\n
\t\tImage credit:
\n\tCarlos Lagrange (Photo by Kelly Gavin\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The MLB trade deadline is more than two months away, but it\u2019s never too soon to take stock of what kind of prospects\u2014including Top 100 names<\/a>\u2014each of the current contenders might have to offer to other clubs in exchange for players who can buttress their rosters down the stretch.<\/p>\n If the season ended today, the playoffs would be as follows.<\/p>\n American League: Rays, Yankees, Guardians, Athletics, Mariners, White Sox<\/p>\n National League: Braves, Cubs, Padres, Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers<\/p>\n Obviously, the quality of these teams\u2019 farm systems is widely varied. The Cardinals, Brewers and Rays entered the season among the top five of Baseball America\u2019s Farm System Rankings<\/a>. The Cubs, Braves, Yankees and Padres are all in the bottom third, partially because of the many deals the teams have executed in recent years that have cost plenty of prospects.<\/p>\n Here, we look at the areas of strength in each American League contender\u2019s system as a way to ascertain which prospects might be on the move later in the summer. Stay tuned for a follow-up look at the National League.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay Rays<\/p>\n Even after the graduation of Carson Williams, the Rays\u2019 system is bursting with shortstop prospects. Most of the top players in that group are clustered at the lower levels, starting with Cooper Flemming<\/a>, who recently landed on the Top 100 and is currently at Low-A Charleston. The Rays also have high-upside shortstops Daniel Pierce<\/a> (Low-A), Adrian Santana<\/a> (High-A), Andreimi Antu\u00f1ez<\/a> (Rookie-level FCL) and 2026 international signees Victor Valdez<\/a> and Fabricio Blanco<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although the Rays have been on a near-constant search for their long-term catcher, they have plenty of talent at the position in the minors. Nathan Flewelling<\/a> (High-A) and Caden Bodine<\/a> (Low-A) are Top 100 Prospects, and Dom Keegan<\/a> could be intriguing as a near-proximity option, as well.<\/p>\n Cleveland Guardians<\/p>\n Though its best prospects entering the year\u2014Chase DeLauter<\/a>, Travis Bazzana<\/a> and Parker Messick<\/a>\u2014are all contributing in the big leagues and should be part of the team\u2019s playoff push, Cleveland\u2019s system, and its Low-A Hill City affiliate in particular, should be flush with scouts this summer if the Guardians remain in the hunt.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s top chip might be slugging first baseman Ralphy Velazquez<\/a>, who is performing at the upper levels. Beyond him, Hill City has a host of intriguing position players, including infielder Dauri Fernandez<\/a> and outfielders Juneiker Caceres<\/a> and Robert Arias<\/a>, who would be of interest to other clubs. Righthander Justin Campbell<\/a>, who made his pro debut four years after being drafted, looks to have some value, as well.<\/p>\n Athletics<\/p>\n The Athletics currently boast four Top 100 Prospects, including shortstop Leo De Vries<\/a>, who is now the No. 2 overall prospect in the sport. The other three are lefthanders Jamie Arnold<\/a>, Gage Jump<\/a> and Wei-En Lin<\/a>. Moreover, all three pitchers have upper-level experience, which would make them even more attractive to potential trade partners.<\/p>\n The organization has plenty of pitching in general, including injured righty Braden Nett<\/a> and fellow righthanders Kade Morris<\/a> and Corey Avant<\/a>. Far away position players Breyson Guedez<\/a>, Edgar Montero<\/a> and Johenssy Colome<\/a> could also help sweeten deals.<\/p>\n New York Yankees<\/p>\n The Yankees\u2019 system has lost dozens of prospects in trades over the past year or so, but there are still a few more pieces to dangle in the team\u2019s quest to break its World Series drought.<\/p>\n Righty Elmer Rodriguez<\/a> made his big league debut this season and is a few tweaks away from an extended run in prime time. Fireballer Carlos Lagrange<\/a> might be the next in line, and upper-level arms like Ben Hess<\/a> and Jack Cebert<\/a> should have value, too. Reliever Ben Grable<\/a> is putting himself on the map, while Chase Hampton<\/a> and Thatcher Hurd<\/a> could increase their allure if they round into form the farther they get from their Tommy John surgeries.<\/p>\n Chicago White Sox<\/p>\n Infusions of young talent like Colson Montgomery, Munetaka Murakami, Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci<\/a> and Noah Schultz<\/a> have begun to give Chicago the makings of a long-term core. There\u2019s more on the way.<\/p>\n Lefty Hagen Smith<\/a> needs to throw more strikes but is otherwise holding his own at Triple-A. Top 100 outfielder Braden Montgomery<\/a> is a step away from the big leagues, as well. The White Sox likely count both players as part of their long-term future, but either would be attractive if they stay in the hunt and decide to be aggressive at the deadline.<\/p>\n Seattle Mariners<\/p>\n The two gems of Seattle\u2019s farm system<\/a> are lefty Kade Anderson<\/a> and righty Ryan Sloan<\/a>. It\u2019s highly unlikely either gets dealt, which would mean the team could also use some of its big league starters as trade chips. <\/p>\n Seattle also has a cache of interesting position player prospects who could be attractive to other clubs. Michael Arroyo<\/a>, Lazaro Montes<\/a>, Jonny Farmelo<\/a> or Luke Stevenson<\/a> could headline a trade package, and even infielder Felnin Celesten<\/a> is going through a bit of a resurgence at High-A. Lefty Mason Peters<\/a> and reliever Brock Moore<\/a> would also be attractive trade chips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image credit: Carlos Lagrange (Photo by Kelly Gavin\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) The MLB trade deadline is more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-670566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}