Over the last week or so, there have been several trades made involving prospects. The non-waiver trade deadline is at 4:00 pm ET next Tuesday and there are sure to be a lot of moves made with several teams in contention still needing key pieces in the rotation, bullpen, and more bats for lineups. Those moves are sure to include prospects and I will have the breakdowns for those next week as well. Now let’s see who got moved this past week.

 

Zach Britton to the Yankees

The latest deal of the week happened just before midnight last night (Tuesday) between division rivals to send Britton, a free agent after the season, for a three-prospect return. Dillon Tate, Cody Carroll, and Josh Rogers are headed to Baltimore with Tate being the headliner of the deal being a former first round pick. The 24-year-old righty was the key piece in the Carlos Beltrán deal between New York and Texas in 2016 and since then he has gone from High-A to Double-A in their system. In 2018 he has posted a 3.38 ERA (3.75 FIP), 5-2 record, 8.17 K/9, 2.72 BB/9, and 1.11 WHIP. Tate has only pitched a max of 83.1 innings in a season to this point with 82.2 pitched thus far in 2018 which means he’s got some serious stretching out to do before thinking about Triple-A or the majors. Tate offers a four-seam fastball that sits 93-95 and a two-seamer that’s a bit slower but induces ground balls along with a hard slider and changeup that can both give him three plus-pitchers. Cody Carroll was a 22nd round pick in the 2015 draft (same one as Tate) and had made his way to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre before the trade while working mainly as a reliever over 111 games (only six starts) and nailing down 22 saves. HIs career numbers are pretty good for a high-leverage bullpen piece or closer with a career ERA of 2.66 and WHIP of 1.24 and K/9 of 10.35 over 226 innings. The high K-rate comes from a fastball that has life at 96-98 and touching 101 and grades out at 75 on the 20-80 scale and mixing a slider that sits in the upper 80s but has curveball type break to it and occasionally Carroll will throw a mid-80s splitter too. Rogers is nothing more than organizational depth in the deal but overall the O’s got a future number three starter and potential closer for a rental of Zach Britton .

 

Jeurys Familia to the Athletics

Familia was one of the top closers on the market this deadline but the A’s struck first and locked down a deal with a week and a half to spare. Many including myself were surprised at the return for the All-Star caliber arm but it will take a bit of time to see how the final deal shapes up. Oakland sent Will Toffey, a third base prospect, Bobby Wahl , right-handed reliever prospect, and $1 million in international pool money to New York in the deal. Toffey was ranked the A’s 19th-ranked prospect before the deal as a left-handed hitting third baseman but one who is fringy in most of the tools including speed, hit, and power. Toffey played 105 games for Oakland since being drafted in 2017 (373 AB) and compiled a .249/.368/.364 slash line with six homers, 55 runs, 54 RBI, and two steals; not a great stat line from a third baseman. Bobby Wahl however has the potential to be a stalwart of the Mets bullpen for several years to come if he can replicate his 2.27 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 14.75 K/9, and striking out 42.8% of batters that he’s produced at Triple-A Nashville this season. The arsenal allowing that stat line is his 70-grade upper-90s fastball with life and his 50-grade power curveball that flashes plus but lacks consistency to be plus all the time. He mixes in a changeup but that pitch is still developing and he’s mainly a two-pitch arm-strength type reliever. The real key to the deal is the international signing money that may allow the Mets to sign one of the elite free agents still left on the market and if that happens, this deal looks a lot better than it does right now, but we’ll have to wait to see if they can get one of those guys.

 

Brad Hand , Adam Cimber to the indians

This deal was a fast moving one and caught most by surprise, not only in speed but also with who was involved in the trade. It’s well known that Cleveland needs as much bullpen help as they can find given their near MLB worst grouping before the trade and Hand and Cimber are sure to help bolster it. Hand has been an All-Star caliber closer the past two years and Cimber, though just a rookie, has the stuff to be a dangerous setup man to face. In return the Indians gave up their top prospect and the number 15 prospect in baseball in Francisco Mejia . I have talked about Mejia previously, most notably after his 50-game hitting streak two years ago in the lower levels, but since then he has continued to show his skills at the plate and versatility in the field. In 2018 he’s played nearly equal time behind the plate and in the outfield (42 at catcher, 30 in OF) while posting a .279/.328/.426 slash line with seven homers, 45 RBI, 32 runs in 79 games for Triple-A Columbus before the trade. Defensively he is solid behind the plate but not spectacular, and when he makes it to San Diego, we could see Austin Hedges come in for him for defensive purposes, but the bat is a huge upgrade over Hedges in all likelihood. The ability to play the outfield well enough to not make errors means San Diego could play Mejia in left and Hedges behind the plate if they want both Hedges defense and Mejia’s bat in the lineup on the same day. Overall this is a big get for an already stacked Padres system, though not a shocking return given the controllability of both Cimber and Hand and the fact that Mejia was pretty well blocked in Cleveland long term.

 

Manny Machado to the Dodgers

Machado was known to be traded this year; it was just a matter of when it would happen. Last week his O’s tenure came to an end with the move to L.A. for the final 2-3 months of the season and playoffs. In return for the 26-year-old star Baltimore got four players back, three prospects and a minor leaguer with some MLB experience. Yusniel Diaz is the top prospect in the deal as the Dodgers fourth-best in their system (now the O’s second ranked) and gives Baltimore their second top-100 prospect in the system behind Ryan Mountcastle. His mix of speed and hit tools is intriguing as is his defensive ability and baseball IQ. His power right now is simply average to below average by some rankings, though I tend to think it’s actually better than he gets credit for. In 2018 for the Dodgers, Diaz played 59 games while slashing .314/.428/.477 with six homers, 36 runs, 30 RBI, eight steals and more BB (41) than strikeouts (39). He has the speed to stick in center and defensively it’s probably his best position in the minors, there is also an opening if the O’s don’t re-sign Adam Jones at the end of the year. The second prospect in the deal is Rylan Bannon, a 22-year-old third baseman who had previously been at High-A until coming to Baltimore and starting at Double-A Bowie. With the Dodgers he hit .296/.402/.559 with 20 homers, 61 RBI, 58 runs, and four steals in 89 games while splitting time in the field between third (54 games) and second (22 games). His defense leaves a lot to be desired though that can be easier to work on sometimes than hitting can be. Bannon was taken as the 250th overall pick in the 2017 draft and proceeded to put up a .336/.425/.591 line in 40 games of rookie ball with 10 homers, 39 runs, 30 RBI, and five steals. He is a couple of years away and may wind up at second rather than third with Ryan Mountcastle playing the hot corner. Dean Kremer was the third prospect in the deal, and likely the last that will make an impact in the majors, as a right-handed starter who now slots in at 14th on the O’s prospect ranking. In 2018, across two levels and three affiliates, Kremer has posted a 2.93 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 131:32 K:BB ratio, and 7-3 record in 18 starts and 92 innings. HIs 91-94 mph fastball has nice arm side run and grades at 60 on the scale while his curveball is of the looping variety and misses bats both in and out of the zone. He possesses a slider and changeup as well and both are improved over previous campaigns. If he can make his slider or changeup a plus offering consistently he could be a number two starter, though a third starter is more likely. Zach Pop, a right-handed pitcher, and Breyvic Valera , infielder, were also in the deal but a much more minor pieces.