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Padres Press Clips Monday, April 3, 2017 Article Source Author Page Friar talk: Why 2017 Padres are as interesting as ever UT San Diego Sanders 2 Pads owners hav won PR game that put off Spanos UT San Diego Krasovic 6 Padres’ Opening-Day payroll about $68.5 million UT San Diego UT SD 11 Padres head into opening day as overwhelming, atypical underdogs UT San Diego Lin 14 Fort Wayne sets Opening Day roster UT San Diego Sanders 17 Padres set for opening test against Kershaw MLB.com Thornburg 19 Hedges, Renfroe could be first wave of talent MLB.com Cassavell 21 Padres giving three Rule 5 players a chance MLB.com Cassavell 23 Padres Face Dodgers for MLB Openign Day NBC San Diego Harris 25

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Friar talk: Why 2017 Padres are as interesting as ever Jeff Sanders Contact Reporter

Yes, the Padres are going to be as bad as you think.

The headline on Yahoo! Sports’ Padres preview is an easy one to write when a little

more than half the team’s $66 million opening day payroll is dedicated to players not

on the roster.

Or when Monday’s opposing pitcher (Clayton Kershaw at $33 million) makes more

than the 25 active Padres ($28.13 million).

Jeff Sanders #Dodgers opening day starter Clayton Kershaw ($33M) making more than active 25 #Padres ($28.13M). 9:04 PM - 2 Apr 2017

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They’re a favorite to contend for the No. 1 overall pick. They could have a tough time

cracking 60 wins. There isn’t much reason, the casual fan might say, to tune in before

the 2019 season.

They would be wrong.

The 2015 season aside (who wasn’t intrigued by that out-of-nowhere spending

spree?), the 2017 season might shape up to be the most interesting ‘round here in

more than decade even if the Padres flirt with the sixth 100-loss season in franchise

history.

Here’s why …

Kiddin’ around Hunter Renfroe announced his presence with authority last September with four

homers in a promising 11-game sample, one of which became the first regular-season

bomb to land on top of the Western Metal Supply Co. building. Manuel

Margot didn’t make quite the same splash in his big league debut (.649 OPS), but he

showed off his athleticism to the hometown crowd earlier in the year with home-run

saving grab in the All-Star Futures Game. Neither is the favorite to win the NL Rookie

of the Year award (that’s Dansby Swanson, according to ESPN and Union-

Tribune experts), but they’ll get enough playing time to be mentioned as contenders

at the very least.

Don’t know about you, but we’re infinitely more interested in watching their

development than last year’s outfield storyline: Will Matt Kemp and Melvin

Upton play well enough to unload their contracts?

That outfield defense Speaking of Kemp, the Padres could shift from having one of the worst outfield

defenses in baseball two years ago to one of the best. Renfroe already has one of the

better arms in the game (so says one scout in Tom Krasovic’s Pink Pony Chat) and

moves well for the Padres to briefly consider slotting him in center field, flanked by

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the speedy Margot and Travis Jankowski. While it remains to be seen if that

alignment becomes a reality at some point this season, the Padres figure to cover

more ground than quite some time with Renfroe in right, Margot in center and

Jankowski – who ranked second among center fielders in range metrics in 2016 – in

left field. The starting staff looks like they could keep them quite busy, too, if you’re

into web gems …

Hedging their bets … unless, of course, Austin Hedges is every bit as good as advertised behind the

plate. He’s been labeled the catcher of the future since the Padres drafted him in the

second round in 2011. The time to fulfill that prophecy is now and we’ve seen first-

hand what a game-changer it is to have a defensive plus behind the plate (see Rene

Rivera and the 2014 staff). Better yet, the 24-year-old Hedges came into his own

offensively last year at Triple-A El Paso, leaving us to want to lock in on each of his at-

bats as he gets his first crack at a starting job.

‘Court in session The Padres’ back-up catcher might be even more interesting.

Because Christian Bethancourt isn’t just a backup catcher.

He’s an outfielder and – infinitely more important – he’s made the roster as an eighth

reliever.

Only the 25-year-old Bethancourt won’t be on call for mop-up duty as he was last

year. No, the ability to get real outs as he demonstrated this spring means we could

see inventive manager Andy Green call on him as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the

fifth, send him to the mound to get a right-handed hitter out to lead off the sixth,

move him behind the plate the final two outs and put him back on the mound two

innings later.

This uncharted territory makes Bethancourt’s usage must-see TV as his role – and

how opposing managers react – evolves over the course of a season.

