The Padres knew Anderson Espinoza could pitch, angling so hard to land him in a deal with the Red Sox that they surrendered All-Star left-hander Drew Pomeranz.

It seems he also can sales pitch.

The 18-year-old, who rocketed to No. 1 on the Padres’ prospects list as soon as ink dried, is the smiling face and right arm of the organization’s long play, the distant vision for a full-scale, youth-based rebuild.

What thoughts pin-balled around the noggin’ when the teen was informed he had been dealt head-to-head for a star and immediately became a Major League Baseball team’s gold standard?


“To be honest, when I first found out about the trade, I was taken back a little bit,” Espinoza said recently at the team’s spring training complex. “One thing I’d tell the fans of San Diego: Being the No. 1 prospect, that just motivates me to work even harder to be part of that success that’s coming soon.”

Enthusiasm and a 100 mph fastball sound pretty good around Petco Park right about now.

The Espinoza deal led to Red Sox concerns about how the Padres handled medical records related to Pomeranz. General Manager A.J. Preller was punished by baseball and remains in the midst of a 30-day suspension.

Espinoza’s sole job, however, is to focus on the field – not the front office.


Baseball America thought enough of Espinoza to rank him the game’s No. 15 overall prospect at midseason, 24 spots ahead of the top Padre on the list – outfielder Manny Margot. That put Espinoza 51 ahead of Hunter Renfroe, the Pacific Coast League’s player of the year.

Margot and Renfroe, now playing in San Diego, could represent two-thirds of the team’s starting outfield next season – Margot’s center field duel with Travis Jankowski pending.

The tap-the-brakes moment, since prospect discussions need that sort of foot movement: All the numbers signal, in the grand scheme, is the size of projected potential. You want guarantees, buy gold. You want to fiddle with dreams of a dominant front end of the rotation three years from now, Espinoza allows you to fiddle away.

And those rolls of the baseball dice present two-way gambles, remember. The Padres traded shortstop Trea Turner to the Nationals as part of the deal that brought now-All-Star Wil Myers to San Diego. Turner, a center fielder these days, sat higher on Baseball America’s list than Espinoza – at No. 5.


Then there’s the Boston Globe’s Sept. 2015 story with the headline, “Anderson Espinoza evokes memories of a young Pedro Martinez.”

Unchecked pitching expectations hardly come more check-worthy than someone tossing the name Pedro into the conversation. The Hall of Famer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, led baseball starting pitchers in ERA a staggering five times.

But …

When Espinoza was signed at 16 out of Venezuela, his velocity topped out at 94. At 17, the 6-footer was hitting 100. The raw tools and advanced skills confounded the Red Sox so much that the organization crumpled its template and timeline for pitcher development.


“At first, I told people they were crazy to compare a 17-year-old to a Hall of Famer,” Espinoza said. “But Pedro’s been great. He’s given me a lot of advice and tutelage (as special assistant to Boston’s general manager).

“He told me that when he was 17 years old, he was nowhere near where I was at. So that gives me confidence moving forward and try to get to that level one day.”

The Globe story quoted Goose Gregson, the Red Sox’ Latin American pitching coordinator, as saying last year that Espinoza owned an average curveball and changeup … for most major leaguers.

“When you hear, ‘Oh, he’s got an MLB curveball’ or whatever, are you saying he’s flashed a few and you’ve seen a couple good ones? Or is he consistently throwing something like that,” said former big-leaguer Mark Prior, the Padres’ minor-league pitching coordinator.


“I’ve definitely seen a (MLB average) change-up and breaking ball at times. I’ve seen him a couple times on video squirting a few curveballs and yanking a few change-ups and that stuff, too.

“So maybe the consistency isn’t quite at MLB level, but you’ve seen average to above average (for MLB), three quality pitches. Now it’s about putting all three together at a consistent basis.

“Knock on wood, it’s just a matter of time.”

Prior acknowledged, however, that Espinoza’s ease of delivery and efficient management of pitch totals left the Padres scratching collective heads, as well.


For most pitchers at that age and level (Single-A), Prior generalized that guys might shoot for 70 to 85 innings of work this year. Espinoza, without being extended or stressed, has thrown more than 108.

“He’s blowing our guys’ inning projections out of the water,” Prior said.

Prior said Espinoza’s poise and maturity for his age has impressed, as well. A touch of that revealed itself when the pitcher was asked about the flood of expectations questions.

“It’s my job to live up to that,” he said.


It’s tough not to buy what he’s selling.

Padres Futures Game

The Padres prospects will play prospects for the Rangers on Friday, Oct. 7, at Petco Park. Details for the 7:10 p.m. game:

Season ticket-holders can request up to eight complimentary general admission, field-level tickets.

Get tickets and one complimentary Lexus Lot parking pass (usable in the lot on a first-come, first-served basis) by logging into My Tickets account and clicking on the “Special Orders” tab.

Entrance is free, but $5 tickets as donations to the Padres charity foundation are available online and at Petco Park box office.

Home-plate gate opens at 5 p.m. That will be the only gate for fan entry.

bryce.miller@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @Bryce_A_Miller

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