Padres Press Clips Sunday, November 26, 2017

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Will Padres be active pursuing former Braves prospects? SD Union Tribune Lin 2

Lucky Duck Foundation shifts focus to helping homeless SD Union Tribune Warth 4

Padres provide Thanksgiving meals to families MLB.com Cassavell 7

Winter Padres: Urías, Naylor Named to All-AFL Team Friar Wire Center 9

Padres On Deck: Bumber Crop of Starting Friar Wire Center 11 Await Harvesting

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SD Union Tribune

Will Padres be active pursuing former Braves prospects?

Dennis Lin

The Padres, according to sources, have $300,000 left in their 2017-18 international bonus pool, an amount they figure to reserve for a leaguewide bidding process.

The Major League Players Association this week agreed to a new , clearing the way for Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani to make his stateside debut in 2018. The Padres and 11 other teams that exceeded their bonus pools in previous signing periods will be limited to offering Ohtani a maximum of $300,000.

That restriction is nothing compared to the punishment MLB dealt the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. The penalties, levied after an investigation found circumvention of international signing rules from 2015 to 2017, include a lifetime ban for former general manager John Coppolella and the loss of 13 prospects who are now free to sign with other organizations.

Despite the creation of a new market, the Padres are not expected to be especially active in pursuing those prospects, sources said Wednesday. The new free agents range from infielder Kevin Maitan, whom the Braves signed for $4.25 million in 2016, to a number of teenagers who received $300,000 from Atlanta.

While the players will keep their original signing bonuses, the league has established a special set of rules that will govern their free agency. Under-penalty teams such as the Padres will remain limited to maximum offers of $300,000. Only the amount of a signing bonus beyond $200,000 will count against a club’s pool. For instance, if the Padres sign one of the players for $300,000, their pool would shrink by only $100,000.

A team can choose to use funds from its 2018-19 bonus pool instead, and the Padres will start with $5.25 million at their disposal. But San Diego will be capped at $300,000 per player for one more signing period.

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Aside from the financial restraints, sources say the Padres are not nearly as high on the ex- Braves prospects as Atlanta was. In multiple cases, the industry perception of those talents has deteriorated since they entered the Braves’ system. The Padres continue to be more enamored with the prospects they signed themselves during the 2016-17 period, which saw a franchise- record $78 million dropped on international players. (After the institution of a hard cap, San Diego has spent nearly all of its $5.75 million pool for 2017-18 on 34 players.)

Were it not for their $300,000 limit, the Padres would be even more aggressive in pursuing Ohtani, who will be posted by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters early next month. Ohtani will soon become Japan’s most coveted export, and the craze surrounding the 23-year-old contains plenty of mystery. By choosing to come to the U.S. now, Ohtani is forgoing a nine- figure contract he could land by waiting two more years for unrestricted free agency.

For now, the most a major league franchise can offer is Texas’ $3.535 million. The Rangersand other large-market teams are currently viewed as frontrunners, but much remains unclear about Ohtani’s preferences except for the fact that money will not be the deciding factor. The Padres — rebuilding, operating in a smaller market and capped at $300,000 — are seen as long shots, but Ohtani looms as a tantalizing bargain; virtually every team is expected to make some kind of bid for his services.

Padres sign Brewer

The Padres made their first major league player acquisition of the offseason Wednesday, signing right-hander Colten Brewer to a one-year deal. Brewer, who had been a minor league free agent, will compete for a spot in San Diego’s bullpen. In a corresponding roster move, right-hander Kyle Lloyd was designated for assignment.

Brewer, 25, has never pitched in the majors. A fourth-round draft pick by in 2011, he posted a 2.82 ERA across three levels of the ’ system in 2017. Brewer, who is capable of mid-90s velocity, relies on a cutter- combination.

Lloyd, a former 29th-round selection, made his major league debut in July, allowing four runs in a spot start at . The 27-year-old had a combined 5.01 ERA with Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso.

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Lucky Duck Foundation shifts focus to helping homeless

Gary Warth

After raising millions of dollars for various causes over more than a decade, the Lucky Duck Foundation has shifted its focus to concentrate solely on San Diego’s homeless population.

“It’s just gotten so devastating in San Diego County,” said Stephanie Kilkenny, one of the foundation’s co-founders, acknowledging situations faced by thousands of unsheltered people living in the area.

“It made sense for us to make the transition now so we could maybe some lives this winter,” she said.

