The San Diego Padres have built a reputation for trading away top prospects when they’re chasing championships. Everyone remembers the blockbuster deal that sent CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, and Jarlin Susana to Washington for Juan Soto at the 2022 deadline.
More recently, they dealt MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 overall prospect Leo De Vries along with their own prospects Branden Nett (No. 3), Henry Baez (No. 13), and their No. 17 prospect to Oakland for Mason Miller and JP Sears.
That leaves Ethan Salas as the organization’s new top prospect. The catcher currently ranks as MLB’s 77th-best prospect.
Despite all the prospect movement, the Padres still have talent in their system worth watching. MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell highlighted two names that should be on fans’ radar.
“Ethan Salas is the Padres’ top prospect, and it’s hard to overstate just how important his 2026 season will be. After missing nearly the entire ’25 campaign with a stress reaction in his lower back, Salas needs to prove he’s still capable of tapping into the potential that once had him as a consensus top-10 overall pick.”
The 2026 season becomes crucial for Salas after losing almost all of 2025 to injury. He’ll need to show he can still reach the ceiling that made him such a coveted prospect.
Cassavell also points to Miguel Mendez as someone fans should get familiar with quickly.
“At the GM Meetings, Preller named him as a prospect who could make an impact with the big league club this season.”
Mendez sits as the club’s No. 5 prospect after signing out of the Dominican Republic in February 2021 at 18 years old. The right-hander brings serious heat with a 100 mph four-seamer and complements it with a mid-80s slider that keeps hitters off balance.
From where I’m sitting, Mendez has a real chance to log meaningful innings for San Diego this season. That’s the kind of immediate impact the Padres need after trading away so much prospect capital over the past few years.
