Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Giants Rumors

Where Could The Giants Turn For Middle Infield Help?

By | at

The Giants lost second baseman Thairo Estrada for over a month when he fractured his left hand on a hit-by-pitch two Sundays back. San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters last week that Estrada’s injury could affect the team’s deadline outlook.

“We’ve got to at least evaluate what we have in the middle infield,” Zaid said on Friday. “Kind of just keep an eye on the market and see if there’s someone that can be impactful there and weigh that against continuing to give opportunities to Casey [Schmitt] and Brett [Wisely].”

With Zaidi and his staff examining things, let’s take a look at some potential options. The middle infield market is light on apparent trade candidates. Most of the available short-term solutions are having average or worse seasons. Perhaps a longer-shot name comes available (we’ll take a look at a few potential options at the back of the list), but the likely scenario is that San Francisco sifts through stopgap types.

  • Paul DeJong ($9MM salary, controllable through 2025 via club options)

A quality everyday shortstop early in his career, DeJong fell off at the plate by 2021. He combined to hit .182/.269/.352 between 2021-22. The Cards optioned him to Triple-A last summer. He’s rebounded somewhat in 2023, putting together a .231/.302/.434 line with 12 home runs in 245 trips to the plate. Paired with his customary above-average defense, he reclaimed the primary shortstop job in St. Louis.

DeJong’s profile isn’t without flaws. He’s striking out in more than 30% of his plate appearances. His production has been very platoon-dependent. The right-handed hitter is mashing southpaws at a .269/.381/.500 clip but reaching base at a meager .275 rate against righty pitching. He could step in as a short-term replacement for the righty-swinging Estrada at second base while potentially taking a few at-bats against lefty pitching from Brandon Crawford at shortstop later in the year.

MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently explored the White Sox’s dilemma regarding Anderson. He’s an All-Star caliber shortstop at his best — a threat to hit over .300 with double-digit homers and steals. That player hasn’t shown up in 2023. Anderson has been among the worst regulars in the sport, hitting .223/.259/.263 without a single round-tripper.

Where does that leave Chicago? They’re 16 games under .500 and preparing to move short-term players. Trading Anderson now would be an obvious sell-low, but this could be their last chance to get a return at all. A $14MM club option that looked like a no-brainer a few months ago is now more borderline. If the Sox are leaning towards buying Anderson out next winter, then a trade would be advisable. He only has two MLB starts at a position other than shortstop but would presumably have to move to second base if San Francisco were interested in buying low.

Biggio and Espinal have been pushed out of the everyday lineup in Toronto. Whit Merrifield has taken over as the primary second baseman. Biggio is bouncing between right field and the keystone. Espinal is covering multiple infield spots off the bench.

Neither player is hitting well this season, though they’ve both shown better in the past. Biggio was an above-average bat from 2019-20 thanks to huge walk totals. Espinal was an All-Star a season ago and combines defensive versatility with plus contact skills. The Jays don’t have to move either but could find one of them expendable, particularly if they can bring back immediate pitching help in a trade.

Like Toronto, Baltimore enters deadline season as a buyer. The O’s have plenty of infield depth, however, so they could consider ways to deal from that surplus to address the pitching staff. Urías, 29, established himself as a regular last year when he hit 16 home runs while playing Gold Glove defense at third base. He’s hitting .261/.328/.396 with only four homers in 229 trips to the plate this season. He can play either second or third base and will reach arbitration for the first time next winter.

Frazier’s only two years older than Urías but much further along in his career. The former All-Star is actually Baltimore’s highest-paid position player at $8MM. He’s a bottom-of-the-lineup second baseman hitting .232/.299/.397 with 10 homers over 297 trips to the plate. The recent promotion of top prospect Jordan Westburg to join Gunnar Henderson in the everyday infield leaves fewer at-bats for the likes of Urías, Frazier and Jorge Mateo.