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Other storylines worth tracking the whole year include Wil Myers’ living up to the

most expensive contract in franchise history, Ryan Schimpf continuing an

unprecedented power binge, the attempt to again carry multiple Rule-5 guys after

hitting on Luis Perdomo last year and anticipating the next call-ups, from Walker

Lockett to Dinelson Lamet to Phil Maton.

No, the Padres may not win too many games.

They’ll still be a lot of fun to watch if you’re interested in what the Padres’ future

holds.

That story starts today.

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Pads owners have won PR game that put off Spanos Tom Krasovic Contact Reporter

The most interesting game unfolding on San Diego’s sports scene is one off the field.

Padres ownership has won over local media and fans, by and large, if not through

baseball know-how, through sincerity.

Peter Seidler and Ron Fowler have engaged locals in a way that Dean Spanos, the

overly enabled Chargers owner, never did over a lengthy San Diego tenure that soon

will end.

So far on the field, the Padres are frequent losers under Seidler and Fowler, but San

Diegans seem to buy the full-on youth movement they are selling, the race to the

bottom, likes of which have gained favor in major league baseball’s warped system.

Fans seem not to hold against Seidler and Fowler the team’s four losing seasons in

their four-and-a-half years in charge, or that the Padres are serving up another non-

contender, starting this afternoon, at a time when the Chargers’ exit created a timely

chance to give the city a lift.

They’ve bought themselves time by reaching out.

Unassuming millionaires, Seidler and Fowler give off an “every man” vibe —

genuinely, I think -- in talks with fans and media.

Fowler is a big-time San Diego philanthropist whose $25-million donation to San

Diego State academics this year was nearly double the Chargers’ impressive $13

million in charitable contributions dating to their foundation’s 1995 inception.

“The Beer Man,” as Fowler is known, for having made his fortune as a local

distributor and a LaBatt Brewing fixer-upper, shoots straight when talking Padres.

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When questions are barbed, he doesn’t duck and run. Amid continual Padres flat-

lining, he has met with scores of ticket-holders, answering their questions.

Seidler is no less open. A cancer survivor, private-equity ace and philanthropist, he is

also bent on solving San Diego’s escalating homeless problem.

Do they have a clue about running a big-league club?

They may have started out over their head, which happens often with newbie owners.

It appears they’ve learned from their missteps.

Both Seidler and Fowler behave as if it’s important to get San Diegans to trust them.

They believe that selling themselves to the public is a big part of their role as franchise

stewards.

Public relations seems far more important to them than it was Spanos, a scion who

succeeded his father, Alex, a construction magnate, as top Chargers executive in 1994.

Spanos maintained a private profile, despite pleas that engaging his public could

build political capital toward getting a new stadium.

Several years ago, when a public relations and political expert worked for the

Chargers, the newcomer tried to persuade Spanos to step to the fore.

All that got him was fired.

Chargers staffer Jeff Marston, invoking the heightened profiles that Padres owner

John Moores and CEO Larry Lucchino had maintained in pushing a ballpark

initiative, which voters approved in 1998, made a failed pitch for Spanos to do

likewise.

“I told (Spanos and other Bolts execs), the Chargers do so much good around the

community, good deeds worth millions of dollars, but don’t let anybody know about

the good that they do,” Marston told the Union-Tribune’s Chris Jenkins last year.

“His response was something along the lines of, ‘Well, I appreciate that. But that’s

just not what our family is all about. It’s not what we do. We do not seek attention.’

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“I leaned forward and said something like, ‘Well, Dean, you’re just going to have to

get over that.’ I looked at the foreheads of the other two people at that meeting and

they read like the news ticker in Times Square: ‘Gee, Jeff, it’s been nice working with

you.’’

Soon enough, Marston said, their expressions were confirmed.

“Dean sat there and smiled, almost laughed, then he fired me,” he said. “But he fired

me in a way that I greatly respect. He didn’t get mad at me. He didn’t let any emotion

enter into it. He just fired me. And that was that.”

My sense is Spanos never won over the majority of Chargers fans, even as Bolts teams

were piling up victories.

Years before he made himself dead to many of them by deciding to move the team

north, a good number of San Diegans still perceived him as an entitled interloper

from Stockton although he’d spent decades here.

Worse yet, putting a dent in the notion that a team’s win-loss record doubles as its

identity, I found many Chargers fans ambivalent, or worse, toward Spanos even amid

prolonged playoff contention unlike the Padres have ever known.

There just wasn’t a simpatico.

