Ranking all the prospects who were dealt

The expansion of Major League Baseball’s postseason format to 16 teams this year made for an exciting Aug. 31 Trade Deadline, as some teams already in the playoff picture pushed their chips all-in to make a blockbuster deal, while others on the brink of contention made deals simply to help improve their postseason odds.

But when it was all over, and the deadline had passed, only one player from MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list, Taylor Trammell, had been dealt, going from the Padres to Seattle as part of a seven-player blockbuster.

That number is down from last year, when five Top 100 prospects were moved ahead of the Deadline. And for additional context, there were two Top 100 prospects traded prior to the 2018 Deadline, seven in ‘17 and eight in ‘16.

Overall, 20 players ranked on team Top 30 lists, as well as several more notable prospects, were traded before this year’s Deadline.

So who were the best prospects to change teams during this period? Below we have ranked each of the 24 prospects who have been traded since the start of the regular season on July 23.

1. Taylor Trammell, OF, Mariners (No. 6/MLB No. 60)
(Acquired with Andres Muñoz, Luis Torrens and Ty France from the Padres for Austin Adams, Austin Nola and Dan Altavilla on Aug. 30)

The highest-ranked prospect traded before the Deadline for a second straight year, Trammell, 22, has now been dealt twice times in five seasons since the Reds selected him with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2016 Draft. He batted only .234/.340/.349 with 10 homers and 20 steals last year in his first Double-A campaign, but has long shown the type of across-the-board tools, including an above-average bat and plus speed that helps him impact games on the bases and in the field, needed to develop into an everyday big leaguer.

2. Gabriel Arias, SS, Indians (No. 5)
(Acquired with Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Joey Cantillo and Owen Miller from Padres for Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen and PTBN on Aug. 31)

Viewed as one of the top prospects in the 2016-17 international class before signing with the Padres for $1.9 million, Arias was challenged by the Padres repeatedly early in his career, with the club often assigning him to play against much older and advanced competition. Long considered to be a plus defender with a rocket arm at shortstop, Arias made strides at the plate last season as a 19-year-old in the Class A Advanced California League, hitting .302 with 17 homers and 21 doubles.

3. Joey Cantillo, LHP, Indians (No. 15)
(Acquired with Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias and Owen Miller from Padres for Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen and PTBN on Aug. 31)

One of the youngest players in the 2017 Draft, when the Padres selected him in the 16th round from Kailua High School in Hawaii, Cantillo blossomed as a prospect last year in his first full season, posting a 2.26 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 144/34 K/BB in 111 2/3 innings (22 starts) between Class A Fort Wayne and Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore. While nothing the 20-year-old southpaw throws is particularly overpowering, he has good feel for mixing four pitches, throws tons of strikes and has plenty of durability in his 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame.

4. Kevin Smith, LHP, Orioles (No. 12)
(Acquired from Mets for Miguel Castro on Aug. 31)

The Mets made Smith their seventh-round pick in the 2018 Draft, signed him for $222,300 and deployed him as a full-time starter in his first full season. The 6-foot-5 left-hander blossomed in the role in ‘19, pitching well in the Class A Advanced Florida State League before moving up to Double-A in mid-July. Among Mets farmhands who tossed at least 100 innings, Smith, who possesses good control of three average-or-better pitches, ranked first in strikeouts (130), strikeout rate (27.2 percent) and strikeout-to-walk rate (19 percent) and finished second in ERA (3.15).

5. Stuart Fairchild, OF, D-backs (No. 14)
(Acquired with Josh Van Meter from Reds for Archie Bradley on Aug. 31)

The 2017 second-round pick had a solid, albeit unspectacular first full season of pro ball, playing across two levels of Class A ball, but then jumped up the rankings after making good strides with his right-handed swing and reaching Double-A in 2019. He finished the year with a .264/.352/.441 slash line, 12 home runs and 29 doubles between the two levels and performed particularly well after moving up to the Southern League, posting a .275/.380/.444 line with improved strikeout and walk rates. A plus runner who can play all three outfield positions, Fairchild has the tools and skills needed to be a big league regular, with the floor of a valuable fourth-outfielder type.