  • Nicky Lopez ($3.7MM salary, arbitration-eligible through 2025)

Lopez is a light-hitting defensive specialist who can cover either middle infield spot. He’s a career .249/.312/.319 hitter in just more than 1800 plate appearances. Lopez is tough to strike out but has bottom-of-the-scale power and hasn’t homered since 2021. Public metrics consider him an above-average defender throughout the infield. He’s controllable for two additional seasons, but a last place Kansas City team could put him on the market this summer.

  • Tony Kemp ($3.725MM salary, impending free agent)

Kemp is a clear trade candidate as a rental on a terrible A’s team. If Oakland can find any interest this summer, they’ll move him. A left-handed hitter, Kemp has only hit .197/.286/.283 on the season. He’s played fairly well of late after a dreadful first couple months, though. Going back to the start of June, the veteran has a .272/.359/.407 line with eight walks and only six strikeouts in 94 plate appearances. It wouldn’t be the most exciting acquisition, but Kemp could be a short-term option if the Giants want a stopgap until Estrada returns without sacrificing any notable prospect talent.

Longer Shots

Torres is one of the few Yankees’ hitters with slightly above-average offensive numbers on the year. The right-handed hitting second baseman owns a .251/.325/.413 line with 13 homers over 375 trips to the dish. Torres has strong strikeout and walk numbers but modest batted ball marks. He has rated as an average defensive second baseman by measure of both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast.

New York is a game back in the AL Wild Card picture. They’re likely to look for ways to upgrade the offense in the next few weeks. A Torres trade isn’t especially likely, but it’s not inconceivable. Oswald Peraza is in Triple-A and could soon be an option to step in at second base on a regular basis. The Yankees have short-term questions at third base and in the corner outfield.

The organization is also right up against the fourth luxury tax line at $293MM. They were reportedly reluctant to cross that threshold over the offseason; owner Hal Steinbrenner suggested a few weeks ago it wasn’t a firm cap but implied the team would want an impactful acquisition to go over that mark. Reallocating a few million dollars in a Torres trade could clear some flexibility for a subsequent acquisition.

The Cardinals would have to be blown away to part with either Gorman or Donovan. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak conceded yesterday the club would probably part with short-term assets. Gorman and Donovan have the chance to be core players for years to come.

Trading DeJong is the more straightforward path for St. Louis. They have enough infield depth it’s theoretically possible another club could sway them on Gorman, Donovan or Tommy Edman — likely by dangling high-upside young pitching. That’s probably beyond what San Francisco has in mind.

Braves Claim Dalton Guthrie, Place Nick Anderson On 60-Day IL

By and | at

The Braves have claimed outfielder Dalton Guthrie off waivers from the Giants, per announcements from both clubs. Guthrie has been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, the Braves placed right-hander Nick Anderson on the 60-day injured list with a shoulder strain. San Francisco designated Guthrie for assignment last week.

Guthrie, 27, was only just acquired from the Phillies three weeks ago but quickly lost his roster spot when the Giants added Mauricio Llovera to the roster. Guthrie made his major league debut with the Phils last year and hit .333/.500/.476 in 28 plate appearances. But in 28 more trips to the plate this year, he hit just .167/.286/.208. He’s generally hit well at the Triple-A level, slashing .296/.363/.467 between last season and this one for a wRC+ of 117.

He’s also shown some flashes of speed, including swiping 21 bags in Triple-A last year, though he was caught six times. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots and has also lined up at the three infield positions to the left of first base. He still has a full slate of options, one of which he’s currently using here in 2023, and can potentially serve as a versatile depth piece for Atlanta for the foreseeable future.

Anderson, 33, has occasionally looked like an elite reliever but has frequently been waylaid by injuries. He posted a 3.32 ERA between the Marlins and Rays in 2019 and then dropped that all the way to 0.55 in 2020, striking out 44.8% of batters faced in the shortened season.