A shame, because an NFL owner who has an ounce of “every man” can get the public

on his side if his team is only decent, a bar the Spanos Bolts cleared in many years.

Consider that under Spanos, the Chargers achieved more consistent winning and

playoff contention than either the Padres or Chargers have in their combined 99

seasons.

Spanos presided over a 10-year period, starting in 2004, in which the Chargers won

60 percent of their games and claimed six playoff berths, four as an AFC West

champion.

By San Diego standards, the 10 years weren’t a Golden Era. They were a Platinum

Era.

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And yet, at a time when he could’ve had San Diego eating out of his hand, our Dean

was barely more popular than Dean Wormer was to the Animal House gang.

He was viewed as aloof, harmfully passive — and overly devoted to hiring family

members.

Of course, he made mistakes during those 10 years, but I daresay his public image

during that stretch of .600 winning, rather astonishingly, lagged the current image of

Seidler and Fowler, whose tenure has yielded a .455 win percentage and constant

non-contention.

Frankly, the Padres haven’t played a meaningful game under Seidler and Fowler — or

for that matter, at all, since 2010 ended -- and may not again before 2019.

As Padres CEO, Sandy Alderson said he enjoyed a book titled “Perception is Reality.”

It comes to mind here.

The 33-year Spanos Era is winding down, as the Chargers this morning will

commence spring workouts in anticipation of leaving Chargers Park for Orange

County in July.

For all of the frustrations of the Spanos Era — and the failure to get to a Super Bowl in

the platinum stretch is a defining one — the .472 win rate edged the .464 pace of the

franchise’s 14 NFL seasons under owner Gene Klein.

Seidler and Fowler bought the Padres in August 2012.

How does their .455 win rate and absence of winning seasons stack up with the initial

four full years of the Padres’ other four ownership groups?

We’ll work backward.

Under Moores from 1995-98, the Padres had a win rate of .532, two winners and two

playoff berths, one a portal to the World Series.

Under the Tom Werner group, from 1991-94, the rate was .454 with two winners.

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Joan Kroc assumed ownership early in the 1984 season after the death of her

husband, Ray Kroc. The ’84 team reached the World Series.

Over a four-year span that dates to 1985, the results were .471 and two winners.

Starting out with an expansion team, Ray Kroc endured four bad seasons that yielded

a .367 pace.

I’m not inclined to draw big conclusions from these snapshots.

I’d suggest that persona building is important for team owners.

In the NFL, the money train rolls on regardless. But good PR helps in the Stadium

Game, and in building out the business.

Though he did many charitable deeds, many of which were chronicled in the team’s

game programs, Spanos came up short in the “connecting” role.

Give him an F+ there.

Assign a C-/D+ for his sports stewardship.

The grades for Seidler and Fowler are A+ and D/I (incomplete), respectively.

The A+ is serving them well.

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Padres' opening-day payroll about $68.5 million In a glaring representation of their rebuild, the Padres’ opening-day, 25-man payroll

is roughly $68.5 million, $31.5 million of which will go to players no longer on the

team.

The sum is the Padres’ lowest since they opened with a $55 million payroll in 2012.

The $34.5 million* San Diego owes to players on the active roster and the disabled list

includes 21 salaries under $1 million — an indication of the club’s overall youth.

(Seven of the players are 23 or younger, while many of the others are also short on

big-league service time.)

After their ill-fated push leading up to the 2015 season, the Padres fielded a franchise-

record opening-day payroll of $108 million. That number dipped to about $99 million

in 2016.

Amid their course reversal last summer, the Padres ate a significant amount of cash in

trading such veterans as James Shields, Matt Kemp, Melvin Upton Jr. and Andrew

Cashner. This year, they will pay a total of $31.5 million for Upton, Shields, Kemp and

Hector Olivera, who was released after being swapped for Kemp.

So where has the bulk of the Padres’ funds gone?

In another conspicuous sign of their rebuild, the organization has committed roughly

$80 million, including overage taxes, to international prospects since last July 2.

Their previous record for a single international class was $5 million.

The Padres still could add to their massive expenditure on foreign talent. If coveted

Cuban outfield prospect Luis Robert is declared a free agent before June 15, San

Diego is expected to be a contender for his services.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the Padres’ international bonus pool

will be capped at about $5 million in each of the next two signing periods.

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“The payroll at the major league level will go up as some of these other costs go

down,” Executive Chairman Ron Fowler told the Union-Tribune over the offseason.

