Padres' Opening Day roster includes trio of Rule 5 picks
Nearly 48 hours before their first pitch of the 2017 season, the San Diego Padres appear to have waved the white flag.
San Diego, widely expected to be baseball's worst team this year, released its Opening Day roster on Saturday, and even the most optimistic Padres fan can't be pleased.
In one of the oddest decisions in recent memory, all three of the Padres' 2016 Rule 5 draft picks - catcher Luis Torrens, infielder Allen Cordoba, and reliever Miguel Diaz - made the rebuilding team out of spring training.
The Rule 5 picks will be thrown directly into the fire after brief minor-league careers. Diaz - the oldest of the trio at 22 years, 124 days - is the only one to have played a full season of affiliated baseball above the rookie level.
PADRES' 2017 RULE 5 PICKS
| Player | Pos. | Age (Yrs-Days) | Highest MiLB Level | Career MiLB Gms. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allen Cordoba | IF | 21-116 | Johnson City (R-Appy Lg.) | 206 |
| Miguel Diaz | RHP | 22-124 | Wisconsin (A-Midwest) | 72 |
| Luis Torrens | C | 20-334 | Staten Island (R-NY Penn); Charleston (A-Sally) | 161 |
According to Baseball America's JJ Cooper, the 2017 Padres will be the first team to field three Rule 5 picks on their Opening Day roster since the 2003 Detroit Tigers. Those 2003 Tigers lost an American League-record 119 games, one shy of the all-time modern-era record set by the 1962 Mets.
As Rule 5 picks, Cordoba, Diaz, and Torrens must now remain on the Padres' 25-man roster for all of 2017, otherwise they'll be returned to their original teams (the Cardinals, Brewers, and Yankees, respectively).
In another strange move, the Padres are starting 2017 with just three outfielders on their active roster, and appear to be carrying four catchers - Torrens, Austin Hedges, Hector Sanchez, and Christian Bethancourt - for the time being. Bethancourt has been converting to pitcher this spring, however, and is expected to work primarily in relief while seeing only a bit of time behind the plate in a new "super-utility" role.
These young Padres will get their season underway Monday against none other than Clayton Kershaw. Welcome to the show, kids.