First, a recap of all the notable moves over the last week:

BIGGEST WINNERS:

Dodgers - It’s hard not to categorize the Dodgers as anything else other than a winner of the trade deadline picking up one of the best 3 pitchers in the major leagues and becoming an even bigger favorite than they already were to win their 3rd straight championship. On top of that, they didn’t even have to give up their top prospect to do it. Though, Zyhir Hope is no small fee for a rental.

In addition to Skubal, the Dodgers also picked up a very good LHP in Kris Bubic, another rental, but there’s some uncertainty when he’ll be back. The hope and expectation is that he’ll be back by September, and while he is a very solid rotation piece, it’ll be hard to see him fitting in there with all the other talent the Dodgers have, barring even more injuries. He’ll instead slide into the bullpen where he’s had success as well. The Dodgers will be hoping this will go differently than another deal they made with the Royals in 2021 for rental LHP Danny Duffy, who was on the IL at the time of the deal and never made it back to pitch for the Dodgers that season.

The Dodgers also made a couple smaller deals for catchers they’re familiar with, Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia, as they look to hold things together until Will Smith and newly-injured Dalton Rushing are able to come back.

Cubs - It’s no secret the Cubs starting rotation has been decimated by injuries this season, and yet they’ve been able to patch things together enough to still find them leading the NL Wild Card by 4 games. However, their rotation was in no place to win playoff games or a playoff series. They went out and got one of the top arms on the market in RHP Clay Holmes, who is still controlled through 2027, along with rental RHP Kevin Gausman. While Gausman’s numbers don’t look all that impressive this season, it’s worth noting he should improve quite substantially with the Cubs excellent defense behind him. The Cubs also picked up LHP Braxton Garrett from the Marlins who could also slide into their rotation if needed, but may be a depth piece for now and instead slide into long-relief action in the bullpen. The Cubs may also opt for a 6-man rotation.

In addition to the three SP’s they acquired, they also got a solid setup man in RHP Ryan Zeferjahn from the Angels to strengthen their pen, and a good right-handed platoon bat in Tyrone Taylor from the Mets.

To acquire all of these guys wasn’t pain free, as they did have to part with Top 100 prospect INF Jefferson Rojas, and some other solid prospects such as SS Ty Southisene (not to be confused with brother Tate in the Braves org), 1B Jonathon Long, and C Moises Ballesteros. The latter two were blocked on the major league team, so it doesn’t hurt them quite as bad. The Cubs will be a real threat in October.

Giants - How about a seller as a winner? I love the talent that the Giants were able to acquire in their sell-off. The most notable names they moved were 2B Luis Arraez, LHP Robbie Ray, OF Heliot Ramos, and LHP Erik Miller. The most notable players returned were MIF Marcelo Mayer, RHP Ramon Marquez, LHP Henry LaLane, and SS Joniel Hernandez.

Mayer has certainly struggled in his MLB career, but perhaps a change of scenery could get him going a bit. While I personally wouldn’t bet on him being a star one day, there’s still a real chance he could be, and if the cost to acquire him is only a relief pitcher, albeit a pretty good one, that’s a trade you gotta make every time.

Pitchers Ramon Marquez and Henry LaLane are two guys who are showing they could be excellent rotation pieces one day. Of course, pitchers are highly volatile and many get injured or never quite reach their potential, but at this very stage, these are two that have the upside to be top of the rotation talent. Aside from that, if they should reach the majors with the Giants, it’ll be quite the park upgrade from where they were originally projected to debut.

Lastly, Joniel Hernandez is showing to be an excellent prospect in the Dominican Summer League. He’s a great lottery ticket to buy, but it’s worth holding in your excitement until he’s able to show the same type of success stateside. If he’s able to carry his game over into the lower levels of stateside ball next season, he’ll be another great infield piece to go along with fellow Giants prospects Jhonny Level, Josuar Gonzalez, and Luis Hernandez. After this deadline, the Giants system is absolutely a Top 10 system.

BIGGEST LOSERS:

Reds - The Reds are dead last in their division and sit 15.5 games back as of this article, and 6 games back of the last wild card spot. A playoff team from a year ago, they just aren’t nearly as good. What did they do at the deadline this year? Jack squat. Their lone move was sending away 1B Nate Lowe for international bonus pool money.