He would hardly pitch in the next two years, however. He was diagnosed with a partial tear of his UCL during Spring Training in 2021 and didn’t initially go under the knife. He tossed six innings that year but eventually underwent an internal brace procedure in October, which wiped out his 2022.

He was non-tendered by Tampa last year and landed with Atlanta. He has been having a nice bounceback season up until this point, making 35 appearances with a 3.06 ERA, striking out 25.5% of opponents while walking 6.4% and getting grounders on 41.7% of balls in play. He moved into a leverage role with Atlanta, earning 15 holds this year. However, the fact that he’s been immediately placed on the 60-day IL suggests that his shoulder strain is fairly significant. Anderson will now be ineligible to return until early September.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Top Deadline Trade Candidates, Ohtani Trade Potential and the Slipping Rays

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

Plus, we answer your questions, including:

  • With the Cardinals being sellers for the first time in 20 years, who do you anticipate to be moved? And what is realistic return with an eye on 2024 contention? (23:30)
  • Who trades for Joey Bart? (26:00)
  • Are the Yankees buyers or sellers? And what, if anything, do you see them doing in either position? (28:40)

Check out our past episodes!

Giants Acquire Jack Larsen From Mariners

By | at

The Giants acquired minor league outfielder Jack Larsen in a trade with the Mariners over the weekend (h/t to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America). San Francisco assigned the left-handed hitter to their top affiliate in Sacramento, where he made his organizational debut on Sunday.

Seattle’s return is unspecified, though most transactions of this nature see cash sent the other way. Larsen hadn’t been on the M’s 40-man roster, so he does not take a spot on San Francisco’s 40-man.

Larsen, 28, had spent the season with the M’s Triple-A club in Tacoma. The UC-San Diego product appeared in 25 games, hitting .313/.466/.338 across 103 plate appearances. Larsen only connected on two extra-base hits (both doubles), but he walked at an elite 21.4% clip against a 23.3% strikeout rate.

Plate discipline has been his calling card through seven professional campaigns. Larsen is a .267/.380/.441 hitter in more than 2200 minor league plate appearances. He got a cup of coffee in Seattle last summer, tallying one plate appearance (a strikeout) in his MLB debut. The M’s outrighted him off the 40-man thereafter.

Larsen has some center field experience but has played almost exclusively in the corner outfield this year. The Giants have Heliot Ramos and Bryce Johnson as 40-man outfielders in Sacramento. Larsen joins 27-year-old Michael Gigliotti as non-roster depth options on the grass.

Farhan Zaidi Discusses Giants’ Deadline Plans

By | at

The Giants are only 2-7 in their last nine games, but the club remains a factor in the playoff race.  With a 47-41 record for the season, San Francisco is 3.5 games behind the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West, and 1.5 games out of a NL wild card position.  While obviously a lot could still happen between now and the August 1 trade deadline, the Giants are preparing at this point to be buyers, and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi highlighted one particular target area.

“We’ve got to at least evaluate what we have in the middle infield,” Zaidi told reporters, including Evan Webeck of the Bay Area News Group and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  “Kind of just keep an eye on the market and see if there’s someone that can be impactful there and weigh that against continuing to give opportunities to Casey [Schmitt] and Brett [Wisely].”

Both second base and shortstop seemed pretty reasonably well covered less than a week ago, yet the loss of Thairo Estrada to a fractured hand delivered a major blow to both the middle infield picture and to San Francisco’s lineup as a whole.  Estrada was playing the majority of games at second base while also chipping in at shortstop, so his absence weakens the Giants at both positions.  Brandon Crawford remains the starting shortstop, while the rookie duo of Schmitt and Wisely figure to be the top options at second base, with veteran Wilmer Flores likely to get some work at the keystone as well.

