The Padres have selected outfielder Tirso Ornelas to their 40-man roster, MLBTR has confirmed. The move was previously listed on the club’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Padres have had an open spot on their 40-man roster since Yu Darvish was placed on the restricted list earlier this month, so no corresponding move will be required at this time.
Ornelas, 24, was an international signing out of Mexico, with the Padres giving him a $1.5MM signing bonus back in 2016. He put up a strong showing in Rookie ball in 2017, hitting .276/.399/.408 and getting himself some attention from prospect evaluators.
Baseball America listed him as the #31 prospect in the club’s system going into 2018 and he was on that outlet’s top 30 list for three years after that. FanGraphs ranked him as the #116 prospect in all of baseball going into 2019, highlighting his natural abilities at the plate.
Ornelas had a dismal year in 2019, slashing .217/.303/.279 across Rookie ball and High-A. Going into 2020, Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs mentioned some swing changes that had negative results, but he still gave Ornelas praise and ranked him 19th in the system.
More recently, Ornelas seems to have gotten things back on track. After the minors were canceled in 2020, Ornelas put up some passable numbers in 2021 and 2022. Last year, he had a great showing in Double-A, with 11 home runs in 72 games. He also walked at a 14.1% clip and was only struck out in 18.9% of his plate appearances. His .284/.381/.473 line at that level translated to a wRC+ of 126.
He also got into 55 Triple-A games last year with less success, as his .285/.358/.425 line at that level led to a 96 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. But he’s been far better at that level here in 2024, with 12 home runs through 74 contests, a 10.3% walk rate and 17.1% strikeout rate. His .316/.390/.515 batting line is 24% better than league average, per wRC+.
It hasn’t been a straight line but Ornelas has found a winding road to the majors since being signed by the Padres almost a decade ago. Just a few days back, Longenhagen and Travis Ice released their list of top Padres’ prospects for this year at FanGraphs with Ornelas in the #12 slot. The report suggests the Statcast data isn’t as impressive as the raw numbers with Ornelas, but still he’s still viewed as a viable big leaguer.
Ornelas has played a bit of center field and first base but has mostly been in the outfield corners in his career. The Padres have Fernando Tatis Jr. on the injured list due to a right femoral stress reaction. Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune on X, Tatis has begun playing catch and swinging a bat but he still has some hurdles to clear before he can rejoin the club.
Without Tatis, the Friars have a corner outfield mix consisting of Jurickson Profar, David Peralta and Bryce Johnson. Profar is having a stunning career year at the age of 31 and is firmly implanted in left field. Peralta was just below league average at the plate over the 2021-23 period and is hitting .250/.313/.330 in 2024 for a wRC+ of 90. Johnson has mostly been in a bench role, with just one start since July 2.
Perhaps Ornelas can carve out some playing time in there during the final few months of 2024 or in the long term. Peralta and Profar are both impending free agents, so there’s lots of room next to Tatis and Jackson Merrill in the future outfield plans.
For anyone familiar with the MLB rules, what is the benefit of selecting a player to the 40-man roster and then optioning him back to the club for which he’s already playing? Tampa Bay did the same maneuver with Tyler Zuber today. Is it driven by language in a specific player contract or is there something else?
Players on the 40-man roster are protected from the Rule 5 draft, during which teams can select players from other organizations.
Agreed. But why make the moves in late July?
The deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft is in November. Not July.
I’m guessing that this is related to the All-Star break. The Padres may be putting Luis Arraez on the 10-day IL retroactive to 7/14 and waiting until prior to tomorrow’s game to announce Ornelas onto the MLB roster.
Oh and BTW Ornelas has the same swing path/type of swing as Arraez. Dude will benefit greatly being around Arraez.
In Ornelas’s case, I suspect when he re-signed as a minor league free agent over the winter, he negotiated an opt-out for himself if he wasn’t on the 40-man roster by this week.
Thanks. I agree that make sense. This is his seventh year in the minors, so he would have been a six-year free agent last winter.
