One update down, two deadlines and another update to go.
We recently freshened up all of our Team Top 30 lists ahead of the Trade Deadline, which comes on July 31. Before that, of course, we have the July 28 deadline for 2025 draftees to sign (Track all first-round signings here.)
Then we'll work to do a full re-rank of all of our lists with those newly signed Draft guys folded in. There's no rest for the weary, but we wouldn't want it any other way. And with all of this going on, it wasn't hard to find a nice array of questions about trades from a prospect perspective and Draft prospects entering systems in this week's MLB Pipeline Inbox.
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This is a deep, philosophical question we at MLB Pipeline grapple with frequently. We spend all of our time thinking, writing and talking about prospects, so the first gut answer is, yes, of course, there are prospects who never, ever should be traded.
But when I stop to think about it, I realize that this kind of absolutist thinking isn't a good idea if you're a general manager. There are definitely prospects you should be very, very hesitant to trade, guys who seem like frontline starters, or up-the-middle superstars, but you should at least answer the phone to have the conversation.
I'll use Paul Skenes as an example on both sides of this coin. He wasn't a prospect for very long, but if a team had a Skenes-like arm in its system, it would seem absurd to trade him. And in all likelihood, you don't. But what if someone offers up a ludicrous package of big league talent, All-Stars, and offers to pick up a bunch of the salaries? You'd have to at least consider it, right? Would this ever happen? Probably not. But the only way to be 100 percent certain you don't get that offer is to not have the conversation.
The other side of the argument might be going on right now. At the very least, pundits have opined about whether the Pirates should entertain offers for Skenes now. I am on the "no" side of that discussion currently, but if I'm going to be consistent with what I wrote above, Ben Cherington should have the conversations. What if someone offers up several big leaguers and their own "untouchable" prospects? And if he is going to consider dealing Skenes, that's exactly what the asking price should be, if not higher.
I think I land on the idea that there are prospects who are "nearly untouchable," but a GM of a Major League team should never say never.
Kyle sent this in before Bremner did indeed sign with the Angels for an under-slot deal. The Santa Barbara right-hander, who was No. 18 on our Draft Top 250 list, received a bonus of $7.69 million, a savings of over $2.5 million for the Angels to use elsewhere in the Draft, and they have, inking noteworthy over-slot deals with third-rounder Johnny Slawinski, fifth-rounder CJ Gray and 12th-round pick Talon Haley.
I want to be clear here. I'm a big fan of Bremner, and he finished his UCSB career as hot as just about any pitcher in the college game, with six double-digit strikeout performances in his last seven starts (Kyle is becoming our Tyler Bremner beat writer after asking a question about him moving up Draft rankings back in May). He's very much a good Angels prospect because his stuff should allow him to move fast and get to the big leagues in a hurry.
Typically, we add around a dozen or so Draft guys to the Top 100, and I imagine it will be somewhere in that range. So even if Bremner hadn't gone No. 2 overall, he'd be in that "just outside" group, and it would probably depend on how he opens his pro career to determine if and when he gets added. I don't think that him going that high impacts that consideration that much because he really only went that high because of his willingness to cut a deal. I don't think any team in the top 10, say, had him atop their boards, so that has to be figured into this less-than-scientific equation. Let's see how he breaks out of camp next spring and revisit this.
We tackled this one on this week's MLB Pipeline Podcast (along with a question about whether the Cubs' Owen Caissie is the most likely Top 100 guy to get traded -- answer: yes). We also agreed the Yankees could very well move Jones, and when Jim Callis pressed me to answer the question directly (Will they move him?), I said yes.
Jones, the Yankees' No. 4 prospect, is having a very impressive bounceback season, with his 29 homers between Double- and Triple-A leading all Minor League hitters, as does his 206 wRC+ and 1.116 OPS. He's coming off his best professional game on Thursday, too, with three homers for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That he's done that in just 68 games is absurd, but it's all come with a 31.1 percent strikeout rate, which is actually an improvement over his 36.8 percent K rate from 2024. I don't see the Yankees bringing him up in a playoff race, and his tools could fetch a solid return, if they can find a team willing to roll the dice with Jones' swing-and-miss.
Are there any impending prospect callups that could have the same impact as a significant deadline acquisition? -- @blahbla92342524.bsky.social
To answer this question, we have to look at teams competing for a playoff spot -- and there are still a lot of them -- who also have prospects at the highest levels ready for that phone call. The one who really continues to stand out is Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter. His time in Triple-A in his first year post-Tommy John surgery has been uneven, but his last start was very good and the plan has always been to bring him along slowly so there would be innings left in the tank for a playoff push callup. Seeing Justin Crawford help out with his speed would be fun, but I'm not sure there's room in that outfield.
I'd also look at someone like JJ Wetherholt, the Cardinals' 2024 first-rounder who is having a huge first full season and is currently raking in Triple-A. With Nolan Gorman's back and Masyn Winn's knee, could there be an opportunity at a middle infield position in St. Louis? You could argue he'd be an upgrade over Gorman or Brendan Donovan at second base at the least.
Others to keep an eye on from our current Top 100: Nolan McLean (Mets), C.J. Kayfus (Guardians), Logan Henderson (Brewers).