They opted instead to keep players on expiring contracts RHP Brady Singer, C Tyler Stephenson, and 3B Eugenio Suarez. There was also said to be interest in RHP Hunter Greene, though they decided to hang on to him too, which is fine if they didn’t get an offer they liked since he’s still around for future seasons.

But yeah, I just don’t like it. I guess at this point, they can only hope to go on a tear to end the season as they did last season and sneak into the playoffs again. Not likely.

Royals - Ah, my beloved hated Royals. I could rant on them for hours, so I’ll try to keep it short. The GM J.J. Picollo, who famously worked under terrible GM Dayton Moore for 16 years, has unsurprisingly resorted to Dayton Moore’s flawed tactics and decided not to be transactional when everything is screaming for them to make moves. The Royals surprised everyone when they made the playoffs 2 years ago and made things uncomfortable against the Yankees in the ALDS. That was something we all figured they would build on, but nope. They distantly missed the playoffs last season, and we were told they were surely going to compete and make the playoffs this year. Instead, after several bad off-season moves, the Royals are on pace to lose 100 games. They have two mid-30’s rotation pieces in RHP Michael Wacha and RHP Seth Lugo who other teams would have surely loved acquiring this deadline, but J.J. Picollo has instead decided they are not going to be moved as they are needed to contend next season. This is the time I remind you the Royals are 22-44 in games started by Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, and LHP Noah Cameron. Alas, I must watch the Cardinals trade a worse pitcher than Wacha (Dustin May), who isn’t under contract next season, return two borderline Top 100 guys (both Top 100 in my rankings).

At any rate, the Royals opted only to move rental pieces OF Lane Thomas and LHP Kris Bubic. I suppose I don’t hate the return in both deals, but it’s not changing the tide of the franchise. We’re at the point where the GM is making moves, or lack of moves, in an attempt to save his job, rather than to better the organizations’ future. That’s a sad reality and a clear indicator he needs to be canned immediately.

Rangers - I’m feeling big loser energy from the Rangers this deadline. They started off as buyers, acquiring a right-handed relief pitcher in Chase Silseth (along with C Logan O’Hoppe), for basically a nothing prospect. Then after that, they went crickets. That is, until we heard they tried to trade away Jacob deGrom who invoked his no-trade clause.

The Rangers are 2 games out of the last wild card spot and 2.5 games out of their division. Remind me again why they did basically nothing? Is this because they went on a 5-game losing streak headed into the deadline? If that’s the case, talk about poor timing and a highly emotional franchise. They’re still very much in this thing and absolutely should have acquired some rotation help and potentially a 2B and/or Catcher.

They did make one other move, sending away UTIL Josh Smith and RHP Josh Stephan for LHP Adam Macko but it’s certainly not a needle mover either way.

I feel bad for their fans having to watch their front office just accept they’re okay with missing the playoffs or if they do make it, have no chance at trying to win a World Series.

Now let’s hand out some awards!

Best Overall Trade:

For this award, I want to use a deal that gives an excellent return for both sides.

Let’s go against the chalky pick and go with:

The Pirates acquired a bunch of much needed bullpen help yesterday, none bigger than presumed new closer Luke Weaver who has had an excellent year. That should be a massive help for them as they look to punch their playoff ticket for the first time since 2015. The Mets ate some of Weaver’s salary to get back a rising prospect in Sammy Stafura, who has homered 16 times in his last 22 games in Double A. This looks like a great trade for both sides.

Most Entertaining Trade:

This one is an easy answer for me.

What was once thought to be a cornerstone for the Orioles franchise was instead sent to the intradivisional rival Red Sox in return for two excellent starting pitching prospects, and a quickly rising teenager who is knocking the cover off the ball in High A (Azocar). I don’t think the Orioles necessarily were dying to trade Rutchsman, but the Red Sox hit them with an offer they simply couldn’t refuse. I really like the trade for both sides, but I lean more towards the Orioles right now since they already have answers at catcher behind Rutschman and get three big pieces back.

Biggest Overpay:

The problem when your farm system is so elite, is that when orgs come asking for prospects in your 10-20 range, it’s actually Top 10 prospects in just about every other org. That’s what happened to the Brew-Crew here. Frias and Ragsdale were maybe just outside the Brewers Top 10, but they would be safely inside the Top 10 of about every other org, and perhaps inside the Top 5 of some weak systems.

