San Diego Padres: Young Prospects Are Showing Definite Promise

The San Diego Padres might not be in much of a position to compete this year, but if you read this excellent article by Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune, you will find some excellent ways that the new ownership can make baseball a big deal in San Diego again.

Center stresses the fact that the Padres need to be on television more, and he also alludes to the fact that they need to stop rebuilding and finally utilize the talent that they have to compete.

After reading that, I thought I would check in on how some of the upper-level prospects on the farm are doing so far this year and figure out how they might be able to benefit the big league club.

Immediately, Yasmani Grandal must've popped into your head. He is a young, switch-hitting catcher who actually seems to have a little bit of power to go along with that. He is currently on the DL, but in his first 24 major league games, he was hitting .312 with five home runs and 15 RBI.

The future behind the plate is solid to say the least.

However, another interesting piece of the lineup in the future could easily be Jedd Gyorko. Even though he is currently blocked at the hot corner by Chase Headley, maybe the Padres will be able to find a way to have them coexist.

Gyorko is simply crushing the ball in Triple-A with a .331 average, 17 home runs and 65 RBI. You can easily see that bat combining with the recently extended Carlos Quentin to create a solid nucleus in the lineup.

Of course, the Padres have a long way to go before they become serious contenders in the National League West, but since they have had a little bit of trouble scoring runs in the recent past, seeing these young players rising must be an encouraging sign.

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