With the Triple-A postseason now complete, the Padres announced late Tuesday night that they have promoted top outfield prospects Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot as well as catcher Austin Hedges, second baseman Carlos Asuaje and lefties Buddy Baumann and Jose Torres in a final wave of September call-ups. Of the bunch, Renfroe and Margot rank firmly within the game’s top 100 prospects, while Asuaje ranks as one of the Padres’ best prospects after coming to San Diego alongside Margot in the Craig Kimbrel blockbuster. Hedges, meanwhile, is a former top 100 prospect in his own right that saw his rookie status expire while struggling in the Majors last season but enjoyed a monstrous season in Triple-A this year.
Starting with Margot, the 21-year-old center fielder currently ranks 16th, 20th, 27th and 39th on the respective midseason top prospect lists compiled by Baseball Prospectus, ESPN’s Keith Law, MLB.com and Baseball America. Margot was one of the headliners of the Padres’ return for Kimbrel and demonstrated many of the reasons that he’s so well-regarded with a strong 2016 season in which he batted .304/.351/.426 with six homers, 21 doubles, 12 triples and 30 stolen bases in 566 plate appearances at the Triple-A level despite being more than five years younger than the league’s average age.
Scouting reports peg Margot as a plus defensive center fielder due to his above-average speed and strong reads, and it should be mentioned that he racked up 18 outfield assists in Triple-A this year. His hit tool draws strong reviews as well, with the only real questions regarding his skill set centering around his power (or potential lack thereof). Even if he’s not a big threat in terms of clearing the fences, though, Margot profiles as a regular that works the count, hits for average, gets on base, steals bases and plays quality defense.
Renfroe, meanwhile, ranked 41st on MLB.com’s list, 43rd on BP’s and 66th on BA’s. The 24-year-old was the No. 13 overall pick back in 2013, and while his arrival to the Majors took longer than some might’ve anticipated, he’s hit quite well in parts of two seasons with Triple-A, slashing a combined .310/.339/.568 with 36 homers in 154 games. Those numbers, of course, are aided somewhat by the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, and it’d be encouraging to see Renfroe walk in more than four percent of his Triple-A plate appearances. But, his 20.5 percent strikeout rate isn’t through the roof, and the reports on him laud his raw power and bat speed as well as his arm strength in right field (where he fell just shy of Margot with 17 outfield assists this season). Even if his discipline never improves, Renfroe could be an power-oriented regular with an OBP in the low .300s and solid defense in right field.
Turning to Asuaje, MLB.com rates him 20th among San Diego farmhands and praises his contact skills, hand-eye coordination and gap power/line-drive stroke. Asuaje is listed at 5’9″ and 160 pounds, so the odds of him ever hitting for much power, especially playing his home games at Petco Park, are fairly long. though MLB.com’s report on him does mention his “surprising” pop and give him a chance to crack double digits in homers. The 24-year-old Asuaje was brilliant with El Paso this season, hitting .321/.378/.473 with nine homers, 32 doubles and 11 triples. He’ll be in the mix for the second base job in 2017, and even if he loses out to breakout slugger Ryan Schimpf or a returning Cory Spangenberg, Asuaje could crack the roster as a utility player. He’s appeared at third base, left field and (briefly) shortstop throughout his minor league tenure and could help the Friars at a number of positions.
Hedges didn’t receive the call-up that many (myself included) were anticipating earlier this season due largely to the fact that Derek Norris played himself out of a potential trade by hitting just .183/.253/.320. With Norris and the out-of-options Christian Bethancourt serving as manager Andy Green’s primary receivers in the bigs, the Padres left Hedges at El Paso to continue to hone his offensive skills, and he delivered in a big way, hitting .326/.353/.597 with 21 homers. That’s a critical development for a player who has long been touted for standout defense but had previously struggled to hit. Hedges batted a woeful .168/.215/.248 in 152 MLB PAs last season, and the .225/.272/.314 slash he compiled in 133 career games at the Double-A level was concerning as well. Now, with such an impressive 2016 season in his back pocket, it’s easy to envision the Padres finding a way to clear a roster spot for him in 2017.
Neither Baumann nor Torres ranks among San Diego’s top minor leaguers, but both had strong minor league seasons. Baumann posted a 3.14 ERA with a 31-to-12 K/BB ratio in 28 2/3 innings, and the 28-year-old will return to the Padres for a third stint this year. Torres, just 22, split the 2016 campaign across three minor league levels after beginning in Class-A Advanced and compiled a 2.24 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 64 1/3 innings of relief.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Better late than never I suppose, but I figure we will see each of them regularly in 2017. This core will probably help determine how quickly the Padres can compete in the future.