They have to be on the 40 man to be called up to the 26 man.
But, he’s NOT being added to the 26 man. The question is why is he being added to the 40 man if the team isnt adding him to the 26 man at the same time.
He will be added to the 26 man roster ahead of tomorrow’s game.
Youre probably right Pads. Its the only way this makes sense.
I think the only question is if Johnson is being sent down or Arraez is hitting the IL. Hope it is the former.
Yeah that is kind of strange. This year I have noticed that the Padres usually announce roster moves when they release the lineup for that day. My guess is that they are moving someone to the IL and bringing him up. To just add him is strange unless it was something in the minor league contract he signed that he had to be added by this day or he could walk,
Not sure what’s so strange, Tatis is out and there was an open roster spot due to Yu. They don’t need to make any IL moves to accommodate and quite frankly this other kid is terrible and needs to be sent back to minors
The game has already started and he wasn’t added to the 26-man roster. So what’s the REAL reason they added him to the 40?
I’m guessing he had some kind of opt-out clause in his contract after the All Star break because there was no tangible reason to put him on the 40-man roster at this point in the season unless they were calling him up.
Maybe later in the year he’ll be added to the 26, but not now
@Brew88 The question is why add him to the 40-man roster then? As far as we know, there was no “Add him to the 40-man roster now or risk losing him entirely” deadline. And there is no tangible benefit to having him on the 40-man roster but optioned vs. not having him on the 40-man roster.
Tyler Zuber had an “assignment clause” in his contract which said he could opt out at any time if he was offered a contract by another team which he apparently was. Idk about Tirso.
Kid has spent a third of his life in the Padres organization. Has improved every year, hit for a decent average and developed some power. Maybe they have something.
Hopefully, it does not mean Tatis time on the IL will be longer. However, I hope they give Ornelas a look instead of Peralta/Johnson.
I believe it will be, plus he is depth if that becomes the case.
Thought he was already on the 40, protected from last year’s Rule V. Guess not
He was a minor league free agent. No teams gave him a 40-man spot, so he re-signed with an invite to spring training.
Nope. He actually was eligible for minor league free agency last winter but re-signed with the Padres.
The Padres have finally filled their 40-man roster spot. I guess you could say Tirso Ornelas hit the roster lottery thanks to Darvish’s restricted list timeout!
Lets go goose!
That’s what’s in?
I’m assuming he gets promoted to the majors for tomorrow’s game against the Guardians because there is ZERO reason to put him on the 40-man at this point otherwise.
He has been having a good year let’s hope he brings some good depth.
Normally you’d take away .300 OPS from a PCL batting line and that gives you a rough estimate of what his OPS would look like in the majors.
About 84% of PCL OPS is typical the last 3 seasons. Puts him around a .760 OPS in majors. That will play.
This might be more of a case of Preller showcasing a player for a potential trade.
It’s Preller. Of course that’s what’s happening.
I once has a bad case of TIRSO ORNELAS
Thanks to proper medical care coupled with appropriate medications,
I made a full recovery.
I recently met his cousin, PLANTAR FASCIITIS and now I walk with a limp. I’m aight.
Next man up Petalta /Johnson not getting job done starting. Good news on Tatis MRI yesss
When I saw him right after they first singed him I thought “that is the prettiest swing I have ever seen from a 17 year old”, short, compact, and high bat speed, this kid is going to be a star.
Somewhere along the way someone changed what was working for him and the kid lost his way. The last year plus he has looked like himself again and this year its all coming together. You can see that beautiful swing again. I hope that the Padres let him play. Sit Peralta and see what this kid can do until Tatis returns. Or at least until the trade deadline. Give him some regular at bats and let him get comfortable.
Name sounds like a Star Wars background character
The first game post-ASB has already started and he wasn’t added to the Padres’ major league roster. So what’s the REAL reason they added him to the 40?
I’m guessing he had some kind of opt-out clause in his contract after the All Star break because there was no tangible reason to put him on the 40-man roster at this point in the season unless they were calling him up.