San Diego Padres 2026 Top Prospects Rankings: #16-20

Identifying the top prospects in a thin farm system such as the San Diego Padres' is as difficult as choosing from the prospects in a deep system. In each case, lots of hair-splitting happens as players are assigned spots.

San Diego team president and general manager A.J. Preller cleared out the pipeline last summer in his deadline trades for Mason Miller, Ramon Laureano, Ryan O'Hearn and Freddy Fermin. Top prospect Leo De Vries led the group of players who were shipped out.

It's time to list the best of what's left. Here's a look at the first set of prospects in Padres Mission's 2026 preseason Top 20 ranking -- the players ranked 16th through 20th. These rankings were voted on by the writers.

20. Francis Pena, RHP (El Paso Chihuahuas)

Pena, 25, was ranked 17th on this list at the end of 2025, but his Triple-A numbers pushed him to the bottom of this list.

The Dominican-born reliever appeared to be on a fast track after his 2024 season that saw him speed through three levels. But he stalled at El Paso and spent the entire 2025 season there. The regression showed up in his walk rate (26th percentile of Triple-A pitchers) and strikeout rate (33rd percentile). But there was some deep red, too, namely in exit velocity allowed (83rd percentile) and hard-hit rate (76th percentile). He kept the ball in the yard, allowing just four home runs. That helped the FIP, but it was still ugly at 5.23.

Pena relies on a hard sinker and slider that are delivered from a 44.5-degree arm angle. The sinker averaged 95.4 mph, 11 inches of arm-side run, and five inches of vertical break last year. The slider clocked in at 87.3 mph and had little depth. Those two pitches made up 86.6 percent of his arsenal. He mixed in a four-seamer (94.7 mph) and cutter (89.3 mph) the rest of the time. (Stats per Prospect Savant.)

He showed enough to earn a non-roster invite to spring training for a second consecutive year, but a return to El Paso in 2026 seemed inevitable because of the Padres' bullpen depth.

19. Eric Yost, RHP (Fort Wayne TinCaps, San Antonio Missions)

Yost, 23, cracks the top 20 three years after being drafted by the Padres in the 17th round out of Northeastern University. He earned the spot with a breakout at High-A that earned him a late-season promotion to Double-A.

He made eight starts for San Antonio, and his stats there showed that the move challenged him. Contact and pull rates were higher than what he allowed in the Midwest League, and the swing rate decreased. He struggled badly with command as he faced better hitters, posting 26 strikeouts to 27 walks in 37 1/3 innings. That underwater ratio contributed to a 5.00 FIP (5.79 xFIP). Inconsistency was another problem; his first two Double-A starts were excellent, but five of his last six were poor.

Overall, two splits stood out: Left-handed batters' OPS against him was 95 points higher than what right-handed batters produced, and opponents' OPS with runners on base was 110 points higher than their OPS with the bases empty (all splits via Baseball Reference). One thing in his favor: left-handed hitters' OPS was inflated by a .353 BABIP, a sign bad luck was involved.

Yost's fastball sits in the low-to-mid-90s, but his combination of curve and slider/sweeper are graded highly by Prospect Savant. If he can't get his velocity higher, his pitchability will need to be elite.   

18. Deivid Coronil, 3B/SS (Padres Gold)

Coronil, 18, is one of eight players in our top 20 who made their professional debuts in 2025. The Venezuela native was a highly sought-after January international free agent. San Diego landed him with a $900,000 signing bonus. MLB.com ranked him 35th in its international prospects top 50. A few months after signing, he saw regular action with Padres Gold in the Dominican Summer League.

A big part of his appeal is his reputation as an elite fielder. MLB.com has already assigned him a 65 field grade on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. His four errors in 14 games at shortstop and eight errors in 27 games at third base last year look like the work of a young player at the start of his pro career.

His arm, run and hit grades are listed at 50 each, and his power grade is 35. The slug could emerge once he grows into his body; he's listed as 6-3 and 162 pounds. And his running grade might be a bit low after his 8-for-8 on steal attempts.

The Padres are famous for rushing young prospects through their system, but they might need to be patient with Coronil after a middling debut.

17. Truitt Madonna, C (Lake Elsinore Storm)

Madonna is another of the 2025 debutants in the top 20. He was chosen by the Padres in the 11th round of the July draft out of Ballard High School in Seattle. The club gave him a $654,000 signing bonus, more than four times above slot, to break his commitment to UCLA. A strong showing in the spring-summer MLB Draft League boosted his stock.

Madonna made his pro debut two weeks before the end of the California League season with Lake Elsinore. He started seven games at catcher and two games at first base. Contact was a big issue, noted by his 38.3 strikeout rate and a 61.3 percent ground-ball rate in 60 plate appearances. There were hiccups on defense, as well. Madonna went 1-for-14 in throwing out base stealers, a seven-percent success rate. He was also charged with two passed balls.

Power is Madonna's signature tool. Prospect Savant pegs it at 50 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. The hit tool is 40, as is the run tool. His arm tool is 50 and his field tool is 40. Madonna already has size -- he's listed at 6-3 and 215 pounds -- and he'll turn 19 on March 12. There's a lot of room for growth in both his body and his game.

16. Kavares Tears, OF/1B (Lake Elsinore Storm)

Tears was 11th in our post-deadline Top 20 last summer, but a rocky debut season at Low-A dinged him this year. More was expected from a toolsy player who came from a collegiate powerhouse in the University of Tennessee. 

San Diego took him in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft as the compensation for Josh Hader, but the organization waited until 2025 to start his career. His debut was pushed back further, to April 15, because of a hamstring injury. He then was limited to DH duty until late July. For the year, he started 29 games in the outfield and three games at first base. 

Four of his five scouting grades from Prospect Savant speak to his athleticism -- 60 throw, 55 run, 55 field, and 55 power. The fifth grade is a 40 hit tool. The left-handed hitting Tears slashed .227/.320/.385 (.159 ISO, 96 wRC+) in the hitter-friendly California League. He hit .188 in 72 games from June 1 through the end of the season. At least his 12.2 percent walk rate was encouraging,

On top of that, he posted extreme home-road splits -- .782 OPS, 22 extra-base hits home; .625 OPS, 15 extra-base hits road -- and large reverse splits: .805 OPS vs. left-handers against a .676 OPS vs. right-handers. There's a lot to monitor as Tears enters Year 2 of his development.

What stands out from Nos. 16-20 on our list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!