In 2016, the Padres also spent more than $14 million in draft bonuses, up from $3.7

million in 2015. According to Baseball America, the team’s draft bonus pool this year

is a little more than $11 million.

*For official opening-day payroll purposes, Major League Baseball counts pro-rated

portions of signing bonuses, as well as guaranteed salaries to be earned by players no

longer on the roster. The Padres’ $1 million buyout of Alexei Ramirez’s unexercised

option will be counted against year-end payroll.

Below is the Padres’ opening-day payroll breakdown.

Wil Myers $4,500,000 ($3,000,000 actual payment)

Jered Weaver $3,000,000

Yangervis Solarte $2,625,000

Brandon Maurer $1,900,000

Christian Friedrich (DL) $1,790,000

Erick Aybar $1,750,000

Trevor Cahill $1,750,000

Jhoulys Chacin $1,750,000

Clayton Richard $1,750,000

Brad Hand $1,375,000

Carter Capps (DL) $987,500

Craig Stammen $900,000

Hector Sanchez $750,000

Jarred Cosart $566,300

Ryan Schimpf $546,200

Colin Rea (DL) $545,800

Robbie Erlin (DL) $545,500

Ryan Buchter $544,700

Travis Jankowski $544,300

Luis Perdomo $544,300

Christian Bethancourt $541,800

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Luis Sardinas $541,800

Alex Dickerson (DL) $541,500

Austin Hedges $537,100

Hunter Renfroe $535,900

Buddy Baumann (DL) $535,700

Manuel Margot $535,600

Jose Torres $535,400

Allen Cordoba $535,000

Miguel Diaz $535,000

Luis Torrens $535,000

Retained salaries:

Melvin Upton Jr. $15,450,000

James Shields $11,000,000

Matt Kemp/Hector Olivera $5,000,000

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Padres head into opening day as overwhelming, atypical underdogs Dennis Lin Contact Reporter

With three Rule 5 draftees and four catchers — one of whom will pitch — the Padres

head into opening day as overwhelming, atypical underdogs. San Diego, which owes

roughly half its payroll to players no longer on the team, could very well lose more

games than anyone else this season, but it won’t be for lack of effort, or unorthodoxy.

Picture this: Late Monday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, left-hander Clayton Kershaw

is on cruise control, reminding the opposition of his Cy Young ability. Seeking a

spark, the Padres call down to the bullpen. Christian Bethancourt, the newly minted

reliever with the mid-90s fastball, jogs in from right field, bypasses the mound, enters

the dugout and makes a beeline to the bat rack.

Before he takes the mound in the ensuing half-inning, the righty will pinch-hit against

Kershaw. How exactly it will work remains to be seen.

“Logistically, there’s questions that arise from his skill set that other people don’t

have to encounter,” manager Andy Green said. “If you want to hit him before he

pitches, is he warming up underneath in the cage rather than down in the bullpen? …

Dodger Stadium doesn’t afford us the luxury that we have (at Petco Park) to throw

underneath. He’s going to have to go down to the ‘pen, throw early, get hot early.

We’re going to have to have some foresight for how to use him so he can come down

and grab a bat and get to work.”

Bethancourt is the poster child for a highly unusual opening-day roster. The Padres

are rolling the dice with youth and a suspect rotation, a mixture that should assure

another high draft pick, another significant piece for their rebuilding project. But

even if San Diego loses 100 games, how it gets through the year could be interesting.

Go back to Bethancourt, a baseball unicorn. No major leaguer has ever caught more

than five games and pitched more than five games in the same season. Bethancourt

might do that by the All-Star break.

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To be clear, he will function primarily as a bullpen arm and a pinch-hitter —

secondarily as an occasional catcher and an emergency outfielder. Since

Bethancourt’s pitching experiment began late last summer, the Padres have seen

enough in the out-of-options backstop to keep it going. In 8 1/3 Cactus League

innings, he allowed two runs and touched 97 mph.

The Padres, on paper, will be overmatched for much of a schedule that is rough from

the start. They have only one off-day in April and just two in May.

“That screams, early in the season, eight-man bullpen,” Green said. “(Bethancourt)

provides us that unique opportunity to carry a bat off the bench and also be an eighth

man. Now, he’s going to have to pitch and perform to stay in that role, but the signs in

spring training were largely positive.”

The Padres’ three youngest members, meanwhile, figure to receive significant time to

acclimate. The club is the first to carry three Rule 5 picks — right-hander Miguel Diaz,

catcher Luis Torrens and utility player Allen Cordoba — on an opening-day roster

since Detroit in 2003. (Those Tigers finished with 119 losses, one off the modern-day

record for the most in a season.)