Still, I remain very surprised the Cardinals were able to get that return for a rental of Dustin May and Jo Jo Romero, the latter who is currently on the IL and projected to return sometime in August.

Alexander Frias is quickly blossoming into an excellent prospect with Top 50 (or higher) upside, and Josiah Ragsdale is an absolute Data-Darling who is tearing the cover off the ball in Double A. I love love love this move for the Cardinals.

While I do think it’s a big overpay, it won’t hurt the best farm system in baseball by much, as the Brewers have “dudes” up and down their system.

Best Value:

Curtis Mead was seemingly on the wrong end of a roster crunch in Spring Training with the White Sox, and Nationals were interested. They acquired him for C Boston Smith (who coincidentally was also apart of a trade yesterday) and then were able to unlock something in Mead. Mead went on to have his best season to date, but they couldn’t refuse a potential top of the rotation talent in LHP Connelly Early when the Red Sox came calling. I love this value for the Nats. This is excellent business.

At least Mead does still have one more year of control for the Sox, but it’s very unfortunate he got injured his first game with his new squad. Hopefully we’ll see him back this season after fracturing his wrist.

Sneaky Trade:

The Rays acquired a catcher who does the things they do best. Makes a lot of contact (90%) and he doesn’t strike out (9.5% K rate). They haven’t gotten a whole lot out of their catchers this season, so getting one that’s having an excellent offensive output this season could really make their line-up even stronger. They didn’t really even have to give up a whole lot either.

The Rays also made another couple of sneaky trades yesterday, getting RHP Freddy Peralta from the Mets, and a good relief pitcher in RHP Tyler Wells.

Head Scratchers:

I couldn’t put them in the Biggest Losers category because of the Mead/Early trade, but I really don’t know what the Nationals were doing their other trades.

Specifically these two:

Luis Garcia Jr. is still controlled through next season, and while Foster Griffin is a rental, he got back FAR LESS than what Dustin May was able to get, and Griffin has been way better this season.

It’s clear the Nats really went “Quantity over Quality” in these trades, and that’s never the right answer. It’s also clear what they’re prioritizing; bullpen help. It’s hard to blame them there, as their bullpen has been nothing short of a dumpster fire in 2026, but I don’t know that this is the right way to go about fixing it. I would have preferred you sign proven assets in free agency for your pen than trade for low-ceiling question marks.

The Buzzer Beater:

Just when you thought it was over, AJ Preller did his thing and acquired Casey Mize right at the buzzer. Kash Mayfield was certainly no small price to pay for a rental, but we can always appreciate Preller making this deadline fun every year.

The Firesellers:

None other than the New York Mets, who made 8 Deadline Deals!

The Boring Team:

The Oakland Sacramento Athetlics, who didn’t do a dang thing until a buzzer beater deal came through at the very end, sending OF Colby Thomas away for RHP Seth Johnson.

Notable Prospects who were most impacted:

Here’s a list, surely not a complete one, of prospects who were most impacted this deadline (in no specific order):

Abimelic Ortiz - 1B - WSH - Called up after the Garcia trade and already homered his first game back up. Should get some decent playing time.

George Lombard Jr. - SS - NYY - The Yankees failed to land a piece for the left side of the infield, so that has cleared space for Lombard Jr. who was promptly called up after last night’s bad loss.

Hector Rodriguez - OF - CIN - Rodriguez has always been a favorite of mine in the Reds system and now with Lowe gone, that cleared a spot on the roster for him to get his first MLB shot. He makes a lot of contact and has launched 27 HR this season.

Zyhir Hope - OF - DET - Hope goes from the potential of playing in Dodger stadium one day in what you’d expect to be a loaded line-up, to now playing in Detroit. The home park suppresses lefty power a lot more than Dodgers Stadium would, and it’s reasonable to assume his future line-up won’t be as good as the Dodgers, so less run production could be in store, though I’m certainly not telling you to go sell him in fantasy leagues.

River Ryan - RHP - DET - Ryan likely should have already debuted in the majors, but due to injury issues and a usually stacked Dodgers rotation, he hasn’t received the call yet. He’s currently recovering from a hamstring injury, but once healed and after a rehab assignment, he has clear skies ahead to finally make his MLB debut.

