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Baltimore waved the white flag on the current generation of guys and traded C Adley Rutschman to their division rival in Boston. The Orioles got a package that looks good on paper but might wind up a little thin given the defensive value of Rutschman and the volatility of pitching prospects. I like RHP Anthony Eyanson as much as the next guy, but if I’m trading the best defensive catcher in baseball who can also hit, I want young hitters in return. More specifically, I want young hitters with speed who can play defense. OF Enndy Azocar fits that bill, and RHP Kyson Witherspoon was the 15th overall pick just last year, but I still think I’d have held Rutschman if I were the POBO. Or gotten two hitters and an arm. Or three hitters and a reliever. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

In our 150th episode, Mike Couillard and Jeremy Brewer discuss a handful of injuries and callups along with the larger implications of the Dodgers acquiring Tarik Skubal before a mega-overview of the trade deadline impacts on each team (except the Giants, sorry, we mistakenly skipped them). You can find us on bluesky at @cardscategories.bsky.social, @mcouill7.bsky.social, and @jbrewer17.bsky.social. Email the pod […]

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1. LHP Kash Mayfield | 21 | A | 2029

The 25th overall pick in 2024, Mayfield is listed at 6’4” 200 pounds and features a mid-90’s fastball and excellent changeup alongside a serviceable slider. That’s a lot of stuff for a lefty starter, and Mayfield dominated with it throughout high school, winning his state’s (Oklahoma) Gatorade Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons leading up to the draft. The Low-A level brought more of the same: Mayfield recorded a 2.97 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 60.2 innings across 19 starts. You can see the kids-gloves approach in the roughly three innings pitched per game started, so the numbers here get a little padded by avoiding the difficulties of facing a lineup multiple times in a night, but Mayfield did have three straight five-inning starts near the end of the season and dominated those nights, too, allowing just two runs and piling up 23 strikeouts. 

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1. SS Leodalis De Vries | 18 | A | 2027

Considered by some scouts to be the best international amateur prospect in a decade, De Vries is a 6’0” 183 lb switch hitter who is currently standing on business in the Arizona Fall League against much older players. That’s nothing new to De Vries, who slashed .231/.361/.441 with 11 home runs and 13 steals in 75 Low-A games this season despite an ice cold start after skipping several levels. Over his final 36 games, his line was .288/.407/.582 with ten home runs and eight steals, putting him on a trajectory toward the top of your prospect lists.

Please, blog, may I have some more?