Despite what could be immense growing pains — until now, none of the Padres’ trio

has played above Low Single-A — there is a case for the strategy. Both Rule 5

selections who opened with the team last season are still in the organization: right-

hander Luis Perdomo will start Friday’s home opener, while outfielder Jabari Blash

could be a midseason call-up.

“We’ll look at it on a week-to-week, month-to-month basis depending on where the

club is at and where they’re at,” General Manager A.J. Preller said of the latest

neophytes. “We’re not looking to have guys who won’t be able to contribute at all, but

I think it’ similar to Perdomo last year, who early in the season struggled a little bit

but as the season went on got better and better — that’s what we’re looking for with

this crew. … Each guy’s a little different, but I think we feel good overall with their

potential to help the club.”

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The Padres believe Diaz, who projects as a future starter, is further along at this point

than Perdomo was a year ago. Rival scouts like the tools and defensive versatility of

Cordoba. Torrens, if he sticks all season, would add catching upside to the farm

system.

Their inclusion on the roster did come at the expense of others. Blash hit seven

Cactus League home runs but will start the season with Triple-A El Paso. So, too, will

Cory Spangenberg, who, like Cordoba, can bounce between infield and outfield but, in

a surprise, was optioned Saturday.

At least one player was immediately rewarded for a solid spring. Hector Sanchez, who

had his contract selected, will serve as a switch-hitting bat off the bench, a reserve

first baseman and one of multiple backups for starting catcher Austin Hedges.

There is, of course, a caveat to the Padres’ highly unusual roster construction.

Opening day, besides the fanfare, is just that, the first game on the calendar.

Especially for a team this young and potentially pitching-challenged, tweaks will be

made throughout the season.

“Just keeping as much depth as possible,” Preller said, explaining the first batch of

choices. “It’s a long season, we just want to make sure that we were covered in

different areas. We know we’re going to have to call down to Triple-A and get guys.

That’s the message to some of the guys that were sent down or had good camps. Put

yourself in a position to go out there and perform well, and when we need you and

want you you’re going to be the first name called.”

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Fort Wayne sets opening day roster Jeff Sanders Contact Reporter

As deep as the Padres starting pitching is in the lower levels, it’s not surprise to see a

number of young arms repeating low Single-A Fort Wayne to start the 2017 season.

Left-hander Logan Allen – still just 19 – leads that group after posting a 3.33 ERA,

striking out 47 and allowing a 1.30 WHIP in 54 innings last year in the Midwest

League. Other notable returners include right-hander Austin Smith, catcher Marcus

Greene Jr. and first baseman Brad Zunica.

The 25-man roster also includes five players ranked among MLB.com’s top-30

prospects: No. 8 Fernando Tatis Jr., No. 9 Jorge Ona, No. 14 Hudson Potts, No. 19

Allen and No. 30 Buddy Reed.

Tatis and Potts headline the six teenagers on the roster. 17-year-old Eguy Rosario is

the youngest on the bunch after hitting .346/.423/.472 with one homer, 25 RBIs and

22 steals in 60 games last summer in the Dominican Summer and Arizona rookie

leagues.

The entire roster is below. Click here for a full breakdown from the TinCaps’ official

website.

2017 FORT WAYNE TINCAPS’ OPENING DAY ROSTER PITCHERS (13)

LHP Logan Allen (19)

RHP David Bednar (22)

RHP Lou Distacio (23)

LHP Will Headean (23)

LHP Jerry Keel (23)

RHP Nick Monroe (23)

RHP Emmanuel Ramirez (22)

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RHP Hansel Rodriguez (20)

RHP Jesse Scholtens (22)

LHP Ben Sheckler (21)

RHP Austin Smith (20)

RHP Wilmer Torres (20)

RHP Mark Zimmerman (23)

CATCHERS (2)

Marcus Green Jr. (22)

Webster Rivas (26)

INFIELDERS (6)

Reinaldo Ilarraza (18)

Hudson Potts (18)

Eguy Rosario (17)

Fernando Tatis (18)

G.K. Young (22)

Brad Zunich (21)

OUTFIELDERS (4)

Rod Boykin (21)

Jorge Ona (20)

Buddy reed (21)

Jack Suwinski (18)

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Padres set for opening test against Kershaw By Chad Thornburg / MLB.com | April 1st, 2017

A young, rebuilding Padres squad will begin the season with a daunting task before them -- facing

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw on his home turf in Los Angeles. The Padres will travel north to Chavez

Ravine on Monday for an Opening Day bout between National League West foes.

