Prospect News: Electric Padres or This Deadline Is Alive!

Lotta fun to be had tracking the trade deadline this year, so let’s grab our Geiger counters and pick through the fallout. 

AJ Preller brought his own fireworks and fuses. San Diego threw down the gauntlet early by moving SS Leo De Vries, RHP Henry Baez, RHP Braden Nett, and RHP Eduarniel Nunez in a package for closer Mason Miller and LHP JP Sears. Speculation came quickly from Buster Olney and others that the club must be looking to move Robert Suarez and Dylan Cease for outfield help. Instead, they kept Suarez to build a monster bullpen. As much as I like Mason Miller, this represents an enormous return for the Athletics. I can’t believe they got Henry Baez just tacked on for some reason. He’s a good pitcher. 

The next trade involved starting pitchers Stephen Kolek and Ryan Berget heading to Kansas City in exchange for catcher Freddy Fermin, who represents a huge upgrade over their duo of Elias Diaz and Martin Maldonado, who has since been released. 

Padres fans were not all that happy in the threads I saw, but the next move really tied the room together. The Orioles sent Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn for six prospects: SS Cobb Hightower, LHP Boston Bateman, RHP Tyson Neighbors, RHP Tanner Smith, SS Brandon Butterworth, and 1B Victor Figueroa. 

Baltimore continues to be perplexing. They got a whole bunch of guys. Will probably find value by developing them well on the way up. 

San Diego also landed LHP Nestor Cortes from the Brewers for OF Brandon Lockridge, who would’ve been a tight fit for the Padres but might get some run in Milwaukee while Jackson Chourio recovers. Preller found a minute to acquire IF Will Wagner from Toronto for C Brandon Valenzuela (24, AA) a solid defender with a questionable hit tool. He’s pretty interesting as far as org depth goes. 

I like what the Blue Jays did. A healthy Shane Bieber would make a big difference for them. Landing RHP Louis Varland was a nice late surprise. Ty France, too, was involved. 

Seattle did about as well as they could. Did anyone add better bats than Naylor and Suarez? And they somehow avoided trading any of their interesting position prospects. Also landed LHP Caleb Ferguson, who gives them a second lefty for the bullpen. 

The Minnesota Twins sold a lot of players that added up to moving a bullpen and a contract. Despite some reporting to the contrary, I’m not sure how upset Twins fans really are to see Carlos Correa go. It’s more a built-up feeling about how the owners suck, I think, because that contract was way underwater. They overpaid him in the first place and really only landed him because he was all they could get. The club has a talented wave of infielders on the rise and now has a spot for just about everyone who matters. Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, Luke Keaschall and Kaelen Culpepper should add up to a solid infield with upside on valuable contracts. An outfield of Buxton, Walker Jenkins, and Trevor Larnach is similarly interesting over the next few years. Alan Roden, James Outman, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Matt Wallner factor in here somewhere. And Jose Miranda is still on the 40-man as an infield option. For years, this team has struggled to sort and prioritize. Moving Correa off the roster makes a pretty big difference as it allows them to enhance their infield defense and open up third base for Lee if Keaschall can play second base. 

I really thought they were going to hold Louis Varland and let him close for a while to boost his value, but former Blue Jays LHP Kendry Rojas is an interesting return. While it’s a down beat moment in Minnesota, the Twins added some interesting arms that can join the rotation today in Taj Bradley, Mick Abel along with guys like Rojas who should help soon. They bet on themselves to build another bullpen, which is aspirational and intriguing to watch. 

I saw somebody call the Rockies winners just because they showed a pulse, but it was a pretty meek pulse. They made three trades and two of them were with one organization. 

Cubs fans in my orbit were pretty disappointed, speculating that perhaps the club signaled a boring deadline when it extended Jed Hoyer’s contract earlier in the week. I don’t understand how they got to the place where they’d mortgage the future for Kyle Tucker but then get huggy with guys like Jaxon Wiggins later that season when everything seemed to be coming up Milhouse. Of course Wiggins is a good prospect, but they might’ve been able to add Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera if willing to deal from their stacked farm system. Instead, they paid moderate prices for depth pieces like Mike Soroka, Willi Castro, Andrew Kittredge, and Taylor Rogers. Could’ve been worse. Soroka has pitched well this summer (1.07 WHIP since June 6) and it’s nice to get Castro, but the club went from Alcantara to Ryan to Nothing pretty quick on deadline day. Miami’s Peter Bendix pulled his pitchers off the trade block with more than 30 minutes left on the clock. Feels like he might’ve gotten irritated with the hemming and hawing. I get the same way.  Probably wise to keep them both rather than selling low. Even with less time remaining on their contracts, they’ll be worth more if they’re both pitching to their potential by this time next season. 

The Red Sox and Dodgers all sort of sat out until found money came their way late in the day. Boston moving James Tibbs III so soon after getting him will raise some eyebrows, but Dustin May was a solid return for him and a valuable piece in a contention cycle even if he doesn’t fully rediscover his form or iterate into someone a bit more consistent. The Dodgers made an astute acquisition in Alex Call, a tough out even against good pitching. This way they have no pressure to play Conforto against a lefty. They also sent C Hunter Fedduccia to Tampa, where he should be a cromulent option. Similar story for RHP Adrian Houser, a smart get for the Rays. New Rangers SP Merrill Kelly pulled a high price for Arizona in Itch-fave LHP Mitch Bratt, LHP Kohl Drake and RHP David Hagaman. 

In general, the prices were all over place. Tyler Rogers cost more than Ryan Helsley. Timing seemed to matter as much as ever this year, but in the end, the Mets made a lot of smart moves and added Cedric Mullins to their outfield along with these relievers plus LHP Gregory Soto. They added the kinds of pieces that help teams win in October. 

I already mentioned them but another team that crushed the assignment was Seattle. They’re a totally different lineup with Suarez and Naylor, especially against post-season pitching, where Naylor’s unique blend of power and contact skills can really shine.

Thanks for reading!