Just about all of the headline-grabbing trades in baseball involve bundles of prospects -- you can't have a blockbuster without a Top 100 prospect or two (or more) changing organizations. This got us at MLB Pipeline thinking about how different trade packages involving prospect returns stack up over the years. While the decisions behind trades at the Deadline might differ from those made in the offseason, it’s still a fun exercise to rank the top prospect hauls we’ve ever seen.
Here’s our list of the top prospect hauls, based on the buzz it created at the time of the trade and not using hindsight to see how prospects dealt long ago turned out. Rankings at the time of the trade are included in parentheses to provide some context.
1. Aug. 2, 2022: Nationals get MacKenzie Gore, C.J. Abrams, Robert Hassell III (SD No. 1/MLB No. 21), James Wood (SD No. 3/MLB No. 88), Jarlin Susana (SD No. 14) from Padres (Juan Soto, Josh Bell)
It’s hard to come up with a bigger (or younger) superstar and a larger return. Gore and Abrams had moved on from prospect status at the time – both spent time previously in our top 10 overall – but weren’t established big leaguers. They, and Wood, went on to become All-Stars. Hassell, the highest-ranked prospect at the time of the deal, graduated to the big leagues in 2025, while Susana worked his way onto the Top 100.
2. July 31, 2007: Rangers get Elvis Andrus (MLB No. 50), Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Beau Jones, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (MLB No. 32) from Braves (Mark Teixeira)
Teixeira netted four prospects that were on, or eventually landed on top prospect lists. We only did Top 50s in 2007, but Saltalamacchia and Andrus were on it. Andrus would eventually land in our top 25. Feliz would climb into our top 10 in 2009 and 2010. Baseball America did Top 100 lists back then and Harrison was on its 2007 list.
3. Dec. 6, 2016: White Sox get Yoán Moncada (BOS No. 1/MLB No. 1), Michael Kopech (BOS No. 5/MLB No. 30), Luis Alexander Basabe (BOS No. 8), Victor Diaz from Red Sox (Chris Sale)
This belongs on the list solely because of Moncada’s presence in the trade. He was the No. 1 prospect in baseball at the time, and it marked the first time in 25 years the No. 1 guy had been included in a trade. Adding the flamethrowing Kopech, who was also a Top 100 prospect, was just icing on the cake.
4. Nov. 24, 2005: Marlins get Hanley Ramirez (MLB No. 13), Aníbal Sánchez, Jesus Delgado, Harvey Garcia from Red Sox (Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell)
Ramirez was in our top 25 both before the trade, in our 2005 midseason list, and after heading into 2006 (BA had him top 10 in 2005). Sánchez may have seemed like an afterthought, but he climbed to No. 43 in our Top 50 heading into 2006.
5. June 27, 2002: Cleveland gets Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips (BA No. 20), Lee Stevens from Expos (Bartolo Colon, Tim Drew)
The first of two trades on this list involving Lee, this was when he was one of the better left-handed pitching prospects in the game. This was before we did rankings, but Lee came in at No. 30 on BA’s Top 100 prior to the 2003 season (post-trade). Phillips was the one player who was a ranked prospect that year, in BA’s top 20 entering the 2002 season. Sizemore went on to be a top 10 prospect for us in 2004.
6. July 29, 2009: Cleveland gets Carlos Carrasco (MLB No. 28), Jason Knapp, Lou Marson (MLB No. 43), Jason Donald from Phillies (Cliff Lee, Ben Francisco)
This is the second Lee deal, this time with him being the big leaguer dealt to a contender. Cleveland got four prospects who all were on or would be on a Top 100 rankings in 2009 or 2010. Carrasco was the headliner, at No. 28 in our preseason Top 50 in 2009, while Marson was at No. 43. Donald was BA’s No. 60 prospect heading into that season, while Knapp showed up at No. 64 on BA’s Top 100 at the start of 2010.
7. Dec 11, 2024: White Sox get Kyle Teel (BOS No. 4/MLB No. 25), Braden Montgomery (BOS No. 5/MLB No. 54), Wikelman González (BOS No. 14) and Chase Meidroth (BOS No. 11) from Red Sox (Garrett Crochet)
Back at the Winter Meetings in 2016, the Red Sox pulled off a huge deal to get a premium big league lefty from the White Sox (Chris Sale). At the '24 Meetings, they pulled the trick again, sending two Top 100 prospects in Teel and Montgomery, their '24 first-round pick, to Chicago in order to land Crochet, who would go on to be the American League Cy Young runner-up. The White Sox also netted González and Meidroth, top 30 prospects at the time.
