SAN DIEGO _ At the height of his teardown, A.J. Preller walked away from the 2015 Rule 5 draft with four players _ three relievers and a long-shot bet on a power-hitting outfielder that he hoped to stash on the active roster. The next year, the Padres' general manager took another reliever, a catcher and an infielder back to San Diego.
This year, perhaps Preller's chief concern is what's on other teams' shopping lists heading into Thursday's Rule 5 draft, a particularly curious endeavor as baseball begins to wrap its collective head around just how the incoming 26-man roster will impact team construction.
Keep an extra arm, catcher or platoon bat? Maybe a defensive specialist or base-running threat? Stash a prospect for a rebuild?
It's all on the table as front offices comb through each other's farm systems and the Padres' is as stocked as any.
"Honestly, I think we're going to be interested to see how it plays out, if other teams feel like they have the ability to take more chances with the extra player on the roster," Preller said. "We kind of looked at it from a value standpoint, a talent standpoint, and let the pro scouting group do their thing.
"And we'll huddle up in the next couple of days to see if there's anyone we want to take."
Who they left unprotected figures to raise that bar pretty high.
While the decision to not let their $7 million investment in Jorge Ona dangle for the taking, those exposed to the Rule 5 draft include one-time All-Star Futures game rep Buddy Reed, fellow top-30 prospect Esteury Ruiz, hit-and-miss outfielder Michael Gettys, emerging right-hander Lake Bachar and a pair of 100 mph arms in Dauris Valdez and Jordan Guerrero.
Traditionally, pitchers are more susceptible to selection due to the ease with which a team _ especially a rebuilding one as the Padres were earlier in Preller's tenure _ can hide them in a bullpen.
In fact, 21 of the 27 players selected in the first round of the last two Rule 5 drafts were pitchers.
Yet the extra player on active rosters beginning in 2020 might allow teams to give that a second thought, especially given the other constraints _ like requiring relievers to face at least three batters (unless an inning ends), also an incoming rule for 2020 _ on the horizon.
"Teams are going to be able to hold guys," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "Maybe keeping that extra bat on the bench provides a little bit more versatility for a manager to go to at times, or having that extra pitcher, especially with the three-batter minimum type thing.
"It's going to be a little different, and I want that extra guy, as every manager does."
Said Brewers manager Craig Counsell: "I think teams ... are going to answer a weakness that they might have with that roster spot, and that's, I think, what we'll probably attempt to do also. ... I think some teams, it could come as a catcher, but it also could come as a right-handed hitter that can play third base and first base or something like that, which would be theoretically a need for us, or a left-handed hitting outfielder. So it could come from lots of different places."
Of course, there are some caveats to the 26-man roster rule.
First, the amount of pitchers a team can carry will be capped at a to-be-determined number _ mostly likely 13.
Teams will also have to designate each of its players as either a position player or a pitcher before that player's first day on the active roster, a designation that cannot change until the following season.
A player can also be designated as a two-way player provided they've pitched at least 20 big league innings and accrued three at-bats in at least 20 games, yet another rules wrinkle that teams are considering as they wade through the offseason.
Take, for instance, the Padres.
They moved slick-fielding Javy Guerra and his high-octane arm from shortstop to the mound last year and this offseason acquired Jake Cronenworth, who was added to the Rays' 40-man roster in November as a right-handed pitcher/infielder ahead of his inclusion in the Tommy Pham-Hunter Renfroe trade.
Well below that, 16-year-old left-hander Zayed Salinas _ who signed for $800,000 out of Mexico last month _ will get some run as the Padres' first attempt to develop a two-way player in the vein of the Angels' Shohei Ohtani and the Rays' Brendan McKay.
It may wind up a fool's errand.
It may turn into something.
Given everything than an extra spot on a roster opens up, it's too tantalizing not to expect teams to explore the possibilities.
"I'm sure teams will try to take advantage of that," Counsell said. "You can bet on that."
