The good news is, the Padres didn’t participate in the Major League phase of the Rule V draft. They did grab LHP Arturo Lopez from the Dodgers and SS Christian Herrera from the Pirates in the Triple-A phase. They also lost 3B Kervin Jacobo (to Mariners), OF Josh Carter (to Phillies), and OF Marcus Nettles (to Nationals). Whole lotta movement, without much consequence.

We turn now to page 265 of The Scouting Report: 1990, home to two 22-year-old prospects, Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens and, of course, Deion Sanders. Yes, that Deion Sanders:

With tons of talent and an ounce of experience, “Neon Deion” flashed on and off the New York scene twice in 1989… But he is not really ready to play major league baseball. Deion showed discipline at bat, usually looking at the first pitch. For someone who looks like he is swinging an axe, Sanders is very effective putting the bat on the ball… On the basepaths, Deion takes a large lead and runs with great speed… It would be great fun to watch Sanders develop as a baseball player. But anyone who saw him leave his team in the middle of a game, to sign with the Atlanta Falcons, must believe that his interests lie elsewhere.

At this stage in his baseball career, Sanders had a total of 50 big-league plate appearances, during which he hit .234/.280/.404. In a career that spanned parts of nine seasons, Sanders hit .263/.319/.392. He finished second in the NL in stolen bases in 1994 and 1997 despite playing just 92 and 115 games, respectively. He also led the league in triples in 1992 with 14 in 325 plate appearances. Sanders finished with 558 hits, including 43 triples and 39 homers. He also stole 186 bases at a 74% success rate.

As a football player, Sanders has been named to the Pro Bowl eight times. As a baseball player, his best comps are guys like Mike Kingery, Henry Cotto, Junior Felix, and Jacob Brumfield. Obviously it takes a special talent to be able to play two different sports at such a high level, but one wonders what Sanders was even doing playing baseball. He was a decent enough player, but it’s hard to imagine a guy who is world class in one sport finding contentment in being merely “decent” in another.

We’ll go over the report of former Mariner second baseman and current ESPN analyst Harold Reynolds in Friday’s edition. After that, Jeff Brantley, Rob Dibble, Mark Grant, Steve Lyons, and Rick Sutcliffe remain among announcers. If none of those appeal, we’ll move over to managers and GMs.