The organization has raised more than $8.5 million since it was formed in 2005 as The AGI Foundation, named after the Arrowhead General Insurance company formerly owned by Kilkenny’s husband, Pat Kilkenny.

Half of the money came from the couple’s matching donations.

Their new effort will pay for essentials such as water, socks and other items to help people living on the street, and the foundation has funded two of the large tents under construction to house hundreds of homeless people.

In recent years, much of the foundation’s work has benefited Father Joe’s Villages, the Challenged Athletes Foundation and the Helen Woodward Animal Center. The Del Mar couple announced the change in focus to donors at the foundation’s annual Swing and Soiree fundraiser in October and at a Nov. 13 news conference at the University of San Diego.

While the foundation’s focus on homelessness is new, the couple has been passionate about the cause for years, and both were active in Father Joe’s Villages even before Lucky Duck was founded.

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Stephanie Kilkenny said she remembers being affected by seeing homeless people on the street as a child in New York, and her husband said in a 2016 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune that he saw homeless people in Portland on trips away from his family’s farm in Heppner, Ore.

“I was a grade-schooler at the time, but it always stuck with me because we never struggled like that,” he said. “It was embedded in my mind and heart for many years. So when I was able to give back, homeless missions became my cause.”

Patrick Kilkenny, 65, attended the University of Oregon and in 1984 bought Arrowhead General Insurance, where he created the AGI Foundation to encourage charitable giving from employees. After he sold the company, the foundation was expanded and rebranded in 2009 with a name that reflected his Irish heritage and his university’s mascot, the Ducks.

The foundation’s new focus coincides with new countywide efforts to help the homeless and a sense of urgency to get people off the street.

A record 117 homeless people have died in the county this year, with another 14 among the 20 who died in a hepatitis A outbreak that largely targeted the homeless population.

An annual count of the homeless throughout the county taken last January found about 9,100 homeless people, including 5,600 who were unsheltered, an increase of about 4 percent. Of the unsheltered,1,300 were in downtown alone, a 27 percent increase from 2016.

Earlier this year, the Kilkennys worked with restaurant owner Dan Shea and general partner Peter Seidler on one of the most ambitious attempts to get homeless people off the street temporarily.

The two business leaders’ effort paid off, and three structures are under construction and expected to open within weeks to shelter about 700 people.

Each tent costs about $800,000 to purchase and construct, and Seidler donated $1.5 million to the foundation for two tents, with the city funding the third. He donated another $1 million to the foundation to match future donations from others.

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The foundation is collecting money to pay for socks, toiletries and Med-Naps cleansing antiseptic towelettes to help prevent the spread of hepatitis A.

It also has a goal to distribute 30,000 bottles of water and 15,000 Med-Naps a month over the next 12 months.

The foundation also has launched One Act of Kindness San Diego, or 1 A-OK SD, to encourage donations of any size.

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MLB.com Padres provide Thanksgiving meals to families

By AJ Cassavell

SAN DIEGO -- More than 600 families arrived at Petco Park earlier this week, and more than 600 families returned home with a full Thanksgiving meal ready to be enjoyed.

The Padres' second annual Thanksgiving Turkey Distribution was a success once again. And the event appears to be growing into a staple of the San Diego community going forward. The Padres have partnered with the San Diego Food Bank to host the event each of the last two years. This month, the Food Bank identified 620 local families in need who turned up at Petco Park on Monday morning to receive a full Thanksgiving meal, including turkeys and traditional Thanksgiving sides.

Children in attendance interacted with the Padres' Friar mascot and Pad Squad. And perhaps most importantly, the event marked a cost-effective way to open the holiday season for families in need.

"The families can save the money they otherwise would've gone out and spent on the food, and they have a little extra cash to maybe get their kids Christmas gifts or whatnot," said Tom Seidler, the Padres' senior vice president of community affairs. "It's just a good fit for us to do things like this, just to see the families that came out, how appreciative they were, it's a good reminder to all of us that are a little bit more fortunate, to be grateful. What better week to be thankful and grateful than this week?"

The Padres teamed up with Ballast Point Brewing Co. to co-fund the event, which took place at Petco Park's main entrance.

"The best reactions from some of families were from some of the kids that came," said Seidler. "They were having fun. They saw the Friar and the Pad Squad gals, and it was an event for them. It wasn't just Thanksgiving dinner being served in a few days. It was them coming out to the ballpark and having a little bit of fun.

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"Seeing smiles on their faces is always inspiring to those of us on the other side of the equation."