Estrada’s recovery timeline is a little fluid, but he is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks, so it is quite possible he might not be back prior to the trade deadline.  Even if Estrada is able to return on the lower end of that timeline, that leaves the Giants shorthanded in the middle infield for a lot of crucial games in July.  Zaidi could try to swing a trade sooner rather than later, but since there’s still a lot of time until August 1, teams are likely to still have pretty high asking prices on any notable middle infielders who might be available.

Beyond the middle infield, there’s a bit more of a wait-and-see perspective about other possible needs heading int othe deadline.  “We’ll have to see how it goes with the outfield the next couple of weeks, but we like the options that we have there,” Zaidi said, and the PBO also noted that the Giants expect some outfielders back from the injured list in the second half.  Heliot Ramos is already on a Triple-A rehab assignment and looks to be nearing a return from his oblique strain, while the Giants continue to aim for early September as Mitch Haniger’s return date from forearm surgery.

Zaidi also provided an update on Luis Gonzalez, who hasn’t played this season after undergoing back surgery in mid-March.  Gonzalez has been working out at the team’s Spring Training facilities and could soon start playing in Complex League games.  His initial recovery timeline ruled him out until at least last June, so while he is a little behind schedule, Zaidi said the outfielder “could be a factor for us in August.”

Since all teams are forever on the lookout for starting pitching, Zaidi acknowledged that the Giants would check in on “a front-of-the-rotation arm that becomes available….You can always fit that.”  However, in terms of overall pitching needs, Zaidi said “I don’t really see us adding starting rotation depth because we like the guys that we have in that category.”

Alex Cobb, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Anthony DeSclafani, and John Brebbia have all spent time on the IL this season, with DeSclafani (shoulder fatigue) and Brebbia (lat strain) currently sidelined.  The latter two hurlers could both be back in the window between the All-Star break and the trade deadline, so the Giants might finally have a chance to see what their rotation looks like when fully healthy.

“What we’re hoping to see in the next two or three weeks leading up the deadline is a little bit more definition and clarity on the pitching staff,” Zaidi said.  “We would love to have a group of five guys that just get the ball every fifth day.  Even though we’ve had success in the bullpen games and we’ve got guys that are willing to buy in, I think it’s just the most comfortable thing for everybody.  Just have a five-man rotation and be giving five guys the ball every fifth day and try to get deep into games.  Hopefully we start seeing a little bit more of that over the next two or three weeks.”

The other x-factor surrounding the pitching staff is top prospect Kyle Harrison, and Zaidi said that the team had initially considered calling Harrison up for his MLB debut prior to the All-Star break in order to include him in the Giants’ broader evaluations of their rotation plans.  However, Harrison suffered a right hamstring strain earlier this week, and Slusser estimates that he could miss roughly 3-6 weeks.

One of the more highly-regarded pitching prospects in baseball, Harrison’s first season at Triple-A has been inconsistent, as he has a 4.79 ERA over 56 1/3 innings and 17 starts.  While the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League is a challenge for any young hurler, Harrison’s 17.3% walk rate is a sizeable red flag, yet the Giants might feel that pitching in the majors (and getting direct help from the big league coaching staff) might be a better adjustment phase for Harrison than continuing in the PCL.

This injury might also erase whatever small chance there might have been of a Harrison trade prior to the deadline, though there was no indication that San Francisco was looking to move a pitcher who projects to be a big part of the future.  Logan Webb is the only Giants starter under contract beyond the 2024 season, as the bulk of the rotation is comprised of veteran starters on shorter-term contracts.

Giants Select Mauricio Llovera, Designate Dalton Guthrie For Assignment

By | at

The Giants announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Mauricio Llovera, with righty Keaton Winn optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, outfielder Dalton Guthrie was designated for assignment.

Llovera, 27, pitched for the Giants last year, posting a 4.41 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. He was non-tendered at season’s end and returned on a minor league deal. He’s thrown 22 2/3 innings in the minors this year with a 3.97 ERA, striking out 31.5% of opponents while walking just 6.5%.

