Can the Padres End Up With Hunter Greene?
Credit: AP Photo
I want to be completely honest with you.
I’ve never felt the need to pay any attention to MLB draft prospects, let alone high school draft prospects.Up until last year, I never even watched the draft or bothered to look who the Padres picked. Things have changed.
If you don’t already know, Hunter Greene of Notre Dame High School is the consensus top draft prospect. The Padres hold the third overall pick and are hoping to land this young star. You may be thinking, “why are you writing about him, if he is going to be the number one overall pick?” That is a great question, but I believe A.J. Preller can lure Greene away from the top two picks and draft him at three. I’ll get into that in more detail later.
I first want to talk about his life off the diamond.
Hunter Greene has had a very eventful childhood to say the least.
Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated does a wonderful job of explaining how the soon-to-be star became the man he is today. Go check out his article sometime. Hunter Greene started playing year-round travel baseball at the age of eight.
He traveled all around the world and competed at the highest level travel ball had to offer. He was living the dream. Life was great until his sister, Libriti, was diagnosed with Leukemia. This hit Hunter pretty hard. Most nights he would sleep in Libriti’s hospital room and keep her company. They would play games, tell stories, and laugh together. They were as close as any two siblings could get.
While all of this was going on, Greene still had to travel around the world and compete in tournaments. Greene’s mother, Senta, said “You’re living every parent’s dream and every parent’s worst nightmare. And you’re doing it simultaneously.” This shows the struggle the Greene family was going through at that time. After Libriti became cancer-free, Hunter pledged to do community service and volunteer work. In fact, he has received four certificates of recognition from Los Angeles area politicians for said community work. Greene is also a tremendous student, earning a 3.2 GPA at one of the most prestigious schools in his area.
Now that you know how great a person he is, get to know how excellent his skill is on the field.
Hunter Greene is a multi-position athlete playing shortstop and pitcher. The amazing thing is… scouts say he is capable of being selected in the first round at either position. Shortstop is his weaker position, although he is regarded as one of the top high school shortstops in the country. Greene can go get a ball anywhere left of second base, hit balls 450 feet, and steal a base like no other. He primarily plays shortstop at Notre Dame High School, the alma mater of Giancarlo Stanton, when he isn’t throwing gas on the mound. In fact, he has been clocked as high as 102 miles per hour on the radar gun. Although Greene has been shut down from pitching, at least until CIF, he has showed scouts all they need to see in order to select him in the top three.
That brings me to the question you have all been waiting for. How are the Padres going to pick Greene with the third overall pick?
Well, there is a lot of speculation that the Reds, who own the second overall pick, do not intend to pick Greene if he is still on the board while they are picking. The Reds want a more experienced college player who is closer to the big leagues than Greene. So, it’s basically between the Twins and the Padres. If the Twins select somebody other than Greene, Hunter Greene will be a San Diego Padre.
To ensure that that happens, I believe A.J. Preller will do all he can do to get the Twins not to pick him. When I say all he can do, I mean ALL he can do.
A.J. Preller has a knack for basically manipulating other GM’s and almost cheating the system. I don’t know about you, but that is just what I want out of a professional general manager. A GM that knows what he wants is one that will succeed in this league.
Preller has a couple of options leading up to draft day. One option is this: He can tell the Twins that if they don’t pick him, and let him fall to the Padres, we will give the Twins cash considerations and/or a prospect or two. This would fall under the category of manipulating other GM’s and almost cheating the system, but who cares? If the Padres can get Hunter Greene that will instantly put the Padres atop the farm system rankings and put Mr. Greene into at least the top 20 prospects. Of course, this slight manipulation of the system would be completely hush, hush. Only the privileged shall know.
What also helps the Friars is that Hunter Greene is reportedly trying to maneuver his way down to the Padres. This might scare the Twins into passing on him knowing he ultimately wants to be a Padre, and has the option of going to UCLA. The Padres look to be the favorite to pick Hunter Greene and he wants to go the Padres. So let’s make this happen … Go get the best draft prospect in years, Hunter Greene.
I ultimately see Hunter Greene as a San Diego Padre and many experts do as well.
I hope this isn’t just wishful thinking, but actually reality. I, and many others, are very anxious for the MLB Draft, which will take place June 12, 2017.
Campbell is a senior in High School. He has been a San Diego sports fan all his life and forever will be. Fan of the Padres, Chargers (undecided), Aztecs, Lightning, Bayern Munich, USMNT, and the future San Diego MLS club. He hopes to spread his knowledge and love for San Diego sports to as many people he can.