The Padres have signed supplemental first-round pick Justin Lange and second-rounder Owen Caissie, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets (links: 1, 2). Lange will earn $2MM, while Caissie agreed to a bonus worth $1,200,004.
As the 34th overall pick, Lange’s selection came with a recommended value of $2,148,100. The Texas-based high school right-hander and Dallas Baptist recruit’s stock rose over the past year, thanks in part to a fastball that has skyrocketed to the 95 to 100 mph range. According to Baseball America, which ranked him as the 50th-best player in this year’s draft class, “Lange has all of the foundational pieces to be an impact pitcher at the next level.” That said, there are concerns about his command and his slider, per BA.
Caissie – the 45th choice – also signed for below slot, as his pick came with a recommended value of $1,650,200. The Canadian high school outfielder, who committed to Michigan before the draft, brings “super-projectable power,” above-average running and a big arm to the table, per Callis. BA only ranked Caissie as the 180th overall player before the draft, though MLB.com was much more bullish in placing him 75th.
With the Padres having secured Lange, Caissie and three other picks, they’re down to one unsigned selection – third-round righty Cole Wilcox. Money shouldn’t stand in the way a deal, though, as Wilcox’s pick (No. 80) carries a slot value of $767,800 and, as Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune points out, the Padres can still spend up to $3.3MM more.
I really didn’t like them passing on Veen for Hassell, but if all this maneuvering allows them to throw enough money at Wilcox to sign him I’ll be ecstatic with the class overall.
This time that strategy might have actually worked out for Preller. Not like 2016 and 2018.
2016 I definitely agree, that draft fell a little flat in the terms of upside. I’m still optimistic about the outcome (I think Quantrill could be quite good) but maneuvering around for 2018 worked out quite well in my opinion, getting Abrams and Head was pretty awesome even if they may have overpaid. I may be missing something though – care to expand on why you think that, boss?
You’re thinking of 2019. 2018 is when they drafted Weathers ahead of Liberatore and Singer and paid Weathers more $ than Singer or Liberatore got.
2016 he drafted Cal Quantrill ahead of Jay Groome. Everyone was saying that money was the reason why but Quantrill got more $ than Groome got. But for what it’s worth, Preller got a little lucky that Groome looks like a bust so far. There are players taken after Quantrill that project to be better, but I didn’t see anyone pushing for Preller to take them at #8 four years ago.
Ohhhhhhh yeah you’re absolutely right – I looked up 2018 draft and it must’ve linked me to the wrong one. Yeah that draft was a rough one from the get-go. I never understood the fascination with Weathers, I think Preller rates make-up really highly and got enticed by Weathers for that reason (I think that’s a big reason for the Hassell pick as well) but definitely missed the mark on a talent standpoint there. Oof would it be nice to have Liberatore in our prospect ranks right now. Gore, Patino and Liberatore? That’d be nearly unprecedented. Still, I think Preller has overall done a good job drafting but the consecutive high picks help alot.
Closer to average. The aforementioned Weathers and Quantrill picks aren’t looking that great and then Gore and Abrams were both BPA so really all Preller did there was not screw things up.
This draft will tell us more about Preller’s drafting ability.
For several years Preller seemed to go after the more sure-thing pitchers. Quantrill was seen as very likely to get to and be able to stick in mlb, albeit with lower upside. At least he had 2 plus pitches, so I was okay with it. I wanted Groome but I was okay with Quantrill because he still had good upside. Lauer came from that same draft and he definitely worked out by getting to SD quickly and giving us innings when we desperately needed them.
I hated the Weathers pick. I was very excited to see Liberator drop to us and I was sure we would take him. Weathers may have been more likely to turn out, but with no plus pitches and #5 starter upside we should have done much better that early in the draft.
This year he finally spent his picks on pitchers with tremendous upside. They may not make it, but if they do they will be real difference makers.
I think the people overlooking Quantrill may just come to regret it. He looked very good for most of last year. He has a half year of experience. He may be quite good.
Very true Mike. I remember the Gore draft when every outlet was saying we were trying to pull some shady maneuvers so we could get Hunter Greene but I didn’t understand that at all – I was hoping they just went with Gore. Thankfully, they didn’t have the choice to go for Greene in the first place so Preller was stuck with the now best pitching prospect in baseball. Phew.
Javia I agree with all of what you said there. I think Weathers is similar to Lauer with a bit higher upside but he just hasn’t moved like they expected him to. I liked the Lauuer pick and still do , he’s got plenty of surplus value left for the Brew crew. Not sure I like trading him for Davies, but Davies reminds me a lot of Andy Ashby (not that I really remember him, I was 8 during the ’98 season) where he might not wow anyone with his K totals but the guy knows how to pitch and could surprise. Still, I think Lauer (in a normal season) is the perfect guy to have shuttling between AAA and spot starting and eating innings out of the bullpen. Course, we’ve got a ton of those guys now.
I think Quantrill has got a lot left to show, his run of dominance last year really proves that he can be a force if he can stay consistent. I liked the pick when they made it because I thought that without the TJ surgery he wouldn’t have been there at 8, so it was the ultimate high-upside gamble and it still may be. The dude was a rookie last year and looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball for a notable amount of time. If he rounds into form along with Paddack, Gore, Patino and Lamet: Hoo, look out! Best rotation in the history of the MLB anyone? 😉 (I kid, but I mean a fan can always dream too…)
Eric Lauer actually had a 3.63 ERA in 2019 when pitching in any ballpark not named Coors Field. But obviously the real reason that trade sucks is losing Luis Urias.
