Esteban Quiroz

Quiroz's emergence had a small part to play in the Padres shipping Luis Urias to the Brewers this offseason. He has been a star in Mexico and has shown well in affiliated ball since signing with the Red Sox in 2017 and subsequently getting traded to the Padres after impressing in the Arizona Fall League in 2018. While he is entering his age-28 season and has not yet made his big-league debut, his exploits in Mexico (at least 17% better than league average from 2014-2017) in his early-20s should not be overlooked. The 5-foot-7 second baseman controls a small strike zone (14.2 BB% at Triple-A) and logged a .299 ISO at Double-A and a .268 ISO at Triple-A. Since he is not yet on the 40-man roster, Jurickson Profar, Ty France, Greg Garcia and Jake Cronenworth may all be ahead of him on the depth chart for 2020, but things could change as the season progresses.

Quiroz joined the Red Sox prior to 2018 after spending the first seven seasons of his professional career in the Mexican League, where he hit a combined .293/.402/.451 across 437 games. The infielder was limited to just 24 games with Double-A Portland due to an abdominal strain that sidelined him for three and a half months, but he impressed when healthy, hitting .299/.413/.598 with seven homers and 24 RBI with the Sea Dogs. Quiroz, who is small at 5-foot-6, is known for his patience at the plate, which has led to OBPs north of .400 in each of the past three seasons. He strictly played second base in 2018 after playing all around the diamond during his time in Mexico. Now with the Padres following a November trade, Quiroz will likely begin his age-27 season back on the farm, though he could be an option for the big club at some point in 2019 if he continues to impress at the highest levels of the minors.