Ramon Marquez - RHP - SF - Marquez goes from the potential of pitching in a rather hitter-friendly park in Philly, to instead a pitchers paradise in San Francisco, should he make the majors one day. This is a great upgrade for him.

Joniel Hernandez - SS - SF - On the flip side, Joniel would get a downgrade in power potential going from San Diego to San Francisco. Though we’re still quite a ways off with him.

Anthony Eyanson - RHP - Kyson Witherspoon - RHP - BAL - Both pitchers maybe get a slight upgrade in park factors since the green monster is so easy to hit HR over.

Sammy Stafura - 2B/SS - NYM - Wouldn’t be the case this season, but reasonable to project a bump in potential run production in a Mets line-up that has all the money to spend, versus the alternative of the Pirates line-up in 1-2 years (pending a salary cap).

Jefferson Rojas - 3B/SS - NYM - Rojas now gets the title of the Mets #1 prospect, a title he didn’t have to wear in the Cubs org. Perhaps some added pressure there, and there’s a park & fanbase downgrade going to NY instead of Chicago. By fanbase downgrade, I mean, the Mets fans will boo you if you struggle, the Cubs fans won’t. Could impact struggles.

Henry LaLane - LHP - SF - As is the same with Ramon Marquez, LaLane gets a big potential bump in park factors, going from the potential of pitching in Yankee stadium one day, to instead San Francisco.

Juan Martinez - INF - COL - Going from the Brewers org to the Rockies might hurt development a bit, but Martinez now has the prospect of playing in Coors Field for 81 games one day should he make it to the show.

Daniel Eagen - RHP - STL - Eagen gets to get out of a relentless DBacks minor league system for pitchers. If you don’t know, they have to play in VERY hitter-friendly parks, and Arizona itself is no bad place to hit as well. Now we’ll hopefully get some better looking numbers from him in STL’s system, and he’ll get a better home park one day too.

Kash Mayfield - LHP - DET - Mayfield will get a park upgrade in Detroit instead of San Deigo and Detroits pitching development has been a lot better than San Diego as well.

Plenty other notable prospects traded, but many didn’t have anything change.

With the deadline in the rearview mirror, all that's left is to see how these moves play out on the field. Some teams loaded up for a World Series run, others stocked the farm system, and a few left fans wondering what exactly their front office was thinking. That's what makes the trade deadline so much fun—every move comes with excitement, optimism, and a little bit of risk. Now it's time to sit back, enjoy the stretch run, and find out which deals become season-defining successes and which end up as forgotten deadline experiments.

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Week 6 of The Hot List where we cover the hottest minor league notable prospects from the past 7 days. Let’s get to it!

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In this article, I will name notable minor league prospect eligible players to 3 different tiered teams based on their last 30 days of play. Think of it as the “All-Pro” teams for the NFL, or “All-NBA” teams for the NBA.

Here, we give out fictional coins. The Diamond Elite Platinum Coin, the Diamond Elite Gold Coin, and the Diamond Elite Silver Coin to the most deserving players.

I hope you’ll enjoy the read, learn a thing or two, and find some names you haven’t seen before.

Let’s dive in -

CATCHER: Tyler Soderstrom - OAK - Age 22 - .263/.372/.575 (.947 OPS)

LG: AAA HR: 6 XBH: 13 RBI: 14 SB: 0 K%: 26.6% BB%: 10.6%

Tyler Soderstrom had a big month and walked a lot more than seasons past. It bears remembering that he’s still just 22 years old in Triple A. I like his chances to turn into a perennial 30-HR bat one day and think he’ll be up with the major league club by the All-Star Break splitting time between 1B and Catcher.

First Base: Kyle Manzardo - CLE - Age 23 - .318/.396/.636 (1.032 OPS)

LG: AAA HR: 7 XBH: 14 RBI: 18 SB: 0 K%: 16.9% BB%: 13.2%

Kyle Manzardo put on a show this past month and has been particularly hot the last couple of weeks. He crushed 7 HR over the past 30 days with 14 total XBH and excellent plate discipline. It’s only a matter of time before he gets the call to Cleveland and it could any day.

