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The deadline for trades in Major League Baseball expired on Tuesday night, as you may have heard. If not, you may catch up on all the transactions from the previous several weeks by using our convenient trade tracker. As a result, this edition of Prospect Watch focuses entirely on ranking and examining the top five young athletes who were involved in trades.
Remember that there were more than five quality prospects moved at the deadline and that these exercises are always more of an art than a science. Moving forward now.
1. Noelvi Marte, an SS with the Reds (Luis Castillo)
The positive aspects of Marte’s game are numerous. Despite playing against opponents who are several years older than him, he is a left-side infielder with far above-average raw power, walks, and a low strikeout rate. Marte’s defensive posture is the one significant unknowable he must deal with. He may have to go to third because of his terrible error rate at short over the past two seasons. If he hits the manner he is capable of hitting, that won’t be a huge problem.
2. The Nationals’ Robert Hassell III, OF (Juan Soto)
With a slash line of.299/.379/.467 and 10 home runs in 75 games, Hassell—the tenth overall pick in the 2020 draft—has already had success at High-A. Since his prep days, scouts have praised his hit tool and approach; regrettably, they have also questioned when (and how much) he will tap into his raw pop and whether he will remain in center. Those worries still exist, but it’s now up to the Nationals to assist him in coming up with a sensible solution.
3. SS Edwin Arroyo of the Reds (Luis Castillo)
Due to a mix of his exceptional youth and his defensive prowess at shortstop, Arroyo enjoyed a fair amount of support going into the 2021 draft. He shown enough promising qualities at the bat to allow evaluators to see him developing into more than just a utility player, which certainly helped. In spite of this, Arroyo exceeded the expectations of even his most enthusiastic supporters by hitting.316/.385/.514 in 87 games in the Cal League, where his average opponent was, oh, more than three years his senior. Arroyo should be remembered even though he is still a few seasons away from being useful in the major leagues.
4. Nationals outfielder James Wood (Juan Soto)
With a stated height of 6′ 7″, Wood, the other outfielder acquired in the Soto trade, possesses the kind of raw power you’d anticipate. However, because he moves more fluidly than players like Richie Sexson, the Padres had mostly used him in center field. Wood’s propensity for striking out too frequently to maximize his pop was the major problem with his game. His ability to maintain his seasonal strikeout percentage around 20% is thus a positive development. If this pattern continues as he climbs the ladder, Wood might eventually turn into a middle-of-the-order hitter.
5. Angels actor Logan O’Hoppe (Brandon Marsh)
The Angels might have done worse than receiving O’Hoppe in exchange for Marsh, a former top prospect who has struggled to make consistent contact in the majors, if they were decided to take a pass on him. In 75 games while playing in Double-A, he hit.275/.392/.496 with 15 home runs. O’Hoppe is a well-rounded backstop and a field general who can produce offensively on par with or better than average. He appears to be prepared for Triple-A, and in 2023, he should be able to make his big-league debut.