Those strong peripherals will get him another shot at getting outs at the big league level. He’s out of options, which means he can’t be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers. But he has just under a year of service time, meaning the Giants could keep him around for future seasons if he manages to stick.

Guthrie, 27, just came over about two weeks ago, acquired from the Phillies in a cash deal after he was designated for assignment. He appeared in 14 big league games with the Phils last year and hit .333/.500/.476 but 23 games this year amounted to a line of just .167/.286/.208. Between the two clubs, he’s hit .279/.362/.443 at Triple-A this year for a wRC+ of 101.

He has the ability to play all three outfield positions and has also played the three infield spots to the left of first base. He still has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time. Given those factors and the offense he’s shown at times, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him garner interest from other clubs. The Giants will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Thairo Estrada Suffers Hand Fracture

By | at

The Giants placed infielder Thairo Estrada on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left hand. San Francisco also placed starter Anthony DeSclafani on the 15-day IL (retroactive to July 2) with shoulder fatigue. Mike Yastrzemski was activated from his own IL stint, while Brett Wisely was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.

Estrada’s injury is the most notable of today’s developments. It’s a brutal blow for the righty-swinging middle infielder. He was hit on the hand by an Adam Ottavino offering in last night’s loss to the Mets. Estrada played out the rest of the contest but apparently fractured his hand on the play.

It’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action, although Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic writes that it’s not believed to be as serious as the broken forearm that’ll cost teammate Mitch Haniger at least two and a half months. A lengthy absence seems a possibility, interrupting the best full season of his career. Estrada was hitting .272/.327/.434 with excellent defensive grades for his second base work.

Wisely steps right into the lineup at the keystone tonight, hitting eighth against Seattle pitcher Bryan Woo. The Giants are using Casey Schmitt at shortstop with Brandon Crawford battling some side discomfort. If Crawford avoids the injured list, Schmitt seems to be the top candidate for second base work while Estrada is down.

DeSclafani vacates a rotation spot, though it’s possible that’s influenced by the All-Star Break. San Francisco is off Thursday, so they won’t need a fifth starter until July 18. If DeSclafani is able to return when first eligible, they can squeeze an extra position player on the roster to weather the infield injuries.

Giants Release Jacob Nottingham

By | at

The Giants released catcher Jacob Nottingham from their Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, per the league transaction log. Nottingham’s departure from the organization dovetails with the Giants’ recent signing of fellow catcher Jakson Reetz to a minor league deal.

Nottingham, 28, posted a .262/.360/.415 batting line in 75 plate appearances for Sacramento. He’d opened the year with the Mariners organization but struggled to a .200/.294/.450 slash in 68 plate appearances with their top affiliate. Overall, the well-traveled backstop/first baseman is batting .232/.329/.432 in 143 Triple-A plate appearances this season. Those numbers are nearly identical to his career line in 1025 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

Nottingham hasn’t seen big league action since 2021, when he was hot-potato’ed between the Brewers and Mariners several times throughout the season’s first couple months. The right-handed-hitting slugger has displayed promising power in the Majors, clubbing eight homers and connecting on three doubles in just 130 plate appearances, but he’s also fanned in 38.5% of his plate appearances at the big league level. Overall, he’s a .184/.277/.421 hitter in the Majors.

Defensively, Nottingham has a 31% caught-stealing rate in the minors, although he’s just 4-for-30 so far  in 2023 (13%). He’s long drawn positive scouting grades for his big arm behind the dish, though the other aspects of his defense (blocking, receiving, framing) were typically considered to be a work in progress. In Baseball America’s 2019 scouting report on Nottingham, they noted that he’d improved his glovework to at least be passable in those areas.

Nottingham will head back to the market in search of a third organization this season. Teams are regularly in search of catching help, and Nottingham has more than 600 professional innings at first base as well, which could add to his appeal back in free agency.

