Padres scouting director breaks down Draft

Padres Director of Scouting Mark Conner stopped by Padres Social Hour on Thursday morning before the team's series finale against the Braves in Atlanta. Conner, who was appointed as the Padres' new Director of Scouting during the offseason, was happy to sit down and discuss the results of the 2015 MLB Draft. "I definitely enjoyed [the Draft process] and I got a different vantage point of everything," said Conner. "We took a lot of information and blended it together to go out and make the right picks."

Conner has been with the team for a few seasons now, but this was his first season as the head of the scouting process. So what did Conner's game plan look like for the Padres? "We lined up our top 75 players on our board … As we got lower down on the order, we would make some 'game-time' decisions and discuss what options were available to us. I want to say we got four guys that were in our top 75 at the end of the draft." 

Certainly, the plethora of stats and videos available to Conner and his team proved helpful in their endeavors. But aside from pure numbers, Connor noted that his scouting team looks for something deeper when planning out the future of the team. "Physical ability is only going to take you so far, but the makeup side, the inner-drive, the passion for the game - that is what separates guys and allows them to play out here in the big leagues."

To hear more the challenges Conner faced in his first year heading the draft, along with details on the scouting process and the Padres plans that have already been put in motion for 2016, then be sure to watch Conner's interview with Jesse Agler and Randy Jones in the video above. For more interviews, highlights and Padres content just like this, be sure to check out padres.com/socialhour.