The flurry of trades leading up to the deadline created some vacancies in teams’ player pools, and we’ve continued to see a few clubs add prospects to their ranks even in the days since the deadline as they look to get said players some vital developmental reps late in the season. Here’s a look at some of the latest additions around the league…
- Outfielder Parker Meadows and right-handers Logan Shore, Jason Foley and Alex Lange have all been added to the Tigers’ pool, the team announced Thursday morning. Meadows, the No. 44 pick in 2018 and the younger brother of Rays star Austin Meadows, is the most highly regarded of the bunch. He posted strong numbers that summer but struggled in his first full season, slashing .221/.296/.312 against older competition in Class-A. He’s ranked 13th among Detroit prospects at MLB.com and at FanGraphs. Lange, 24, was the better of the two pitching prospects acquired from the Cubs in the trade that sent Nick Castellanos to Chicago last year. He’s pitched as a high as Double-A already and could be an option for the Tigers by next year. Foley was an undrafted free agent in ’16 who missed the 2018 season due to injury but returned with solid numbers in Class-A Advanced last year. Shore, a former second-round pick of the A’s, was sent to Detroit as a PTBNL in 2018’s Mike Fiers trade. Shore’s changeup is considered a potentially plus pitch, but the rest of his arsenal isn’t regarded nearly as highly.
Earlier Additions
- The Rangers announced that infielder Davis Wendzel, outfielder Bubba Thompson and outfielder Steele Walker were all added to their 60-man pool this week. Wendzel was the No. 41 overall pick in the 2019 draft, while Thompson was selected 26th overall back in 2017. Wendzel saw just seven pro games after being drafted last year, so he’s still relatively light on overall professional experience. Thompson had a strong 2018 campaign in his first year of pro ball but saw his production crater in Class-A Advanced last year. He fared better in the Arizona Fall League, however. The 24-year-old Walker was a second-rounder of the White Sox back in 2018 but was traded to Texas over the winter in exchange for Nomar Mazara. He hit .284/.361/.451 in 525 plate appearances across Class-A and Class-A Advanced last year.
- Infield prospect Greg Jones was added to the Rays’ player pool, per a club announcement. Tampa Bay selected the now-22-year-old Jones with the No. 22 pick out of UNC Wilmington in 2019. He posted a .335/.413/.461 slash in 48 games and 218 plate appearances with the Rays’ short-season Class-A affiliate in the New York-Penn League, although that wasn’t a particularly aggressive initial assignment for a college bat. The success is still notable, of course, and he’ll get some additional simulated game reps and face time with coaches over the season’s final month.
- The Pirates added 2019 first-rounder Quinn Priester to their player pool earlier this week, MLBTR has learned. The Illinois native was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2019 draft and logged 36 2/3 innings between Rookie ball and short-season Class-A last year. Priester pitched to a 3.19 ERA in that time with a 41-to-14 K/BB ratio and a hefty 59.1 percent ground-ball rate. He’s considered to be one of the organization’s best two to three best pitching prospects.
- The Phillies added former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak to their player pool a day prior to the trade deadline. As Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted at the time, it was possible the timing of the move was sheer coincidence and not part of any scheme to trade the 22-year-old outfielder. Moniak had been rehabbing a knee injury, Salisbury wrote, and he’d progressed to the point where he’s able to work at the Phillies’ alternate training site rather than rehab at their Spring Training complex. Moniak hasn’t lived up to his 1-1 billing, but he did post better-than-average numbers against much more advanced pitching in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting last year. His .252/.303/.439 slash doesn’t look like much, but that checked in 15 percent better than average in the Eastern League, per wRC+.
“Mickey hasn’t lived up to his 1-1 hype” he is 22 years old.
Sure, but it’s an objective fact that most (not all) players selected 1-1 are more highly regarded four years into their pro career than Moniak is at the moment. He’s not currently ranked in his own organization’s Top 10 prospects.
It’s not an indictment on the guy’s future, and I went out of my way to note that he had a better season than most would think when glancing at his Double-A numbers in 2019. He may yet have a solid or even very good big league career — but his stock has unequivocally plummeted since that draft.
He’s still young…
Where does he project to hit?
#2
#8
They didn’t call him a bust. He was drafted 1-1 four years ago and he hasn’t hit well at any level. I think “hasn’t lived up to his 1-1 hype” is fair,
I don’t think it’s unfair to say he hasn’t lived up to expectations. The absolute bare minimum you should expect from a #1 overall pick is top 100 prospect status. And he’s well outside of that at this point. Doesn’t mean he won’t get to the show and tear it up, stranger things have happened.