Third Base: Coby Mayo - BAL - Age 22 - .327/.405/.653 (1.058 OPS)

LG: AAA HR: 8 XBH: 15 RBI: 22 SB: 3 K%: 25.9% BB%: 10.3%

You’ve heard me say it 1,000 times already, but Coby Mayo would be in the majors on just about every other club. The Orioles just simply don’t have room for him right now (or so they say), but if Jordan Westburg were to get injured, Mayo would be up instantly. The big man hit 8 HR this past month with 15 XBH and 22 RBI. Yes, there’s some swing and miss in his game, but it’s not alarming. All things considered, I’d think (hope) he’ll be up by the All-Star break one way or another.

Shortstop: Jacob Wilson - OAK - Age 22 - .409/.429/.667 (1.096 OPS)

LG: AA HR: 3 XBH: 11 RBI: 15 SB: 2 K%: 12.8% BB%: 1.4%

Jacob Wilson doesn’t walk, but that hardly matters when he’s hitting everything coming his way. The A’s first rounder in 2023 put on a show this past month, batting .409 with 3 HR and 11 XBH. He makes a ton of contact as well. A couple more months of this and he’ll be up in Triple A and putting him on track for 2025 MLB debut.

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1. Joey Loperfido - OF/1B - Astros

Loperfido’s call is imminent given his dominance in Triple A to begin the season. The Astros are getting next to nothing at the 1B position right now, and it’s clear they may benefit by calling up Loperfido to play there the majority of days. He can also get some time in the OF when they want to rotate in other guys.

ETA: Within the next week or two

EDIT: Called up on 4/29/24

2. Paul Skenes - RHP - Pirates

It’s no secret that Skenes has totally dominated Triple A thus far. While the Pirates will be careful with him and limit his innings some in 2024, they’re also off to a hot start to begin the season and may have their sights set on contending. Doing so all season isn’t too likely without another ace caliber pitcher to add to their staff. Skenes fits that bill and with little left to work on in the minors, I expect him up soon.

ETA: Within the next 2 weeks.

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Time for the 2nd installment of “The Hot List” where I post weekly and monthly updates on the hottest minor league players. Now that we’ve got all leagues in action (except for Rookie and DSL ball), we should get some good info from these!

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My Top 250 OBP Prospect Rankings are finally here, just in time for the season to begin! Have a look!

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Continuing my Top 20 pitching prospects, here are my Top 10. If you haven’t had a chance to read 20-11, check it out here:

10. Drew Thorpe - Age 23.177 - White Sox

Height: 6’4“ Weight: 212lb Throws: Right

Thorpe has experienced quite the off-season, having already been traded from both the Yankees and the Padres organizations and landing in the south side of Chicago. I guess the good news for him is that he’s been one of the headliners in both deals he was apart of, so he’s doing something right!

The former 2nd rounder in 2022 hit the ground running in his debut season last year. He started the season off in High A and it didn’t take long to see the potential he had. In 18 starts (109 IP), Thorpe posted a 2.81 ERA along with a 32.4% K% and 7.7% BB%. The Yankees then gave the then-22-year-old a handful of starts (5) in Double A to close the season and he continued to flash excellence, posting a 1.48 ERA with a massive 40% K% and magnificent 4.5% BB% in 30.1 IP.

Thorpe doesn’t wow anyone with his fastball, as it’s unquestionably the worst part of his arsenal. While it can get a couple ticks higher, it usually sits around 90-92 MPH. However, it’s the other-worldly change-up that makes him the pitcher he is. It is already one of the best in baseball and is the reason for his lofty K numbers. He sells it well and it has insane bite to it as it reaches home plate. He also throws a slider which has shown promise with some good action to it and he controls all of his pitches fairly well.

I have to admit, I liked him more in the Padres organization than I do in the White Sox organization, but he still has a solid floor of a #4 starter with the potential of much better. I venture to guess he’ll start 2024 in Triple A and if the results start pouring in early in the season, it won’t be hard to crack that White Sox rotation by June. It’ll be fun to see if he can overcome his lack of velocity with a supreme change-up in the majors.

ETA: Early/Mid 2024

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Day 32 of Spring Training featured 15 games and 51 notable prospects. Only 2 more days of action before we end the fake games and get to the real action on Thursday! Let’s jump into the action from today -

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Let’s hop into today’s action and notes -

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Day 28 of Spring Training we’re losing more and more notable prospects in game action, but let’s jump into the 36 that played:

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