2020: Ranking The Prospects Traded at the Deadline

Image credit: Taylor Trammell (Photo by John E. Moore/Getty Images)

It was both a busy trade deadline and a relatively quiet one. With a shortened season, an expanded playoffs and no first-round byes, many teams decided to sit out the annual midseason swap meet. Some notable names on losing teams stayed put, and a number of contenders decided to stand pat rather than pay high prospect prices.

But it was also a trade deadline where many of the prospects traded are very known commodities. Teams could not officially trade lower-level prospects who are not part of the player pools, instead they had to be announced as players to be named.

With that in mind, the names that did change hands were quite well known, even if Taylor Trammell was the only Top 100 prospect to be included in a deal. Every prospect traded since the 2020 season began has ranked in a Baseball America team Top 30.

It’s also notable that 18 of the 22 prospects traded have either been already added to their team’s 40-man MLB roster or will have to be added this offseason or risk exposure to the Rule 5 draft. The decision point of a 40-man roster crunch can often help nudge a team to include a prospect in a deal, while rebuilding teams with relatively open 40-man rosters can use that roster space as an advantage in acquiring players.

Rk	Player, Pos.	Acquiring Team	Traded From	BA Grade	40-Man	40-Man Decision Pending
1	Taylor Trammell, OF	Mariners	Padres	55/High		Y
2	Gabriel Arias, SS	Indians	Padres	55/Very High		Y
3	Andres Munoz, RHP	Mariners	Padres	55/Extreme	Y
4	Joey Cantillo, LHP	Indians	Padres	50/High
5	Hudson Potts, 3B	Red Sox	Padres	50/High		Y
6	Owen Miller, SS	Indians	Padres	45/Medium
7	Ronald Bolanos, RHP	Royals	Padres	45/Medium	Y
8	Kevin Smith, LHP	Orioles	Mets	50/High
9	Humberto Mejia, RHP	D-Backs	Marlins	45/Medium	Y
10	Riley O’Brien, RHP	Reds	Rays	50/High		Y
11	Edward Olivares, OF	Royals	Padres	45/Medium	Y
12	Tyler Nevin, 1B	Orioles	Rockies	50/High	Y
13	Stuart Fairchild, OF	D-Backs	Reds	45/High		Y
14	Jeisson Rosario, OF	Red Sox	Padres	45/High		Y
15	Terrin Vavra, SS	Orioles	Rockies	45/High
16	Lucius Fox, SS	Royals	Rays	45/High	Y
17	Packy Naughton, LHP	Angels	Reds	45/High		Y
18	Jordan Humphreys, RHP	Giants	Mets	45/High	Y
19	Jesus Tinoco, RHP	Marlins	Rockies	40/Medium	Y
20	Connor Seabold, RHP	Red Sox	Phillies	40/Medium		Y
21	Zack Short, SS	Cubs	Tigers	40/Medium	Y
22	Gerardo Reyes, RHP	Angels	Padres	40/High	Y