The San Diego Padres farm system isn’t as strong as it used to be, especially after the Juan Soto trade, but that doesn’t mean there’s no talent left. Jackson Merrill was one of six Padres prospects selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League.
Merrill, 19, is hitting .325 with a .869 OPS for Lake Elsinore this season. He took over the top spot in MLB.com’s top Padres prospect list after A.J. Preller traded James Wood, Robert Hassell and Jarlin Susana to Washington in order to get Soto and Josh Bell in early August.
The other Padres on the Peoria Javelinas roster are Efrain Contreras, Jordan Guerrero, Alek Jacob, Chris Lincoln, Nerwilian Cedeno and Joshua Mears, who was promoted to Double-A San Antonio earlier in the year.