With the rookie-level Arizona Complex League finishing its schedule shortly after the draft, the Padres often send their college-aged selections to low Single-A Lake Elsinore before the end of the regular season.

Meantime, their high-schoolers usually take their initial steps in the unofficial Arizona “bridge league,” continue their education in the fall instructional league and begin their careers the following season, either right away with the Storm or later in the summer in the ACL.

But Truitt Madonna is different.

The Padres said as much when they signed the 18-year-old catcher for $654,000 as their 11th-round pick last month, wrestling him away from a commitment to UCLA.

Picks after the 10th round can be signed for up to $150,000 without counting against the draft pool, so such

See Full Page