Better than taking them away b4 they won the AAA championship this. Common sense
Year*
All minor league playoffs are totally meaningless, sorry.
Meaningless to YOU! Not to the guys that have been there all year. Sorry
Maybe, maybe not. Pressurized games that matter to the players and team chemistry building are very important to young players. But in terms of bragging rights, no, AAA championship does not matter.
Very wrong. Many organizations try to keep players together in the minors to win.
They were playing much more meaningful games than the Padres have been.
You’re an idiot
hehe – agreed
Whether there’s value in the playoff experience or not, the fact is that’s not why the Padres left these players in El Paso until now. They left them there because bringing them up before last Thursday would have cost them a season of control over Austin Hedges.
They can spout whatever platitudes about “experiencing winning together” they want, but had they not run Hedges’ service time clock way to long for little payoff last year, the Padres would have called him up on September 1. But they couldn’t, and they certainly couldn’t bring up either Renfroe or Margot (at positions that were of less immediate need) while leaving Hedges in El Paso without creating a MLBPA grievance and/or s***storm of complaints from Scott Boras.
You’re DEAD wrong on this. It’s has NOTHING to do with free agency.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that both the business and playing of baseball are well beyond your understanding.
Delaying the call-up of Hedges had EVERYTHING to do with the 154 days of big league service time he accrued last year.
OMG! You know ALL! Bet you’re always the smartest person in the empty room. You don’t know JACK, You’re speculating like he rest of us. Difference is, you THINK you know what’s going on.
I talk to plenty of people every week who know much more about the game than I do. I am not concerned that will ever be a risk when I’m reading what you have to “contribute” though.
Thats sooo awesome that you “Talk” to people know more than you. STILL, its speculation just like he rest of us. You still don’t know any more than the avg person, like you portray. So you can keep writing out all these long posts claiming to KNOW everything about everything if it makes you feel better. Whatever floats your disgruntled boat
Based on your comments on this site, knowing more than YOU is a bar much, much, much lower than knowing more than the average person.
I’m only claiming that I’ve hurdled that second bar, sparky.
BOOM!!! You really got me there! You’re just loser that reads stats and spouts them off as fact. You already revealed everything you say is second hand. Not showing the ability to think critically, but always using LONG Dream out post to let everyone see how much you know. Your intellect level is the one that’s in question, Mr Jenner
I believe it was a combination of both factors. Winning a championship together (even in AAA) definitely helps build chemistry and I think they did wanted to keep the team together so they could do that. It’s not like calling them up sooner would have made this season go any better. On the other hand, it’s pretty much an open secret that they wanted to get that extra year of control on Austin Hedges.
Well said Tsolid
The future of the Padres are here! I like how long they waited, these guys have been buildings chemistry together for a while now and they got to play through some pressured filled games during the AAA playoffs.
Go Padres!!!
The questions for the long term:
1. Is their enough quality pitching in their farm system?
2. What do they do at 2nd and 3rd base with Solarte, Spangenberg, Schimpf, and Asuaje? (I think they might have to sell high on Schimpf)
3. What do they do in the OF after Margot and Renfroe? (I really like Jankowski, he is fast and seems to get on base often enough while hustling on every play.)
4. Don’t have a backup C or 1B.
5. I’m fine with Sardinas as the SS for the moment, but how long until the young SS in the system are ready?
Exciting times. Love baseball and the Padres.
Pitching is yet developing, it will take time to see most of our top pitching prospects up in the big leagues, however, the Padres do have strong pitchers that might earn a call up next season:
Walker Lockette
Joey Luchessi
Phil Mathon
Dinelson Lamet
Seth Simmons
Michael Kelly
The group below will most probably be ready by 2018 and onwards:
Cal Quantrill
Mason Thompson
Eric Lauer
Adrian Morejon
Chris Paddack
Anderson Espinoza
In the meantime, Padres will have to work with Robbie Erlin, Colin Rea, Cesar Vargas, and Brandon Morrow, all of which are coming or will be coming off injuries.
Joey Lucchesi will do really well to finish next year in Double-A. Phil Maton is a reliever. Seth Simmons is a great story, but not a prospect. Michael Kelly’s stuff isn’t ready for the Majors.
Thompson, Morejon, Paddack and Espinoza are all much more names for 2020 and onwards. On the other hand, you’ve completely omitted Jake Nix, Logan Allen, Brett Kennedy and Enyel De Los Santos, who will all arrive before those guys.