The outing will mark Kershaw's seventh consecutive Opening Day start; with the outing, he'll tie Don

Sutton and Don Drysdale for most season-opening starts in franchise history. It's also his fourth time

facing the Padres in a season opener; the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and former MVP

opened the season against San Diego in 2012, '15 and '16 -- all Dodgers victories -- limiting the Padres to

just three runs and nine hits through 16 innings.

"Kershaw is a guy that legitimately has the potential to be the best pitcher to ever pitch in this game,"

Padres first baseman Wil Myers said. "We've got nothing to lose. Let's go out there and have some fun,

face the best pitcher there is. I think that's a really cool way to start the season, starting with the best,

starting with the NL West champions and Kershaw."

Kershaw missed significant time in 2016 due to a herniated disk in his lower back, but was his usual

dominant self when available, posting a 1.69 ERA and a 15.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 21 starts.

The 29-year-old southpaw worked this offseason on adding a fourth pitch, a changeup, to his arsenal.

"You're never good enough," Kershaw said. "You stay the same long enough and, well, another pitch can't

hurt. Might be a day when I need to throw that a lot. Hopefully, I get to that day."

With a healthy Kershaw, a deep rotation behind him and a potent lineup led by the NL's reigning Rookie

of the Year Corey Seager, the Dodgers are eyeing more than just their fifth consecutive division title in

2017.

"Our expectations of ourselves are to get to the World Series and win it," manager Dave Roberts said.

"We feel that we have the team, the depth to do that. But now, it's up to us to go play baseball games and

execute."

The Padres, meanwhile, are hoping to show improvement after finishing last in the NL West and trading

away much of their veteran core in 2016. In the midst of a rebuild, San Diego now enters the season with

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promising collection of young talent, including two potential Rookie of the Year candidates in outfielders

Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe, ranked No. 23 and No. 42, respectively, among MLBPipeline.com's

Top 100 prospects. Renfroe is expected to start for the Padres in right field, while Margot is expected to

see considerable playing time in the big leagues this season.

"Everybody's obviously excited for Opening Day," Myers said. "One thing I will tell the young guys is to

take in their first Opening Day. It's something I didn't really do during my first one. It's something I wish I

would've stepped back and thought, 'Hey, this is my first Opening Day in the big leagues. I'm here.'"

Jhoulys Chacin will start for the Padres, drawing the second Opening Day assignment of his career.

Chacin, who signed a one-year deal with San Diego this winter, last pitched in a season opener in 2013

with the Rockies. The 29-year-old hurler impressed pitching for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball

Classic and will look to pick up where he left off with the Angels in 2016, when he compiled a 0.75 ERA

through his final four starts.

"It's definitely more motivation," Chacin said of facing Kershaw. "He is, for a lot of guys, the best pitcher

in baseball. And to go against him, it really gives you motivation to throw well and go inning-by-inning

with him. Hopefully I can match him and beat him."

Things to know about this game

• The Dodgers hold a 7-3 advantage in the Opening Day matchups between these clubs, including last

season's 15-0 blowout at Petco Park. The Dodgers shut out the Padres through three a games to begin the

2016 season, outscoring them, 25-0. It wasn't until the Padres' fourth game, a 13-6 win over the Rockies at

Coors Field, that they scored their first run.

• Since his big league debut in 2008, Kershaw ranks first in the Majors in opponents' batting average

(.205), strikeouts (1,918), WHIP (1.01), shutouts (15), and winning percentage (.677).

• Renfore and Margot excelled for Triple-A El Paso last year en route to a Pacific Coast League

championship. Margot batted .304 and stole 30 bases, while Renfroe earned PCL MVP honors by hitting

.306 with 30 home runs. The duo received a standing ovation from the Padres faithful when they were

introduced at last year's Futures Game in San Diego.

• The Padres will face three lefty starters in this four-game series against L.A.: Kershaw, Rich Hill and

Hyun-Jin Ryu. In 2016, San Diego batters hit .250 against left-handers compared with a .230 clip vs.

righties.

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Hedges, Renfroe could be first wave of talent By AJ Cassavell / MLB.com | @AJCassavell | April 2nd, 2017

SAN DIEGO -- It's a particularly apt metaphor, given the city.

"Waves of talent" and "waves of prospects" are phrases used by people inside and outside of the Padres

organization to describe the farm system's new-found depth. The plan, as the metaphor implies, is for one

group of home-grown youngsters to follow another to the Majors in short succession -- with the next

group close behind.

