The San Diego Padres’ Triple-A season at El Paso said a lot about the organization’s priorities, and not all of it was flattering.
The Chihuahuas finished 60-90, one of the worst marks in the upper levels, and the collapse got even uglier after the break. El Paso was 35-40 in the first half, then slumped to 25-50 the rest of the way. That’s not a complete wreck, but it’s hardly the kind of environment teams usually want for developing players.
San Diego has never acted like a club built around holding onto prospects, and the numbers in El Paso fit that profile. The offense did fine in the run-friendly Pacific Coast League. The Chihuahuas ranked sixth in OPS, fifth in runs scored and sixth in home runs, with Nick Solak pacing the team with 80 RBIs.
The real problem was on the mound. El Paso gave up 1,025 runs while scoring 882, a minus-143 run differential that tells the whole story. The pitching staff finished with a 6.28 ERA, while Oklahoma City led the league at 4.30.
Still, there were a couple of meaningful prospect notes buried in the results. Catcher Ethan Salas was the headliner, and he moved through his minor league stop quickly after standing out at Double-A San Antonio.
Salas spent only 24 games at El Paso, but he made them count. He hit .326/.410/.539 with three home runs and 24 RBIs, and he reached base in 22 of those 24 games. After a short adjustment period, he began producing quickly with the Padres as well.
His glove was never in question, and he used the Triple-A stage as a short test run behind the plate, throwing out nine possible base stealers in 17 games. He did look a bit overmatched in playoff action at the highest level, though that seems more like a matter of experience than anything else.
Braedon Karpathios was the other prospect who kept coming up in reports. San Diego’s No. 19 prospect earned his promotion after a strong run with San Antonio, then arrived late in the year and still managed to show what made him interesting, finishing with a .268 average, 17 home runs and 73 RBIs in 120 games.
In Other News...
Padres Face Tough 40-Man Calls On Prospects They Cant Risk Losing
With the Rule 5 draft still tied up by the unresolved Collective Bargaining Agreement and the end of the lockout, the Padres are in a holding pattern on one of the trickiest parts of their offseason. They cannot make their own Rule 5 selections until the process resumes, but they still have to decide which prospects are worth protecting on the 40-man roster before another club can get a crack at them.
That puts a spotlight on a handful of young players who have put themselves into the conversation, including Tucker Musgrove, Gutierrez, Jagger Haynes, Braedon Karpathios and Jake Cunningham. San Diego has to balance present roster pressure against future upside, and these are the kinds of calls that can shape a farm system for years, even if the final move does not come until the calendar and the labor situation finally catch up. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Face A Tough Walker Buehler Call This Offseason
Walker Buehler gave the Padres exactly the kind of season that complicates an offseason. He took the ball 32 times and logged 153 2/3 innings, a workload that mattered as much as the improved ERA and WHIP he posted compared with earlier seasons. For a rotation that has been searching for stability, that kind of bounce-back makes him a real asset, and it also makes him more expensive at the negotiating table.
The problem for San Diego is that value cuts both ways. Buehlers strong year has raised his market, and the Padres are still weighing whether they want to commit to a multiyear deal or keep looking for starters who can consistently work deeper into games. Before they sit down to talk contract, the club would be wise to set a firm price and have other rotation plans in place, because this is the kind of decision that can shape the whole offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Reentered A Debate Fans Thought They Knew Already
Will Leitchs latest exercise at MLB.com put a fresh spotlight on a familiar Padres question: how close is this group, really, to turning talent into a title? In ranking the franchises without a World Series ring by their chances of winning one in 2027, he slotted San Diego third, a nod to the kind of core that can keep a club in the conversation even when the path is still messy. The Padres have the star power, with Fernando Tatis Jr. front and center, and they also have the kind of new ownership backdrop that can change the tone around a franchise in a hurry.
The debate, of course, is whether the rest of the roster can catch up to the ambition. San Diego still has real questions in the pitching rotation and some uncertainty in the lineup, which is why a lofty ranking can feel both flattering and unfinished at the same time. Leitchs list also included the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets near the top, but for Padres fans the more interesting part is what comes next: whether this is the kind of group that can justify the optimism, or just another version of a team that looks dangerous on paper and still needs more to break through. [Read more 🡒]