“Hasn’t lived up” is different than saying “didn’t live up” or “won’t live up.” It just means that, as of now, he’s underwhelmed.
In addition to being selected 1-1, he also had some pretty lofty prospect rankings. Baseball America put him at 17, MLB Pipeline had him at 19 and Baseball Prospectus had him at 56 in 2017. It might suck for him to have those expectations that maybe he never wanted or asked for but if you are going to succeed in baseball you will have to produce in spite of that.
This all is hardly a death sentence though. As you pointed out, he’s just 22 and is still typically competing against older, more developed players.
I think this goes beyond question. If you drafted someone 1-1, and he is not a top-100 prospect, you have to be really disappointed.
Dude if you go 1-1 you should beq top 100 prospect.
still a better prospect then Donovan Tate was
That’s the wrong Bubba Thompson link just an FYI
Augh, thanks. Auto-linker grabbed the wrong one … I am frankly surprised there’s more than one, ha. Appreciate the heads up. It’s fixed now.
While 2016 remains a pretty uninspiring draft, even I’m not “homer” enough to paint MM in any shade other than disappointing.
That said, he’s only 22….who knows? Maybe he’ll be a 4th OF type someday??
yeah i was a bit suspect of the pick at the time, I will say, though most the other guys i wanted there (Groome, Ray) have done even worse. Moniak hasnt shown a lot, but he’s hardly shown nothing. sure you want better then a 4th OF from the #1 pick, but he’s shown enough for the levels he’s played at for his age to make me think he could certainly fill that role well enough. and hey, you never know, maybe things improve from there.
Meadows is mighty quick from home to 2nd base.
Question for Mr. Adams, what is the timing for waiver trades, if there are any?
Could the RS, for example, get a good performance fro Eovaldi, pick up half his salary, and then trade him to Philly for Moniak?
Assuming he naturally clears waivers?
Waiver trades were eliminated last year. Eovaldi can’t be traded anywhere until this winter.
Mikey Moniak is every Scouting Director’s worst nightmare. But it happens. And who knows how much the under-performing has to do with natural talent or skill set or just some 18 year old kid who, almost by magic, becomes a very wealthy man overnight.
22? To (mis)quote Horace Valdelgelder, “22? A man ain’t worth nothin’ til he’s 25. We just pay him to make mistakes until then”. He’s still got a shot.
Moniak’s perception is so greatly tainted by the fact that he went 1-1. not to say his minors numbers have been great, but he’s shown more then nothing. posted a markedly improved average in 2018 as a 19/20 year old in A+, showed increased speed (career best 3B, SB, SB% marks) in AA and managed to homer more on the road in spite of the hitter friendly nature of Reading’s park. (his 7 road homers alone would have been a season high) He just turned 22 in May and would probably have played in AAA this year, and he has been pushed along level to level by year despite not doing overly amazing at any level. sure he’s something of a project still, but he could still make a solid Major Leaguer. does he live up to the #1 pick billing? doubtful, though them again very few in baseball history have.
Leave his guy alone. Give him great coaching and plenty of positive reinforcement and make sure he reads the Tewksbury best seller ASAP. Doc and Lefty had lots to say on this subject about mediocrity becoming greatness when you have natural talent and tools. MM has the later. In Spring Training I this spring it was evident.
Moniak was a bad pick in a bad crop of players. Drafting baseball players is the hardest thing in sports. LT’s than 25% of #1 picks become serviceable major league players. That said, the Phillies have drafted terribly. Getting better, but the minors are empty and the cupboards are bare.
Did a deep dive on Phillies drafting while listening to today’s game (currently top of the 10th)…and gee whilikers, I forgot how bad it is/was…
Ignoring the Incaviglian swing and a miss on both Moniak and Cornelious Randolph?!?!
Since 2015 Draft?
2015-Kingery
2016-JoJo Romero/Cole Irvin
2017-Adam Haseley/Spencer Howard
2018-Alec Bohm
Ooooof…Thank Michael Jack Schmidt for the 17/18/19 (Bryson Stott!) classes
edit..PHILS WIN!! 6 in a row!! Alec Bohm sac fly!!
🙂
Anyone saying this kid is not atleast a “mild disappointment” has to be a homer. Now is he Brien Taylor, Mark Appel or Brady Aiken bad as a 1-1 guy, no I would say not at all. But a disappointment so far, absolutely.
That whole 1st round has been pretty trash outside of Dakota Hudson though.