Monday’s trade deadline saw a passel of prospects on the move, including some deals that didn’t even involve the Padres. Here are my thoughts on the deals that included prospects, with my breakdowns of San Diego’s moves in a separate column.
The Rockies have been overpaying for relievers in free agency for several years now and this time they overpaid for one in a trade, giving up two solid prospects plus a PTBNL for right-handed specialist Mychal Givens from the Orioles. Givens is a low-slot guy who crushes righties but has the trouble with lefties you’d expect, giving up a .347 OBP and .436 SLG to them in his career, a split that has been worse since the start of 2019. The Rockies didn’t seem to have that great a need for another right-handed reliever, with only two lefties in their bullpen right now, neither of whom is very effective against left-handed hitters.
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They gave up quite a bit for Givens, though, trading their No. 7 and No. 12 prospects plus the eventual PTBNL to the Orioles. Terrin Vavra has gotten praise for his instincts and feel for the game since he was at the University of Minnesota, and he was excellent in Low A last year but was too old for the level. He’s a potential regular at second base with a good utility infielder floor, based on his defense at second and ability to put the ball in play. Tyler Nevin seems like an ideal candidate for some launch-angle optimization; he can hit, gets on base, and looks strong enough for power. He’ll need that to profile as a regular or better at first base, his ideal position.
The Rays made two small pickups in addition to trading DH José Martínez to the Cubs for two PTBNLs or cash considerations, and sent away two prospects who seemed like very good returns for the other teams. They acquired lefty Cody Reed from the Reds for right-handed pitcher Riley O’Brien, No. 15 on Tampa Bay’s preseason prospect rankings. Reed was originally drafted by the Royals and went to Cincinnati in the Johnny Cueto trade back in 2015, but he struggled with command and control when he first saw the majors the next year and hasn’t really progressed at all since then. He missed a good chunk of 2019 with a knee injury. Hitters don’t hit his slider and they don’t fare much better against his fastball, but he doesn’t throw either pitch for enough strikes — just over half the fastballs he threw for the Reds this year were called balls. He hasn’t always had this much trouble with the strike zone, and if the Rays can get him over the plate more often he could be a very good two-pitch reliever, assuming the starter ship sailed a long time ago.
O’Brien throws hard, touching the upper 90s with an above-average breaking ball and average changeup, although his command and control are below average now and, at age 25, he’s reaching a point where the odds of a major leap in those categories are not all that likely. He’s still a power arm who could easily be better than what Reed is right now in the pretty near future.
The Rays’ other trade brought over hard-throwing outfielder Brett Phillips, a plus-plus defender in center with speed and power who has struggled with contact, even against right-handed hitters. He could have value as a defensive replacement, and if he cuts his strikeout rate against righties even a little bit, he’d be a useful platoon bat. The Royals got shortstop Lucius Fox in return for Phillips, getting a plus defender at a critical position who has a good idea of the strike zone and can put the ball in play (but who still hadn’t gained enough strength as of his age-21 season in 2019 to hit for much average or power). He’s a former top 100 prospect, and I still think he has above-average regular upside if and when the strength comes. That’s a great lottery ticket for a part-time player in Phillips, although Fox wasn’t likely to retain his spot on the Rays’ 40-man roster this winter.
The Phillies boosted their beleaguered bullpen on Friday by trading for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree, sending disappointing starter Nick Pivetta and prospect Connor Seabold (No. 16 in their system) to Boston in exchange. Both Workman and Hembree are adequate right-handed relievers who miss some bats but don’t do so at an elite rate and tend to walk a few too many guys, so the return was only so-so for the Sox.
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Pivetta wore out his welcome in Philly after multiple troubled stints with the big club. He posted a 5.50 ERA over nearly 400 innings there and allowed 72 homers in that span, so you can’t say they didn’t give him a fair shake. A sinker/slider guy who didn’t sink the ball consistently and who never found a good pitch to get lefties out, he still has the pure stuff that made him a prospect and sufficient return for a rental of Jonathan Papelbon back in July 2015, but I would focus on developing him in relief after all of his struggles as a starter.
Incredible diving play by Jose Iglesias. Hey Nick Pivetta, what do you think about it? pic.twitter.com/JwQdbMZFLw
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) April 30, 2018
Seabold is a serviceable back-end starter prospect who can touch 95 mph and pitches well off his fastball, but whose secondary pitches are just fringy, with no swing-and-miss offering. He could develop something to get him to a fourth starter ceiling, but right now he’s a fifth starter/swingman type.
The Rangers kept some of their big-name position players but did trade impending free agent Mike Minor — who’d been outstanding in the first two years of his three-year contract — to Oakland for two 2019 draft picks in Marcus Smith (No. 13 in their system) and Dustin Harris (No. 19).
Minor hasn’t been the same guy so far this year in seven starts, losing nearly 2 mph off his average fastball and seeing his slider become less effective, but he still has the plus changeup and has missed bats with it at a rate comparable to last year’s. For a month-plus of his services, Oakland sent the Smith, their third-rounder from last year, and Harris, their 11th-rounder. Smith came out of a Kansas City-area private school and showed excellent plate discipline in his pro debut, with a flat swing that probably won’t produce power but still brings everyday upside if he shows he can stay in center. Harris hit for average last summer in two stops after the A’s took him out of St. Petersburg (Fla.) College, and he’s strong enough to come into power if the Rangers can work with him to elevate the ball instead of hitting it on the ground. They’re both prospects, not top-tier guys, but good inventory for the Rangers to acquire for a rental pitcher who has lost a little luster this summer.
(Photo of Lucius Fox: Joe Robbins / Getty Images)