And the Reds taking Greene before Preller got the chance to take him is looking like the ultimate blessing in disguise right now.
Right?! That’s the craziest statistic ever to me. Is it fair to just ignore the Coors starts and think he’s actually a great pitcher you just can’t use in Colorado? I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put up a better ERA than Davies both years we have Davies. There’s no way that swap was to actually add value to the Padres side of that trade, right?
I hate losing Urias, I was so ridiculously excited for him to hit .300 for years to come in a Padres uniform as a perfect compliment to Tatis… that being said the guy couldn’t hit a fastball with that leg kick he had that inflated his numbers in AAA. I think he could still be a .300 hitter in the MLB without the leg kick but with Greg Garcia like power if even that. I think the rationale there was that Urias still has development to do before he takes off and Grisham’s weird batting style played just fine last year. I think that particular trade is going to be a huge factor when evaluating Preller’s tenure here because it has a chance to go wildly in both directions for us. I do like Grisham, especially if he can stick in CF (Myers *cough*) but Urias pretty clearly has the higher ceiling.
Would you un-do that trade if given the chance? Knowing the Pads are going in on this season (pre-Corona) I’m not sure I would since Urias has to learn to hit an MLB fastball and we would’ve had to watch another season of Margot in center. I am of the mind that a regressed to the mean BABIP season of Profar is going to be much better than Urias this season.
I am extremely excited about our pitching as well CheeseHeadPadre. We, the Dodgers, the Indians, the Tigers and the Braves all seem to have tremendous young pitching talent. It’s all going to be about who turns out and who doesn’t. Luckily, it seems Paddack has already arrived and proven himself. Both Lamet and Quantrill have shown the ability to dominate. If they can both start doing it on a consistent basis we are going to have a great rotation. I had been hearing a lot of talk and seen in spring training that Lamet seems to have turned that corner, but we will see. Gore and Patino are both question marks at this point, although Gore does seem highly likely to turn out. We should be one of the top rotations in baseball in a few years, but best overall? We will need a lot of our guys to fulfill their promise. I am excited to be able to watch it happen!
Unfortunately Urias is going to be playing out of position at SS this year. He is going to have to go back to his old batting stance, get rid of his leg kick, play the most difficult and important position on the feel and be able to get comfortable and into a groove. I hope he can do it, but I don’t know if he can. I wouldn’t even worry about power at this point in his career.
Urias is a 2nd baseman. Period. It wasn’t his fault Andy Green used him improperly, nor will it be his fault if/when Craig Counsell does.
I’m thinking Stearns made that trade strictly because he knows value when he sees it. Not because Urias necessarily fills a need for them. I mean they already have a fine young 2nd baseman in Keston Hiura.
@CheeseHeadPadre Urias hit the fastball better than any other pitch in 2019. His biggest and really only problem was the way Andy Green was using him.
And Profar doesn’t even hold a candle to Urias. Not offensively and especially not defensively. No idea why Preller has such a hard-on for the dude. Then on top of all that he’s a one-year rental whereas Urias is controlled through 2025.
Liberatore just isnt that good, hes all fastball. Weathers had a great season.
Mike – Preller worked for the Texas Rangers back when Profar was the #1 prospect in baseball. Some people just can’t let go.
Liberator has a plus curveball already, and a possible future plus fastball and changeup. Unfortunately Weathers has no current plus pitches and doesn’t project to have any in the future. They both have plus pitchabiliy. Therefore Liberator projects as a mid to upper rotation starter, while Weathers projects as a low to mid rotation starter.
Yup and rumor is that was his target money and rumor was he planned to sign with them.
I am much more excited about Lange than I am about Wilcox. Wilcox just gives hitters far too long of a look at the baseball before he releases it. Hopefully Balsley can help him with that. Anyway, he could be in San Diego pretty quickly.
There is a lot of talent to dream on from this draft. I have tons of faith in Balsley to give the pitchers all the help they could need to get to mlb. I just hope we have some coaches who can help Caissie and Hassell reach their potential.
Developing hitters is the Padres fortè! Ha!
Go away
Posting dumb and pointless comments is 2019s forte.
But apparently he’s Tim Dierkes’ nephew or something because any time you post a comment critical of him it gets removed.
Balsley isn’t the pitching coach any more. He left that role at the end of the season if I remember correctly.
Apparently the plan is for Balsley to still work with these kids but in the Minors.
I wonder with how much certainty do teams know if a player like Wilcox will fall. The Padres obviously planned for it to some extent.
I doubt the Padres knew for certain that Wilcox would fall. What they did know was that they were drafted a few guys high in the draft that they should be able to sign for underslot. They knew they would have extra money laying around for whatever top talent happened to drop. It just happened to be Wilcox.
“You better give me those extra $4 or I’m not signing!” -Owen Caissie
Apparently it had something to do with him being Canadian and his signing bonus came in at a nice even multiple of 100 once the exchange rate was considered.
When will the Padres ever stop rebuilding lol it’s been like 8 years