The Turkey Distribution is the latest in an important month for the Padres in the San Diego community. Two weekends ago, Petco Park played host to Padres Pedal the Cause, a cycling fundraiser to raise money for four major cancer research facilities in San Diego. This year, the event raised $1.8 million, bringing the five-year total to nearly $4.8 million.

Padres Pedal the Cause has become a fixture on the calendar in San Diego, a highly anticipated event that brings a number of local institutions together for a worthwhile cause.

The Padres' Turkey Distribution, while smaller in scope, adds another impactful event to the November docket. After another successful year, it's here to stay.

"It really is a pretty simple event for us, because, in large part, the Food Bank is such a great partner of ours," Seidler said. "They do a great job identifying the families and sourcing the food for us. So it ends up being a great event -- one that I imagine we'll do every year for a long period of time."

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Friar Wire

Winter Padres: Urías, Naylor Named to All-AFL Team Padres prospects help Peoria win Arizona Fall League title

By Bill Center

One segment of the fall-winter baseball season ended last Saturday with 20-year-old Padres prospects Luis Urías and Josh Naylor being named to MLB Pipline’s post-season Arizona Fall League All-Star team and the Padres-aided Peoria Javelinas winning the Arizona Fall League championship.

Urías was the second baseman on the Arizona Fall League All-Star Team while Naylor was the first baseman.

Naylor, who is ranked the Padres’ №10 prospect by MLB Pipeline, led all regular Arizona Fall League first basemen in batting average (.304), home runs (three) and doubles (six) and finished the regular season on a five-game hitting streak. He had 14 RBIs and a .494 slugging percentage for a .831 OPS in the AFL.

Naylor was 1-for-4 with a run scored last Saturday as Peoria defeated Mesa 8–2 in the Arizona Fall League championship game. Urías, who started the AFL title game at shortstop, had a sacrifice fly and reached base via a walk and a hit-by-.

Urías, ranked the Padres’ №3 prospect and №48 among all minor leaguers, hit .315 during the Arizona Fall League season and finished third in the league with a .443 on-base percentage. He also finished ninth in OPS. Urías drew 14 walks while striking out only five times.

Urías also starred in the Arizona Fall League, hitting a homer while making several highlight- caliber plays while playing short, where the Padres see the Mexican native as a possibility.

Mysteriously, Urías spent little time at short during the regular AFL season. And despite his high on-base percentage, he hit eighth or ninth in the Javelinas lineup.

Perhaps the most notable performance by a Padres prospect in the AFL title game was from right-handed reliever Andres Munoz. The 18-year-old Munoz, who was also the youngest player in the AFL this fall, struck out two in an inning where his fastball “averaged” a tick under 100 mph. MLB.com’s Jim Callis called Munoz’s arm “the most electric” in the AFL. 9

Munoz finished the AFL with a 1.04 ERA in nine regular-season appearances with 11 in 8 2/3 innings. He had a 0.69 WHIP and a .138 opponents’ batting average.

Javier Guerra was the fourth Padres prospect to play in the AFL title game, entering in the ninth for defensive purposes. But the 22-year-old Panamanian’s winter isn’t over. Guerra, who hit .261 in the AFL with a homer and five RBIs, will play on Panama’s Under-23 National Team as well as play in the Panamanian Winter League.

Other final statistics from the AFL:

— Right-handed reliever David Bednar had a 1.13 ERA over seven appearances, allowing one hit and no walks with seven strikeouts in eight innings. He had a 0.13 WHIP and a .040 opponents’ batting average.

— Right-hander T.J. Weir had a 1.59 ERA in 5 2/3 innings over five appearances. He had a 0.71 WHIP and a .190 opponents’ batting average.

— Right-hander Walker Lockett was 2–1 with a 5.40 ERA in six starts with 22 strikeouts in 25 innings.

— Left-hander Jerry Keel was 1–0 with a 4.91 ERA in eight games (two starts).

— Right fielder Franmil Reyes was 5-for-30 with a home run before a fractured hook of the hamate bone ended his AFL season. He had surgery.

Other winter ball notes:

Fernando Tatis Jr. has finished his commitment with Estrellas in the Dominican Republic. He hit .246 in 17 games with a homer and three RBIs. He finished with a .358 on-base percentage.

— made 31 starts at catcher for the Padres in 2017 as a Rule 5 free agent. He has already made 29 starts behind the plate in the 35 games played by Magallanes in Venezuela. He is hitting .279 with a homer and 15 RBIs with a .339 on-base percentage.