Giants, Jakson Reetz Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent catcher Jakson Reetz, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Warner Sports Management client recently opted out of a minor league deal with the Royals after playing well for their Triple-A affiliate but not getting a call to the big leagues.

In 106 plate appearances with Triple-A Omaha this season, Reetz hit .274/.349/.526 with four homers and a dozen doubles. His 8.5% walk rate was solid, but Reetz’s 32.1% strikeout rate is obviously a number he’d prefer to curtail moving forward with his new organization.

Reetz, 27, has had the briefest of big league experience, tallying two plate appearances with the 2021 Nationals and going 1-for-2 with a double. The 2014 third-round pick is a career .242/.316/.480 hitter with 14 homers, 20 doubles and a triple in 304 Triple-A plate appearances, and he was long considered one of the 30 best prospects in Washington’s system over at Baseball America.

Defensively, Reetz has a solid reputation. BA’s scouting reports on him praised his receiving and blocking skills alike. Baseball Prospectus has credited him with average or better framing marks dating back to his 2018 season in High-A. He also touts a 30% caught-stealing mark in his minor league career, which would be well above league-average. (He’s a more pedestrian 5-of-29 so far in 2023 — a 17% success rate.)

The Giants are giving 2020 first-round pick Patrick Bailey a chance to cement himself behind the dish in San Francisco, and so far he’s run with the opportunity. In his first 111 plate appearances, Bailey is hitting .320/.349/.534 with four homers, eight doubles and a triple. A BABIP just over .400 points to some eventual regression, but the early results are encouraging.

Behind Bailey, the Giants have been using Rule 5 catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol as the primary backup. San Francisco also has former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart on the 40-man roster down in Triple-A, and journeyman Jacob Nottingham is also with the team’s Triple-A club in Sacramento (though not on the organization’s 40-man roster). Reetz will give them some additional depth behind the plate, and he also saw 160 innings in left field while in the Brewers’ system a year ago.

Big Hype Prospects: Westburg, Matos, Crawford, Whisenhunt, Anthony

By | at

The Orioles are finally calling up one of their top hitting prospects, and it isn’t the one I expected to get the first call. Jordan Westburg will make his debut later today. I expected Colton Cowser to win the race to the Majors. With Cedric Mullins recently returning, Cowser is left to await another injury or Aaron Hicks’ inevitable collapse (good outcomes, deeply terrible EVs).

Five Big Hype Prospects

Jordan Westburg, 24, 2B/3B/SS, BAL (AAA)
301 PA, 18 HR, 6 SB, .295/.372/.567

There’s a disconnect between public perceptions of Westburg and scouting reports. The bat will play, though Westburg’s penchant to swing-and-miss could result in long slumps as reports identify exploitable weaknesses. His minor league exit velocities would rate as above average in the Majors. Additionally, Westburg seemingly mixes discipline and targeted aggression in a way that could help keep his strikeouts under control – it has thus far in the minors.

The trouble is his defense. He’s trained all over the infield. Some think he’ll eventually land in left field. We see these sorts of bat-first players all over the league. His flexibility enables the club to view him as a tenth man akin to Chris Taylor (to be clear, Taylor is a far superior fielder). When approaching roster construction, Westburg can be slotted into whatever spot needs filling or else rotate with the regulars to keep everyone fresh.

Luis Matos, 21, OF, SFG (MLB)
45 PA, 1 HR, 2 SB, .282/.378/.385

On the back of a mediocre AFL performance, it wasn’t guaranteed the Giants were going to roster Matos this year. He would have likely gone early in the Rule 5 draft if they hadn’t. Matos immediately rewarded San Francisco’s decision to protect him. Though discipline has long been a weakness, he has more walks than strikeouts through 45 plate appearances after hitting .398/.435/.685 in 116 Triple-A plate appearances. The 21-year-old has looked like a new hitter this year.