The first "wave" hits Monday. Catcher Austin Hedges, right fielder Hunter Renfroe and center

fielder Manuel Margot were each named to their first Opening Day roster on Saturday. All three are

expected to start the opener at Dodger Stadium and all three will see regular playing time moving

forward.

"We've talked about a layering effect," said Padres general manager A.J. Preller. "That is definitely the

first of the young guys that are going to come up and contribute. The exciting part is that there's a couple

groups coming after that as well. If we do this the right way, over the next six, seven, eight years, each

year there's going to be other groups of guys that have a chance to contribute."

It's not always so simple. The Opening Day roster is a testament to that. Among the 25 players

to break camp with the club, only Hedges, Renfroe and Travis Jankowski developed exclusively

within the Padres' organization.

There's reason to believe the current group of prospects is different. Most notably, the Padres

have spent an unprecedented $80 million plus on the amateur international market during the

current signing period. They snagged six of the top 84 selections the most recent Draft and have

traded six veterans for prospects since June.

"What we're doing right now with our farm system is something really cool," Hedges said. "I

think they're going to have a lot of success. And I think this first wave right now is something the

fans can get used to, watching young guys come up that were in the organization."

At some point this season, the next group could arrive, possibly in the form of Luis Urias, the

club's No. 7 prospect per MLBPipeline.com, Carlos Asuaje (No. 11), Dinelson Lamet (No. 12)

and Phil Maton (No. 18), and Michael Gettys (No. 13) could follow next year.

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The Padres, however, feel as though the biggest waves are also the farthest away. Right-

handers Anderson Espinoza (No. 2) and Cal Quantrill (No. 4) likely won't make an impact until

2019. Adrian Morejon (No. 5), Fernando Tatis Jr. (No. 8) and Gabriel Arias -- three players who

stood out during camp -- were all born in 1999 or later.

This spring, those youngsters came together on the Padres' back fields for a series of ultra-

competitive intrasquad games.

Preller, given his scouting background, certainly enjoyed those.

"A lot of fun," Preller said, breaking into a full grin. "Our scouts obviously have a vision in terms

of what they think guys are going to be. And then you see the different legs -- international, pro

and amateur -- come together. They're guys we acquired all different ways. ...It's just Spring

Training on the backfield. But it's a good first step for them."

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Padres giving three Rule 5 players a chance By AJ Cassavell / MLB.com | @AJCassavell | April 2nd, 2017

SAN DIEGO -- It took plenty of wheeling and dealing for Padres general manager A.J. Preller to acquire

the first three selections in December's Rule 5 Draft. He wasn't about to let them get away without first

giving them a big league shot.

Right-hander Miguel Diaz, catcher Luis Torrens and shortstop Allen Cordoba were all part of the

Opening Day squad the Padres unveiled on Saturday. Per Rule 5 stipulations, all three must remain with

the team for the duration of the season, or they'll be offered back to their original organization.

"Each guy's a little different," Preller said. "But we feel good overall with their potential to help the club."

Diaz, the only player of the three who has recorded a full season at Class A, is furthest along. The former

Brewers prospect posted a 2.25 ERA while allowing three hits and four walks over eight Cactus League

innings.

Meanwhile, Torrens (.167 average, 26 percent strikeout rate) and Cordoba (.179 average, 23 percent

strikeout rate) weren't quite as impressive this spring.

"I felt good about who I saw in Diaz in Spring Training," said Padres manager Andy Green. "I'm not

going to be afraid about throwing him into the fire a little bit more. For Torrens and Cordoba, find them,

in an ideal world, a little bit of a softer landing."

Both Green and Preller were quick to invoke Luis Perdomo, last season's Rule 5 success story and the

Club's starter for its' home opener on Friday. After a dreadful spring, Perdomo hit a low point on Opening

Day 2016 when he surrendered six runs in an inning against the Dodgers.

"He had the wide eyes," Green said. "That was very, very tough for him. But he settled in and became a

huge contributor for us and is now a member of our rotation, where the guy just flat-out earned it.

"Those are real challenges early on. You want to put Cordoba in a position to succeed. The ideal situation

is not double switching him into a one-run game in Dodger Stadium and saying, 'Hey, go play shortstop.'"

Jabari Blash serves as the counter argument to Perdomo. With minimal playing time last season as a

Rule 5 pick, Blash struggled, and the Padres designated him for assignment in May.

