There was no team at the MLB trade deadline this season that did more than the San Diego Padres. Their additions of Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ramon Laureano, Ryan O'Hearn, Freddy Fermin, Nestor Cortes, and Will Wagner cost the Padres a fortune.
After trading away their first-ranked prospect in Leo De Vries, third-ranked prospect Braden Nett, sixth-ranked prospect Boston Bateman, eighth-ranked prospect Cobb Hightower, ninth-ranked prospect Ryan Bergert, along with their 13th, 16th, and 17th-ranked prospects, the Padres' farm system looked drastically different.
According to MLB Pipeline, the Padres' farm system after such a wild trade deadline ranked dead last in baseball. In the preseason, they ranked 25th, but after a wild deadline, Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com had an easy time ranking the Padres in last place.
"This can't come as much of a shock." Callis, Dykstra, and May wrote. "The Padres were the most aggressive team at this year's trade deadline, moving out multiple Minor Leaguers ... for a run at the World Series."
The team's top prospect after the departure of De Vries, and a lot of other top prospects, is 19-year-old catcher prospect Ethan Salas. While he was ranked 19th at the start of the year, he dropped to 86th in the latest prospect ranking.
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He had been dealing with a stress reaction in his back, and while he's cleared to play, he's missed most of the 2025 season. The Padres sold off a majority of their top prospects, and the best one they have left is coming off a back issue.
Putting the Padres in last, with their lack of depth and questionable top prospects, wasn't a hard decision to make for the MLB Pipeline. While Preller has a knack for rebuilding prospect systems, this might be his toughest challenge yet.
The Padres' moves have worked well so far, as they've taken the NL West division lead from the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the players they acquired also under control beyond 2025, the Padres didn't jeopardize their future to land such a strong haul.
Their farm system is ranked dead last, but there's still a chance for the Padres to rebuild such a farm system, especially if Salas can return to the form he showed before the stress reaction in his back. But for now, the Padres have the weakest farm system in baseball.
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