This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

At the big league level, the Padres' 2023 season was a full-scale disappointment. At the Minor League level? It has to be considered a success.

The Padres, again, were tasked with rebuilding their system in the wake of a number of blockbuster trades. Again, they appear to be making it happen.

MLB Pipeline recently ranked the Padres' farm as the sport's No. 9 overall system. Not bad for a group that had significant departures in the deals that landed Juan Soto and Josh Hader last summer.

Here’s a quick rundown of that system:

3 players who forced their way onto the radar this year ...

C Ethan Salas

It has to start with Salas. The 17-year-old catcher bucked every convention this year, becoming the youngest player at Double-A in at least nine years. The most impressive part: Salas held his own at nearly every stop. The Padres haven't been shy in their praise of Salas. Upon his signing, scouting director Chris Kemp called him the best prospect he'd ever scouted. Salas has already skyrocketed to the sport’s No. 5 overall prospect. He’s still probably a year or two away from making an impact in the Majors, but he’s the type of young player the Padres can plan to build around.

LHP Robby Snelling

The Padres named Snelling their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2023, and Baseball America ranked him as the top Minor League pitcher overall. Quite a pro debut for the 19-year-old first-round pick. Snelling pitched at three levels and dominated at all three -- a 1.57 ERA at Single-A Lake Elsinore, a 2.34 ERA at High-A Fort Wayne and a 1.56 ERA at Double-A San Antonio.

3B Graham Pauley

Salas and Snelling had serious breakout seasons. But they were always big-time prospects. Pauley, meanwhile, was a 13th-round pick out of Duke in 2022 and a year later, he’s the Padres’ Minor League Position Player of the Year. He batted .308 with 23 home runs and a .931 OPS across three different levels. Don’t be surprised at all if Pauley, a natural third baseman, is fighting for a utility/bench role on the ’24 roster.

2 possible breakout players to watch in 2024 …

RHP Dylan Lesko

One of two Padres first-round selections in 2022, alongside Snelling, Lesko’s ’23 season was shortened as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery. He made 12 starts, totaling 33 innings, and posted a 5.45 ERA. But with a regular offseason under his belt, Lesko should make a leap in Year 2. He remains MLB Pipeline’s No. 63 overall prospect with a big-time fastball and two putaway weapons -- a changeup and a curve.

OF Dillon Head

Like they did with so many of their younger prospects this season, the Padres asked an awful lot of Head. Selected in the first round of the July Draft, the Padres promoted Head to Single-A Lake Elsinore. That’s quite a jump for an 18-year-old who was playing high school ball in the spring. Look for Head to assert himself in his first full season of pro ball in 2024 -- a speedster with an excellent glove and the potential to grow into some pop.

1 big question for next season …

Will the Padres use this revamped farm system to build from within?

The 2023 Major League roster was a mishmash of external acquisitions. Whether trades or free-agent signings, the Padres’ biggest contributors weren’t homegrown. Meanwhile, manager Bob Melvin regularly noted the importance of bringing players along through the system, while teaching and implementing an organizational playing style.

The 2024 Padres seem poised to have a number of homegrown players battling for roster spots. In addition to Pauley, Jairo Iriarte, Adam Mazur, Ryan Bergert, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella are all players who progressed to Double-A this season and could get camp invites.

"We feel confident that, from a farm-system standpoint, we’ve got a group that is now getting to Double-A and the upper levels that is going to be able to help us and provide some more of that depth component," general manager A.J. Preller said last week when pressed on the team’s lack of roster depth in 2023.

But the Padres have had Minor League depth before. They’ve often used that depth as capital to acquire big-name players in trades.

Now, here we are entering a crucial season for the organization. The Padres again have depth in their farm system. They again have holes on their big league roster that could be addressed via trade. Stay tuned this winter.