Can Allen Cordoba Make the Padres’ 2017 Roster?

On December 8th, the Rule-5 draft was held at the winter meetings in National Harbor, Maryland.

The Padres, seeking to find major talent on the cheap, ended up being the most active team, trading up for the top three picks in the draft. It was the first time in Rule-5 history that a team had done such a thing.

The Padres ended up with P Miguel Diaz, C Luis Torrens, and SS/2B Allen Cordoba on their 40-man roster by draft’s end, leading some people to say that GM A.J. Preller had “dominated” the 2016 Rule-5 Draft.

You can read about some of the acquisitions here.

Of the top three picks in the Rule-5 draft, Miguel Diaz seems the most likely to stay a Padre during the entire season. People foresee his role as being one such as Luis Perdomo had during this last season.

Then, there is Luis Torrens. You can read about whether Torrens has a future with the Padres organization from fellow EVT writer Benjamin Salom. It’s probably unlikely Torrens makes Opening Day, given his past injuries and struggles against single-A pitching.

Finally, there’s SS Allen Cordoba.

It is no secret that shortstop has been a weak position for the Padres ever since Khalil Greene punched a locker and was traded in December of 2008. Since then, the Padres have gone through these shortstops:

(h/t Padres.com)

Yikes.

Of all the players listed besides Khalil Greene, only Everth Cabrera has resembled anything above league average. Cabrera, who was actually a Rule V draft pick by the Padres in 2008, made the 2013 N.L. All Star team as a Padre before off-season problems derailed his career as a Friar and eventually his MLB career as a whole.

The Padres have even had trouble developing shortstops in their minor league system. The one really good shortstop they did develop (Trea Turner) was traded away in the Wil Myers deal and has found a home in Washington. Jose Rondon, acquired by the Padres along with three others for Huston Street, is the closest MLB-ready SS the Padres have. His ceiling, though, is relatively low and he has a ton of question marks. Javier Guerra, traded to the Padres as part of the Craig Kimbrel trade, disappointed in his first year as a Padre with Lake Elsinore. There are some concerns about him that sparked up during the season, and it will definitely be interesting to see how he rebounds in 2017. Perhaps Chris Baker, who was picked in the 17th round in the 2016 draft, and who really impressed in his first few months as a professional, will be a late-round diamond. That, however, is still a long way from being discovered.

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John Horvath

Baseball is fun. College sophomore that is aspiring to work someday in the sports industry. Follow me on twitter @Friar_Faithful. Go Pads!