 before the fourth round.
"It's a great opportunity for us to upgrade the minor league system much more quickly than we otherwise would have been able to do," Alderson said.
Extra picks don't guarantee success. The Padres had seven of the top 80 picks in the 1999 draft and mostly whiffed. Alderson's excitement over the 1990 draft proved premature when his club, the Oakland Athletics, basically wasted eight top-100 draft picks, including four before the second round.
"You have to make good decisions," Alderson said.
Tom also wonders if the Padres will want to spend the money on the best picks available:
They had a big opportunity in 2004 when they had the No. 1 pick. San Diego's scouts recommended Stephen Drew or pitcher Jered Weaver. The club instead signed the less-expensive Matt Bush, and that was some 10 months after the Padres had saved nearly $2 million when their top pick of 2003, Tim Stauffer, admitted to a bum shoulder during negotiations.
Alderson, whose club will have until Aug. 15 to get all draftees signed, said the Padres are prepared to expand their draft budget by $4 million to $5 million. Further investing in their farm system, the Padres recently committed $8 million to the construction of a facility in the Dominican Republic.
It's a great opportunity for San Diego to build for the future.
Posted by David Pinto at
05:43 PM
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