21. San Diego Padres

Big Leagues- This Padres team is one of the interesting teams I have come across in my baseball research. They aren't going to contend for a World Series right now, but I really like how this team is put together, even without Adrian Gonzalez. The team has a lot of solid mid level free agents, who are better for a real team than they are for fantasy. Brad Hawpe, Orlando Hudson, Jason Bartlett, and Ryan Ludwick won't be first on your draft boards, but they are going to win games for the Padres. Throw in former, and still young, top prospect Cameron Maybin and the power hitting Kyle Blanks, who is coming off injury, and this team has a lot of potential. Matt Latos established himself as a top of the line ace last year, and we expect another year can only help. The addition of Aaron Harang rounds out the rotation, and the always consistent Heath Bell will again close games.

Here is their lineup for opening day 2011:

Catcher- Nick Hundley
1st Base- Kyle Blanks/Brad Hawpe
2nd Base- Orlando Hudson
Shortstop- Jason Bartlett
3rd Base- Chase Headley
Left Field- Ryan Ludwick
Center Field- Cameron Maybin
Right Field- Will Veneable
Pitching- Matt Latos, Clayton Richard, Tim Stauffer, Cory Luebke, Aaron Harang

Relief- Heath Bell

Top 5 Prospects

RHP Casey Kelly- You'd expect the Padres to have good prospects after trading away Adrian Gonzalez, and they do not disappoint. Kelly use to split time between shortstop and pitching his first two seasons, but the Red Sox finally got him to focus on pitching and he struggled in Double A. He had a 5.31 ERA in 21 starts, but he still has top of the rotation stuff and is only 21 years old. The potential and youth is what keeps him as the number 1 prospect in the Padres system.

RHP Simon Castro- The 6'5 right hander really impressed last year in Double and Triple A. The 22 year old throws his fastball 97-98 and a hard slider from 91-94. After watching him pitch in the Futures game last year he reminded me of a right handed Aroldis Chapman, minus a few miles an hour on the fastball. For a youngster he doesn't walk many batters, but sometimes has control problems because of the action on his fastball and slider. The Padres should start him in Triple A next year but don't be surprised if he gets the call up if a starter gets injured.

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OF Jaff Decker- The former 1st round pick could not stay healthy over the full season last year, and it was reflected in his stats. His batting average struggled and so did his plate discipline. He batted .262 and struck out 80 times in only 79 games, but showed great power slugging 17 home runs. If Decker can stay healthy and even out his swings he could be in ready for a breakout.

1B Anthony Rizzo- After beating cancer the 2007 sixth round pick became a slugging first basemen for the Red Sox minor league teams. Last year as a 20 year old he batted .260 with 25 home runs, 42 doubles, and 100 rbis. He was the main prize along with Casey Kelly in the trade for Adrian Gonzalez and he projects to be Gonzalez's long term replacement. He should start next year in Triple A and we could see him in September.

OF Donavan Tate- The 3rd overall pick in the 2009 could not stay away from the injury bug last year and only appeared in 25 games. The games itself weren't enough to get a fair look at Tate, but his predraft hype and draft position keeps him on our list of top prospects.



Payroll and Direction- The Padres have the young talent and pitching, they have top prospects, now if they can ever get the money to pay top free agents they can be a team to contend with for a very long time. Last year they only had a payroll of 37 million dollars, and that just won't cut it when you want to win a World Series. The Padres got their new stadium and now it's time to start spending some money. They will have a lot of young guys under contract for cheap, but if they won't be able to keep young players like Matt Latos, then they future will be a lot like their past.