— The Australian Baseball League opened last weekend with three Padres prospects in the league. Right-handed pitcher Lake Bachar allowed a run on two hits and three walks with four strikeouts in four innings in his first start for Canberra. Shortstop Gabriel Arias (2-for-11) and center fielder Buddy Reed (3-for-11 with a double and two walks) are also playing with Canberra. 10

Padres On Deck: Bumber Crop of Starting Pitchers Await Harvesting Gore, Quantrill, Morejon, Esponoza, Baez, Lauer, Lucchesi top long list

By Bill Center

We finish out series on the Padres prospects this week with a profile of the organization’s richest category — starting pitchers.

There is a theory in baseball that you need at least 10 starting pitchers on your ready list to have enough for a five-man rotation.

So if you have 18 to 20 starting pitching prospects in the organization — and that’s what the Padres have at the moment — how many will reach the Major League rotation? And when?

Those might be the two most critical questions facing the Padres’ hopes of being a contending team by the 2019 or 2020 seasons. They have ample starting pitching prospects. How many will actually make it?

Fourteen of the Padres top 30 prospects are starting pitchers.

Four of those — left-handers MacKenzie Gore and Adrian Morejon and right-handers Cal Quantrill and — are ranked among the top 83 prospects in all of the minor leagues.

But the vast majority of the Padres rotation prospects have yet to pitch in the upper echelons of the system, meaning help might not be immediate.

Here is a look at the Padres starting pitching prospects starting with those on MLB.com’s top- 30 list (in ranking order):

(1) LHP MacKenzie Gore: As soon as the Padres selected the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder with the third overall pick of last June’s draft, MLB.com designated 18-year-old Gore the №1 prospect in the Padres’ system and №29 in all of the minor leagues. Started seven games in the Arizona Rookie League and had a 1.27 with a .184 opponents’ batting average and 0.98 WHIP. Had 34 strikeouts in 21 ½ innings.

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(2) RHP Cal Quantrill: The Padres first pick (eighth overall) in the 2016 draft, the 22-year-old Quantrill finished the 2017 season with Double-A San Antonio (4.04 ERA in eight starts) after posting a 3.67 ERA in 14 starts with Advanced Single-A Lake Elsinore. Still only 2 ½ years removed from Tommy John surgery, the 6-foot-2, 165-pounder worked 116 innings in 2017 with 110 strikeouts. He is regarded the 43rd overall prospect in the minor leagues.

(5) RHP Adrian Morejon: A member of the Padres’ bountiful 2016 signing class, the 18-year- old, 6-foot, 165-pound Cuban finished the season at Single-A Fort Wayne after making his U.S. debut at short-season Single-A Tri-City, where he had a 3.57 ERA in seven starts. Ranked the 83rd overall prospect in the minor leagues, Morejon had a 4.23 ERA in six starts at Fort Wayne.

(6) RHP Anderson Espinoza: Ranking slipped only slightly although the 6-foot, 160-pounder missed the entire 2017 season with elbow problems that resulted in surgery. Ranked the №80 prospect in the minor leagues. Espinoza, who was acquired from the during the 2016 season in a trade for , is 19 years old.

(7) RHP Michel Baez: the 6-foot-8, 210-pound Cuban turned heads with his 2017 performance. Baez, 21, made his U.S. debut with Fort Wayne and had a 2.45 ERA in 10 starts with 82 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings against eight walks. He had a 0.84 WHIP and a .192 opponents’ batting average. Another member of the 2016 international signing class.

(8) LHP Eric Lauer: When he was the Padres’ third first-round pick (25th overall) in the 2016 draft, many experts thought he was the closest pitcher to being Major League ready. The 6- foot-3, 205-pound 22-year-old split the season between Advanced Single-A Lake Elsinore and San Antonio. He worked 122 2/3 innings in 22 games (21 starts) between the two stops in 2017 with 132 strikeouts against 36 walks.

(9) LHP : Although he was drafted after (fourth round) Quantrill and Lauer in 2016, the 6-foot-5, 204-pound Lucchesi has posted the best performances of the three. Like Quantrill and Lauer, the 24-year-old Lucchesi was promoted from Lake Elsinore to San Antonio during the 2017 season. Combining the two stops, Lucchesi made 24 appearances and 23 starts in 2017 with a 2.20 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP and a .200 opponents’ batting average. He had 148 strikeouts against 33 walks in 139 innings.

