Now we officially arrive at the part of the draft where things stop feeling inevitable and start feeling… negotiable.
The San Diego Padres have been one of the more aggressive teams in recent memory, making splashy additions like Vinny Castilla and Mike Lieberthal to complement an already interesting core featuring Ismael Valdez and Manny Ramirez. It’s a roster that looks like it was built by someone alternating between long-term planning and sudden bursts of “why not?” energy.
On paper, there are still clear needs. The rotation has questions. The lineup has balance issues. And the organization could very easily justify taking a young arm here to stabilize things long-term.
In a perfect world, that’s probably what they do.
But perfect worlds are not usually how the draft works.
San Diego also has an offense that feels like it’s one bat away from being legitimately dangerous, and when teams reach this stage of the draft, the temptation to add impact hitting often outweighs the patience required for longer developmental pitching profiles.
So the Padres lean into the bats.
There are some interesting names still on the board. Paul Lo Duca stands out statistically, but there are legitimate concerns about how his body will fill out, and with Lieberthal already in the fold — plus Taubensee as another catching option — it’s hard to justify stacking that much redundancy at a position with limited roster flexibility.
Meanwhile, Troy Glaus and Aramis Ramirez are both extremely intriguing long-term plays, but each comes with enough developmental variance that you can already hear a front office arguing itself into a corner.
So instead, San Diego opts for something simpler.
Geoff Jenkins.
Not the flashiest name left. Not the consensus top-10 guy on every board. But in this room, he checks enough boxes to make the decision feel rational.
Jenkins is still filling out physically, but the direction is obvious: power potential, improving contact ability, and a profile that suggests he’s going to handle right-handed pitching extremely well. The defensive versatility matters too — green ratings in both left and right field give him real lineup flexibility depending on how the roster evolves.
He may never be a classic No. 3 hitter, and that’s fine. This Padres lineup doesn’t necessarily need him to be. What they need is a dependable middle-of-the-order presence — a guy who can settle into the 4 or 5 spot, drive in runs, and lengthen the lineup behind the bigger names already in place.
And if everything clicks? You’re suddenly talking about a very dangerous offensive piece who doesn’t need to carry a franchise to still be extremely valuable.
There’s even a scenario where this becomes the “Geoff and Jeff” platoon nightmare for opposing pitchers alongside Jeff Conine — which feels like something that should be illegal purely on branding grounds.
It’s not the loudest pick in the draft.
But it’s a functional one.
And at this stage, that still counts for a lot.
PICK #10
San Diego Padres select OF Geoff Jenkins