The 2012 MLB Draft is officially upon us and the Padres are in prime position to add to their already deep farm system with six picks in the first 100 selections.  Unfortunately, this year’s draft is not nearly as deep as last year’s when the Padres were able to add Cory Spangenberg, Joe Ross and Austin Hedges to the fold, but there are still plenty of talented players available.

Chase has already looked at a few potential Padres picks (here, here and here), so today we’re going to take a closer look at the Padres’ likely draft strategy to try and narrow down the possible scenarios.

San Diego’s drafting style has done a complete turn around in the last few years as Jaron Madison and his team were able to change processes to better focus on finding the best talent available and get as many looks as possible at that talent.  This has led to a change in the type of players the Padres have elected to target in recent years, which was as evident as ever in last year’s draft.

It has all been done in a concentrated effort to avoid continuing the drafting style that found one productive Major Leaguer in almost two decades.  Even members of the front office are willing to admit that the process in 2009 – when many of them were around – that led to the selection of star-athlete Donavan Tate and his eventual $6 million bonus was poorly executed without even considering what he has done on the field since that day.  Needless to say, changes were necessary. Continue reading “2012 MLB Draft: Padres Strategy, Draft Board, Predictions” »