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Ultimately, they worked out a deal with Seattle to keep Blash, but it was a lesson in the pitfalls of

carrying a Rule 5 hitter who isn't quite big league ready.

The Padres have two this season, making Green's job of managing his bench "challenging." Cordoba

showed flashes of potential, ending the Cactus League on a 4-for-11 stretch. But suffice it to say both

hitters will need to perform better than they did on during camp to remain Padres.

"We'll look at it on a week-to-week, month-to-month basis, depending on where the club is at and where

they're at," Preller said. "We're not looking to [keep] guys who won't be able to contribute at all. Similar

to Perdomo, who early in the season struggled a little bit but as the season went on got better and better,

that's what we're looking for."

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Padres Face Dodgers for MLB Opening Day Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for his seventh consecutive opening day start on Monday against Jhoulys Chacin and the rebuilding San Diego Padres.

By BETH HARRIS

A healthy Clayton Kershaw, plenty of arms in the rotation and bullpen and a lineup bolstered by new second baseman Logan Forsythe has the Los Angeles Dodgers declaring nothing short of the franchise's first World Series appearance since 1988 will do. Kershaw takes the mound for his seventh consecutive opening day start on Monday against Jhoulys Chacin and the rebuilding San Diego Padres. "We got a step closer last year and everybody knows what the goal is," general manager Farhan Zaidi said. Kershaw will tie Don Sutton and Don Drysdale for most season-opening starts in franchise history. The Dodgers have won their last three openers against the Padres in 2012, '15 and '16 with the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner on the mound. Last year's opener was a 15-0 rout in San Diego, where the Dodgers outscored the Padres 25-0 in the season's first three games. This time, the teams play four in Los Angeles to start before the Dodgers close out the week on the road at Colorado. Kershaw missed 2 1/2 months last year because of a herniated disk in his lower back, but returned to post a 1.69 ERA. The left-hander faces a San Diego team that finished last in the NL West and brought in several newcomers in an effort to turn around the franchise. Wally Moon, who played on three World Series-winning teams with the Dodgers, and Tom Lasorda, who managed the team to its last two World Series titles in 1981 and '88, will handle ceremonial first pitches. Moon turns 87 Monday; Lasorda is 89. Missing from the sold-out festivities will be Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully, who retired at the end of last season after 67 years with the team. Taking over is 29-year-old Joe Davis, who warmed up by broadcasting road games last year. He'll handle play-by-play while paired with former All-Stars Orel Hershiser and Nomar Garciaparra. Scully will hardly be forgotten. A new gallery adjacent to the Vin Scully Press Box displays his headset and other objects from his booth during his final season. He'll return to the stadium on May 3 for a ceremony. While the franchise recognizes its past, the team's focus is squarely on the present. And its goal is way more than a fifth straight NL West title.

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"We're equipped to win this thing," second-year manager Dave Roberts said. "That's the only focus that we have." Kershaw anchors a rotation featuring Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu. McCarthy and Ryu are coming off two years of injuries. "We have a lot of guys who can start games for us and give us a real chance to win," Zaidi said. "Having a good stable of those guys at the outset of the season has obviously proven really important the last couple of years." Last year, the Dodgers used a franchise record-tying 55 total players and 31 different pitchers in a season that saw 28 different players land on the disabled list, the most for any team in the last 30 years. Andre Ethier and five pitchers start the season on the DL. Ethier is bothered by a herniated disk in his back after missing most of last year with a broken leg. His absence in the outfield opens up a spot for Andrew Toles, who was called up last July and hit .314 in 48 games with the big-league club. Right-handers Pedro Baez (right wrist contusion), Josh Ravin (right groin strain) and Brock Stewart (right shoulder tendinitis) along with left-hander Scott Kazmir (left hip strain) are on the 10-day DL. Right-hander Yimi Garcia is on the 60-day DL rehabbing from right elbow surgery. In the bullpen, closer Kenley Jansen re-signed while Sergio Romo came down Interstate 5 from San Francisco. Forsythe joins a veteran infield from Tampa Bay. Adrian Gonzalez returns at first base, shortstop Corey Seager is coming off his Rookie of the Year season and Justin Turner was re-signed at third. Yasmani Grandal is behind the plate. Joc Pederson is back in center field and Yasiel Puig looks to return to his one-time All-Star form in right. The Dodgers will platoon a combination of Toles, newcomer Franklin Gutierrez and Scott Van Slyke in left. "All the boxes are checked," Roberts said. "Now it's just up to us to go out and win baseball games."