8. Aug. 2, 2026: Tigers get Zyhir Hope (LAD No. 5/MLB No. 25), River Ryan (LAD No. 7/MLB No. 68), Brady Smith (LAD No. 17) from Dodgers (Tarik Skubal)
Skubal was the No. 1 trade target for all teams looking for starting pitching, and it was clear he was going to fetch a solid prospect return, even as a free agent at the end of the season. Detroit got a pair of Top 100 guys in Hope, one of the top outfield prospects in the game who has been traded twice, and Ryan, a right-hander with premium stuff who missed the 2025 season with Tommy John surgery. Smith might be a lesser-known prospect, but the 2023 third-round pick who had TJ himself and missed the 2024 season, had an up arrow next to his name in his first full healthy season of pro ball at the time of the deal.
9. July 30, 2022: Reds get Noelvi Marte (SEA No. 1/MLB No. 18) Edwin Arroyo (SEA No. 3/MLB No. 93), Levi Stoudt (SEA No. 5), Andrew Moore from Mariners (Luis Castillo)
The other entrant from the 2022 Trade Deadline to make the top 10, the Reds got a pair of Top 100 prospects in Marte and Arroyo. Add in Stoudt, and that was three of seven Top 30 prospects the Reds had brought in via trade at the time.
10. July 13, 2017: White Sox get Eloy Jiménez (CHI No. 1/MLB No. 8), Dylan Cease (CHI No. 2/MLB No. 63), Matt Rose, Bryant Flete from Cubs (José Quintana)
A crosstown trade was a continuation of the White Sox rebuilding effort on the heels of a December 2016 trade mentioned below. Jiménez and Cease were firmly ensconced in the Top 100 at the time, with Jiménez considered one of the best of the game, rising into the top three at one point. Cease made it into the top 25 before graduating.
11. Dec. 9, 2012: Rays get Wil Myers (KC No. 1/MLB No. 3), Jake Odorizzi (KC No. 3/MLB No. 30), Mike Montgomery (KC No. 6), Patrick Leonard from Royals (James Shields)
Myers shows up twice on here, this time as a prospect, and one of the best in baseball. He was No. 3 overall on our list, but this deal was also exciting because Odorizzi was top 30 overall at the time of the trade and Montgomery was our No. 31 prospect on the preseason Top 100 that year.
12. July 31, 2015: Phillies get Jake Thompson (TEX No. 4/MLB No. 60), Nick Williams (TEX No. 5/MLB No. 64), Jorge Alfaro (TEX No. 6/MLB No. 69), Alec Asher (TEX No. 29), Jared Eickhoff (TEX No. 17), Matt Harrison from Rangers (Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman)
The sheer volume of names in this trade made it really stand out, but there was quality, not just quantity here. Three Top 100 prospects at the time, and five from the Rangers’ Top 30 was quite a haul for the All-Star left-hander.
Best of the rest:
Dec. 7, 2016: White Sox get Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Dane Dunning from Nationals (Adam Eaton)
Dec. 6, 1989: Cleveland gets Sandy Alomar and Carlos Baerga from Padres (Joe Carter)
Dec 16, 2009: Blue Jays get Kyle Drabek, Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Taylor from Phillies (Roy Halladay)
Dec. 29, 2020: Rays get Luis Patiño, Francisco Mejia, Cole Wilcox, Blake Hunt from Padres (Blake Snell)
Dec. 19 2014-June 14, 2015: Nationals get Trea Turner (as PTBNL), Joe Ross from Padres in three-team deal that sent Wil Myers from Rays to Padres
Dec. 9, 2015: Braves get Dansby Swanson, Aaron Blair from D-backs (Shelby Miller, Gabe Speier)
Dec. 3, 2018: Mariners get Jarred Kelenic, Justin Dunn, Gerson Bautista from Mets (Robinson Canó, Edwin Díaz)
Feb. 10, 2020: Red Sox get Jeter Downs, Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong from Dodgers (Mookie Betts, David Price)
July 29, 2011: Astros get Jarred Cosart, Jon Singleton, Domingo Santana, Josh Zeid from Phillies (Hunter Pence)