(13) RHP Enyel De Los Santos: Although he was acquired from Seattle in the 2015 trade for Joaquin Benoit, De Los Santos doesn’t turn 22 until Christmas Day. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder spent the entire 2017 season at San Antonio, where he was 10–6 with a 3.78 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 26 games (24 starts).

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(14) LHP Logan Allen: The youngest of the four players the Padres received from Boston in the 2015 trade for Craig Kimbrel, the 20-year-old Allen could soon join Manuel Margot and Carlos Asuaje in the Major Leagues. After opening the 2017 season with Fort Wayne (2.11 ERA in 13 starts with 85 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings with a 1.10 WHIP and .201 opponents’ batting average), he finished at Lake Elsinore (3.97 ERA in 13 games, 11 starts with 57 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings).

(15) RHP Jacob Nix: An non-arm injury delayed his start to the 2017 season. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound 21-year-old had a 4.32 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) with Lake Elsinore. Nix was Padres’ third-round pick in 2015 draft after Houston failed to sign him from 2014 draft.

(19) RHP : The 6-foot-7, 190-pound 19-year-old was the Padres’ third-round pick in the 2016 draft. After sending the first part of the 2017 in extended spring training, Thompson made seven starts with Fort Wayne where he had a 4.67 ERA in 27 innings while more than two years below the league average age. He also had 28 strikeouts, a 1.30 WHIP and a .237 opponents’ batting average.

(26) RHP : Acquired from Miami in the 2016 midseason trade for closer Fernando Rodney, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Paddack missed the 2017 season following “Tommy John” surgery. But the prized prospect will only be 22 at the start of the 2018 season.

(27) RHP Reggie Lawson: He was the 71st overall selection of the 2016 draft as a compensation pick. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound, 20-year-old native of Victorville pitched with Fort Wayne this season and had a 5.30 ERA in 17 starts with 89 strikeouts in 73 innings. But he also issued 35 walks with a 1.37 WHIP and .236 opponents’ batting average. Looked exceptional at times.

(28) RHP Sam Keating: the fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound 19- year-old made seven starts in the Arizona Rookie League with a 6.97 ERA. While the numbers weren’t great, the ceiling is very high.

Starting pitching prospects not among the Padres top-30 prospects:

— RHP Pedro Avila: Acquired from Washington in exchange for catcher Derek Norris, the 5- foot-11, 170-pound, 20-year-old Venezuelan had a 4.98 ERA in 10 early-season games (nine starts) for Lake Elsinore. He was then dropped a level to Fort Wayne, where he was 7–1 with a 3.05 ERA and spectacular at times in 14 starts. He had 117 strikeouts against 15 walks in 85 2/3 innings with the TinCaps with a 1.04 WHIP

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— RHP Cole Bellinger: The younger brother of N.L. Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger was the Padres’ 15th-round draft pick last June. Worked in relief in the Arizona Fall League (0.68 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings with a 0.98 WHIP), but leading members of the Padres development team see the 6-foot-1, 175-pound, Arizona prop prospect developing into a starter.

— RHP Ronald Bolanos: The 6-foot-3, 190-pound, 21-year-old Cuban was a member of the 2016 international signing class. Debuted at Fort Wayne where he had 4.41 ERA in 16 games (11 starts).

— RHP Miguel Diaz: The pick spent the 2017 season with the Padres and had a 7.34 ERA in 31 appearances (three starts). But Diaz, who turns 23 on Nov. 28, will likely return to the minors in 2018 to refine his considerable tools.

— RHP Henry Henry: The 6-foot-4 18-year-old from the Dominican Republic had a 3.48 ERA in 12 appearances (11 starts) at Tri-City. Didn’t allow a homer in 51 1/3 innings.

— LHP Osvaldo Hernandez: The 19-year-old Cuban had 20 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings in the Arizona Rookie League and 31 strikeouts in 27 innings over eight starts at Tri-City.

— LHP Nick Margevicius: The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder was the Padres seventh-round draft pick out of Rider University last June. After posting a 1.42 ERA in five games (four starts) in the Arizona Rookie League with 30 strikeouts in 19 innings, Margevicius was 3–0 with a 1.24 ERA in the Northwest League, where he had 0.83 WHIP and .189 opponents’ batting average with 32 strikeouts in 19 innings. Interesting.

— RHP Luis Patino: The 6-foot, 170-pound Colombian didn’t turn 18 until after his first pro season. Had 1.69 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and .193 opponents’ batting average in four late-season starts in the Dominican Summer League.

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