For the San Diego Padres, the winter meetings started slow, but finished with a flurry of encouraging moves. Thursday morning’s Rule 5 draft concluded the annual week filled with baseball transactions, and the organization decided that it was time to get busy.
The Padres had the third pick, but didn’t stop by picking shortstop Allen Cordoba. Trading with the Minnesota Twins and Cincinnati Reds, San Diego ended up with the top three picks when it was all said and done.
Cordoba, who came from the St. Louis Cardinals organization, was somewhat of a surprise pick.