There are still worrying details under the surface. His 89.5-mph average and 107.5-mph max exit velocities suggest middling power. Given his age, he could easily grow into more power – several evaluators believe this will happen. It’s my expectation Matos will soon enter a slump due to poor quality of contact. However, I’m optimistic about the long-range picture. In addition to burgeoning hitting skills, Matos is a plus defensive center fielder.

Justin Crawford, 19, OF, PHI (A)
202 PA, 0 HR, 32 SB, .346/.395/.456

I was surprised to recently discover Crawford had crept onto Baseball America’s Top 100 list. That’s not meant as a knock against Crawford. There happens to be a large number of high-quality prospects around the league. Crawford is more projection than actuality at this stage of his development.

The 17th pick of the 2022 draft, Crawford was seen as the sort of toolsy, incomplete prospect the Phillies have historically loved – and struggled to develop. He’s performing decently in Low-A where his first-rate speed is on display. A .423 BABIP has allowed him to get away with too many swinging strikes for his current low-power profile. He’s expected to age into roughly average pop, so this problem could go away in a couple ways. Comparisons to his father, Carl Crawford, come naturally as they share quite a few traits. He’s reportedly comfortable making adjustments to his hitting mechanics which further increases the volatility of his prospectdom.

Carson Whisenhunt, 22, SP, SFG (AA)
(A/A+/AA) 49.2 IP, 12.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 2.90 ERA

Whisenhunt would rank higher among evaluators if not for off-field issues. As it is, he’s still in consideration for the back-end of Top 100 lists. The simplest issue to comment on publicly is his failed PED test in college. You’ll notice, it’s rare for college players to be caught for PEDs, and it’s not because they’re squeaky clean. For his part, Whisenhunt blames a tainted supplement. The skinny southpaw leads with a double-plus changeup and is only just reaching a level where hitters will have some capacity to cope with the pitch. His changeup is such that he won’t truly be tested until he reaches the Majors. The profile and build are reminiscent of Cole Hamels.

Roman Anthony, 19, OF, BOS (A+)
(A/A+) 251 PA, 5 HR, 12 SB, .236/.379/.382

Anyone statistically minded is going to like Anthony. A 19-year-old performing well in High-A is exciting stuff, particularly when said 19-year-old has a 171 wRC+ in 49 plate appearances. He was considerably more ordinary in Low-A, posting a 110 wRC+ in 202 plate appearances. A sweet-swinging lefty slugger, Anthony has considerable development ahead of him if he’s to continue this speedy race toward the Majors. The P-word gets thrown around. Against better competition, Anthony will find himself behind in the count all too often. Passivity isn’t a death knell. We saw Gunnar Henderson defeat it entering last season and again about a month ago. It’s a trait which has a way of echoing. But for the passivity, Anthony has all the traits of a starting corner outfielder.

FanGraphs gives Anthony a four-paragraph writeup that says more than I can in this space.

Three More

Edouard Julien, MIN (24): The star of the 2022 AFL, Julien is on the verge of losing his prospect “eligibility.” He’s batting .252/.336/.439 through 123 plate appearances. A 34.1 percent strikeout rate has held him back. He also has a 12.5 percent swinging strike rate – nearly double that of his Triple-A performance. Defensively limited, Julien appears in need of an adjustment or two. He has the tools to pull it off.

Jacob Misiorowski, MIL (21): It’s good to be unique as a pitcher. Misiorowski certainly checks the “unique” box. The 6’7’’ right-hander has the sort of funky arm action that makes it hard to identify balls and strikes. Misiorowski lacks a changeup, but we’ve seen plenty of starters succeed without one in recent years, especially those who can live up in the zone with hard heat. He currently has poor command.

Quinn Priester, PIT (22): Priester has been on the radar for a while, bouncing in and out of the Top 100 prospects. He’s a ground ball pitcher who manages around a strikeout per inning while limiting walks and piling up ground balls. Since his fastball isn’t particularly effective, he should be viewed as a potential back-of-the-rotation guy – the type who keeps his team in the game.

Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top