Outfield prospect Marshall Toole is heading from the Yankees to the Rays, according to announcements from both clubs. He is the player to be named later from the deadline deal which sent José Caballero to the Yankees and Everson Pereira to the Rays. Toole wasn’t on the Yankees’ 40-man roster and therefore doesn’t need to take up a spot with the Rays.
Toole, 22, was a 15th-round pick of the Yankees in last year’s draft. Since that selection, he has played in 113 Single-A games, stepping to the plate 441 times. His 20.6% strikeout rate thus far is decent while his 15.2% walk rate is quite strong. His .298/.413/.462 batting line translates to a 148 wRC+. He has also stolen 52 bases in 60 tries.
Those are obviously some nice numbers but there are some caveats. That offensive production includes just six home runs and is being propped up by a massive .380 batting average on balls in play. Toole is also a bit old for his level and will face stiffer competition as he moves up the ladder. He’s not currently listed as one of the top 30 prospect in the Yankee system by Baseball America nor MLB Pipeline.
Put all together and it feels like a very Rays-style pickup, a player without a huge profile but one with some interesting tools. The club has turned a few such players into decent big league contributors over the years. Perhaps the same could be true of Toole but he’s likely a few years away since he still has to climb a few more rungs of the minor league ladder. He won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until December of 2027.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Marshall has the hit toole, the stolen base toole, the eye toole, and a little bit of the power toole. Not bad for a 15th round draft pick. Beware of trading with the Rays!
Caballero is exactly what the Yankees needed for the stretch run and next season.
YBC,
Absolutely. I’d go as far as saying he should be starting at SS over Volpe right now.
Imo, unless there is an injury, the Yankees should make Volpe win back the shortstop role next year. Honestly they should consider making a change-of-scenery type swap this offseason involving Volpe.
Hopefully for them, he isn’t a bit of a tool.
Now, if he was a catcher, he would wear the Tooles of ignorance.
Speaking of catchers, Wells is another player who’s been dissapointing this year.
Yes he probably has all the Toole’s to be a Hall Of Famer.
Ah, Single A. Right to the other locker room he goes.
We have all the Marshall Excelsior propane regulators and the Toole you need here at Home Depot
So he takes a couple years to reach the majors and is 24/25 when he arrives. Thats not unusual at all. The key is to keep to that progression time line.
Highly likely he’s a bust but maybe the Rays can unlock something.
IMO, trade Volpe and start Caballero next year until Lombard is ready. I also wouldn’t mind Rosario and Cabrera on the bench for depth. If the Yankees are planning to keep Bellinger or Grisham, it’s time to trade Spencer Jones as well.
Time to trade Spencer Jones was about twenty months ago. At this point, I doubt you get much back for him, so you might as well ride it out.
@ultra
So a 1st round pick from 2022 has a .891 OPS during his first 65 games at the AAA level and he has no value? Are you out of your mind? He still has his strike out issues, as did Judge and Stanton, but he still combined for 35 homer at the AA and AAA level along with 30 SB and a wall rate around 11%. He’s a legit top 50 prospect.
what was his strikeout rate after the trade deadline? I swear it was like 50%+. I’ve been waiting on him like a lot of other yankee fans, but his holes are too huge to hold out much of any hope, despite his tools,
Would’ve been a nobody for the Yankees but likely a 3 WAR Player for the Rays.
Nobody who has yet to play above the Florida State League is a likely anything other than a Honda salesman or small town financial advisor.
But he had a very nice year in Tampa and was fun to root for, so I think he’s a cool guy for the BayRays to gave gotten in the trade and I will miss him in the minor league box scores I follow.
yeah I liked following him as well. Wondered why he wasn’t promoted later in the year when other guys who weren’t having as good a year got called up…
not another bench warming tool…
Too bad they couldn’t get Peter O Toole then they could lord over the desert and win a few against the Snakes
@TonyinSingapore – are you really in Singapore?