Padres in race for top-10 draft pick

At the beginning of the season, the Padres 40-man roster included uber prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., superstar Manny Machado, and the well-regarded youngster Luis Urias. All three players were current or former shortstops.

Last night, in a 2-1 loss to the odious Diamondbacks, the shortstop position was handled by one...Greg Garcia.

It was as sure a sign as any that the 2019 season has not gone as expected for our beleaguered squad from San Diego.

Tatis Jr. has missed dozens of games with injury and is currently shut down until the offseason. Urias has seemingly forgotten how to play his native position. Machado, meanwhile, is staying at third to accommodate a second base look for infielder Ty France, in part because the team has half a mind to create a positional battle between France and Urias at that spot in Spring Training.

With many of the team’s best-laid plans currently shrouded in smoke, it’s no surprise that, as of Monday, the Padres have been officially eliminated from divisional contention.

Unfortunately, this means the only race left for the Padres in September is an all-too-familiar one—the race for a top pick in next season’s Rule Four MLB Draft.

Tankathon.com has daily updates of MLB’s reverse standings, which show that the Padres are currently within striking distance of yet another top-10 pick. A screenshot of where the org sits at the moment:

In case you weren’t already aware, this is just further evidence that the Cincinnati Reds are our new archnemeses. With a couple Cinci’ wins and some San Diego losses, the Padres will get back into the 2020 top-10; there, they might have a chance to grab an impact player a la CJ Abrams. So...go Reds!

It’s not much consolation for seeing Greg Garcia play SS, but, if the Padres are going to drop ball games this month, we might as well look at it from an optimist’s perspective.