The Padres had their eye on 16-year-old Mexican Zayed Salinas when they moved Travis Jankowski to the Cincinnati Reds three weeks ago for international cap space.

Their plans for Salinas — who signed over the weekend for $800,000 — are rather unique, too: The 6-foot-2, 180-pound left-hander will get a look as the Padres’ first true attempt to develop a two-way player from the ground up.

Unlike the short-lived Christian Bethancourt relief experiment, which began after a lengthy career as a catcher, Salinas will take his first strides toward becoming a hitter/pitcher when he gets with the Padres staff next month in Peoria, Ariz., and again at a January camp in the Dominican Republic.

“We’ve had reports on him, offensively,” Padres international scouting director Chris Kemp said. “We’ve had reports on him as a pitcher. … It’s rare to find that type of profile. He’s a physical athlete who has produced on both sides. We’re not putting a limit or a timeline on this, but we could look up in a couple months and see him hitting .330 or .340 in the (Dominican Summer League).”


Salinas first landed on the Padres’ radar at a 14-and-under national tournament in August 2017. He threw a runner out at third from the center field warning track, showed a 4.4-second time to first through the turn as a right-handed hitter and then hit 84 mph from the mound as a 14-year-old the next day.

The Padres continued to follow him through the Tijuana Toros youth academy and had him pegged on their board as the No. 1 amateur in Mexico when the Jankowski trade freed up the cap space needed to sign him away from other suitors.

In addition to intriguing upside as a two-way prospect, Salinas boasts a fastball that sits 87 to 90 mph, a spike curveball and a change-up. The curve could develop into Salinas’ top offering.

Salinas was ranked No. 27 in the 2019-20 international class by Fangraphs.com, which initially reported the signing. He joins a decorated Padres international class that includes four other top prospects as ranked by Fangraphs: shortstop Reginald Preciado (No. 11), center fielder Ismael Mena (No. 12), right-hander Brayan Medina (No. 23) and left-hander Luis Gutierrez (No. 25).