Morrow is a free agent this winter and probably stays in the pen at this point. Erlin won’t be throwing until the All-Star break, and Colin Rea is a huge question mark right now.
Morejon is way far off man..international pitchers who haven’t played in the Series Nacional/NPL/KBL for years are light years from the majors. The kid will be good but not for awhile.
Maybe Ross, Rea, Perdomo, Erlin battle royal between Simmons, Kelly, Lamet and other options like Clemens. Still pretty lacking at major league level but amazing talent A and below. I think Morejon, Anderson, Paddack, Allen, Quantrill and Laurer all belong on every top 100 list. Padres have best SP below AA of any team.
“Don’t have a backup C”
Christian Bethancourt and Hector Sanchez would like to have a word with you outside…
I mean Bethincort seems the most likely candidate to be the backup/platoon with Hedges next year and Sanchez seems like he has proven himself enough to be the teams backup at 1st and can play catcher if needed.
Asuaje will be the Pad’s new Amarista. A gamer and guy who can play all over the IF. Was really unheard of when got drafted and got only think was 100k then.
Boston already had Marco Hernandez and Maricio Dubon as utility types in the system, plus AS Brock Holt at the MLB level, so may have thought Asuaje expendable. Believe Pad’s fans will find him quite useful quite soon.
People say preller set the pads back, but this group of prospects has a much higher ceiling than the old ones did. It sucks they had to give up turner, but I think they’re better off in the long run
Except Preller had nothing to do with Hedges or Renfroe, they have been in the system before he was GM. Luckily he didn’t include them in a trade like he did with Turner. But technically the Padres could have all 3 at the moment…
Ya I was more alluding to the upgrade of Margot, Guerra, Paddack, Asuaje and Espinoza from Wisler, Fried, Wieland,Smith and Peterson.
I’m fine with Wil Myers.
Yeah that Turner trade was remarkably horrible and Preller should have been fired for it. Myers is not good, when you struggle to get to an .800 OPS in “breakout” season, you are hardly a worthy long-term option at 1B.
Turner has a 3.2 fWAR in 62 games, that’s an absurd 8+ WAR season over a full year – he’s Corey Seager/Kris Bryant level talented. Preller has ruined the Padres no matter how many of these prospects pan out.
I hated the Padres traded Turner, but you are jumping the gun slightly comparing him to Seager and Bryant.. He has played half the amount of games they have.
Still I wish the Padres kept Trae Turner no doubt.. but Wil Myers has a 3.6 War this year according to Fan Graphs so he has had a solid season.
Pretty much this
Just a reminder that, when he was roughly the same number of at-bats into his season, Wil Myers was on a pace for about 7.5 WAR this year…
Turner and Ross were a HUGE loss. As was taking on Matt Kemp’s contract.
Why are Renfroes and Hedges AAA walk rates so poor? Huge red flags on those two.
Honestly, Margot is the only one in that group who looks like he might be a decent regular. .
Maybe b/c They to actually like to SWING the bat and drive in runs
So Margot doesn’t like to swing the bat and drive in runs?
I don’t know what Margot likes to do. I know He can run
I’m pretty sure that you are confusing ability to recognize pitches in and out of the strikezone and the ability to make contact with runners on base. These are two very extremely different concepts that have little to do with one another.
Dan Farnsworth’s scouting report for renfroe – “The only real knock against him could end up being a big one if he can’t adjust, which of course is his hit tool. He has some issues making contact, particularly with offspeed offerings, and he hasn’t found an approach that will let him consistently do damage. As it stands, pitchers are able to get him into unfavorable counts fairly frequently, which he can’t afford to allow against major-league pitching.”
fangraphs.com/blogs/evaluating-the-2016-prospects-…
Renfroe’s 20% strikeout rate is more troubling to me than his low walk rate
Farnsworth’s scouting report (which was lazy and out-of-date when he wrote it six months ago) notwithstanding, Renfroe has reduced his K rate year-to=year four seasons in a row while facing better competition. A 20% K rate in Triple-A for a slugger is not only not a red flag, but actually slightly ahead of what you see from many players with a similar profile who’ve transitioned well to the big leagues. The walk rate is alarming, but if you read what he and his hitting instructors have said about the approach that’s led to it dropping out this year, it’s less concerning.
It’s worth mentioning that Margot, Hedges, Baumann and Torres are already on the 40. Renfroe and Asuaje are not, but would have to be added this offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 draft anyway.