Cubs nab ranked quartet from Padres

The San Diego Padres keep fueling the hot stove, and the Chicago Cubs are adding a haul of prospect talent.

What was first reported Monday is now official. Chicago has acquired four ranked prospects from San Diego in shortstops Reginald Preciado and Yeison Santana along with outfielders Owen Caissie and Ismael Mena -- none of whom is over 20 years old and three of whom haven’t played a professional game yet -- in exchange for Major League pitcher Yu Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini.

Preciado, San Diego’s No. 11 prospect prior to the deal, is the highest ranked talent headed to the Windy City, though he has yet to make his professional debut. The shortstop signed with the Padres for $1.2 million on July 2, 2019, a record for any Panamanian prospect, and likely would’ve headed to a short-season assignment this past summer had the Minor League season not been wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic. In August of 2018, Preciado led his native Panama to a surprise second-place finish in the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup, batting .393/.452/.500 and earning All-World Team honors for the tournament. Now 17, Preciado boasts hit, run, field, power and arm tools all graded at 50 (Major League average) or higher according to MLB Pipeline.

Like Preciado, outfielder Caissie hasn’t made his pro debut, but the outfielder was just selected in this year’s MLB Draft. The 45th overall pick decided to forego his commitment to play at the University of Michigan to sign with San Diego and now will be headed a little closer to home. Caissie is “highly projectable” according to Pipeline, which had the Ontario native ranked as San Diego’s No. 13 prospect and projects his power potential and plus arm as well suited for a corner outfield spot.

Caissie’s fellow outfielder Mena, San Diego’s No. 15 prospect, signed with the Padres out of the Dominican Republic on the same day as Preciado and is also waiting to play his first professional game. The Santo Domingo native is listed at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds with tremendous speed that MLB Pipeline rates as a 70 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. The lefty hitter and thrower could fit in the top three spots of a future big league order depending on how he develops. Mena also possesses above-average defensive abilities according to Pipeline.

Santana is the only prospect of the group to have seen action in pro ball. Now 20, the shortstop has posted stellar numbers in two stops at Rookie ball, combining to bat .306/.418/.425 in 77 games between the Dominican Summer League Padres in 2018 and Arizona League Padres 2 in 2019. Santana has walked 56 times in his brief professional career compared with 68 strikeouts, an impressive ratio for a player who played his first two seasons at 17 and 18 years old. Pipeline assesses him as a future big league shortstop due to his strong arm and range along with instincts to handle the position.

The continued a big few days for the Padres who acquired baseball’s No. 23 overall prospect Luis Patiño as part of a package to Tampa Bay in exchange for former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell on Sunday and reportedly came to terms to sign star 25-year-old shortstop Ha-seong Kim out of the Korea Baseball Organization earlier on Monday.