Welcome to Gaslamp Ball's 2013 MLB Draft coverage. The Padres have three picks on day one for new Director of Scouting Billy Gasparino's first draft in that role. Gasparino was hired last September to replace Jaron Madison's who followed some other former Padres decision makers to the Chicago Cubs. Gasparino was an internal hire promoted from a national cross checker position and was already familiar with the Padres' top targets. His boss, Chad McDonald, will also oversee the draft and has been the Assistant GM in charge of Player Personnel since Josh Byrnes took the reigns. He will probably pop up on some broadcasts or pregame shows to talk about draftees in the coming days.
For some comprehensive draft reading material, Matt Garrioch at SBNation's Minorleagueball.com has you covered. His 2013 MLB Draft Essentials article gives you plenty of links to all the basics and some of the nitty gritty of the upcoming draft. You can check our the draft order to see that the Padres pick 13th overall with their 1st round pick, 50th overall with their 2nd round pick and 69th overall with their competitive balance pick. You can also peek at Garrioch's colleague John Sickels' latest mock draft. He has the Padres swooping up HS OF Austin Meadows with the 13th pick. He previously had HS SS J.P. Crawford going to the Friars. Either would be good choices in my opinion.
Another good resource is over at PadresPublic.com with their Padres 2013 MLB Draft Preview. Their PadresProspects section is always good for getting the lowdown on future Padres. You can also give the writer a follow on twitter: @PadresProspects. His preview includes a bit on the Padres draft strategy, a rundown of the top picks in the draft with some thoughts on if they could up as the Padres pick and his own prediction for the 13th overall selection.
Please feel free to post any other mock drafts you find or give your own opinions about what the Padres should or shouldn't do. Also, as part of Gaslamp Ball draft open thread tradition we will discuss any players with San Diego connections, make fun (or puns) of any interesting names that pop up and trash our division rivals' choices (or shake in our boots if so needed).
The draft is scheduled to start at 4 PM PT.