6. Terrin Vavra, SS, Orioles (No. 12)
(Acquired with Tyler Nevin and PTBN from Rockies for Mychal Givens on Aug. 30)

Taken by the Rockies in the third round of the 2018 Draft from the University of Minnesota, Vavra has deep baseball roots as the son of Tigers hitting coach Joe Vavra, and both of his brothers have played professionally, too. A well-rounded player who can do a little bit of everything on the diamond, the 23-year-old garnered South Atlantic League MVP honors in his first full season after posting a .318/.409/.489 line with 10 homers, 32 doubles and 18 steals in 102 games at Class A Asheville.

7. Owen Miller, SS/2B, Indians (No. 19)
(Acquired with Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias and Joey Cantillo from Padres for Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen and PTBN on Aug. 31)

Miller has done nothing but hit as a pro since signing with the Padres as a third-round pick from Illinois State in 2018. He racked up 100 hits during his pro debut and finished the summer as Double-A San Antonio’s everyday shortstop, then returned to the level in 2019 to hit .290/.355/.430 with 13 homers and 28 doubles. Defensively, the 23-year-old is capable of playing either middle-infield position.

8. Edward Olivares, OF, Royals (No. 22)
(Acquired with PTBN from Padres for Trevor Rosenthal on Aug. 29)

Acquired from the Blue Jays in exchange for Yangervis Solarte in January 2018, Olivares put up strong offensive numbers in each of his two Minor League campaigns in San Diego’s system, highlighted by a .283/.349/.453 slash line with 18 homers and 35 steals for Double-A Amarillo in 2019. He performed his way onto the Padres’ Opening Day roster in 2020 and batted .176 with one home run — albeit with above league average hard-hit (40 percent) and sweet spot (35 percent) rates — while appearing in parts of 13 games.

9. Jeisson Rosario, OF, Red Sox (No. 16)
(Acquired with Hudson Potts from Padres for Mitch Moreland on Aug. 30)

One of the best athletes in the 2016-17 international class, Rosario was signed out of the Dominican Republic for $1.85 million during the Padres’ $78 million spending spree that year. He never put up big numbers while being promoted aggressively during his first three years in pro ball — he was the third-youngest regular (age 19) in the 2019 Class A Advanced California League — but did post consistently high on-base percentages, finishing his time in San Diego’s system with a .264/.376/.340 line and 57 extra-base hits (7 home runs) in 289 games.

10. Hudson Potts, 3B/2B, Red Sox (No. 20)
(Acquired with Jeisson Rosario from Padres for Mitch Moreland on Aug. 30)

A surprise first-round pick in 2016 (No. 24 overall) out of the Texas prep ranks, Potts and Fernando Tatis Jr. became the first 18-year-olds to hit 20 homers in the Class A Midwest League in three decades in 2017. The 21-year-old has leveled off since and struggled in Double-A in 2019, finishing the year with a .227/.290/.406 line in 107 games. He still hit 17 home runs and 24 doubles between two levels on the year, but also struck out at a 28.4-percent clip and walked just 7 percent of the time.

11. Tyler Nevin, 1B/3B, Orioles (No. 22)
(Acquired with Terrin Vavra and PTBN from Rockies for Mychal Givens on Aug. 30)

12. Connor Seabold, RHP, Red Sox (No. 23)
(Acquired with Nick Pivetta from Phillies for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree on Aug. 21)

13. Packy Naughton, LHP, Angels (No. 13)
(Acquired from Reds with PTBN or cash for Brian Goodwin on Aug. 31)

14. Lucius Fox, SS, Royals (No. 26)
(Acquired from Rays for Brett Phillips on Aug. 27)

15. Zack Short, SS/2B, Tigers (No. 27)
(Acquired from Cubs for Cameron Maybin on Aug. 31)

16. Anthony Alford, OF, Pirates (No. 25)
(Claimed off waivers from Blue Jays on Aug. 27)

17. Luis Alexander Basabe, OF, Giants (No. 18)
(Acquired from White Sox for cash on Aug. 9)

18. Humberto Mejía , LHP, D-backs (NR)
(Acquired with Caleb Smith and PTBN from Marlins from D-backs for Starling Marte on Aug. 31)

19. Sterling Sharp, RHP, Nationals (No. 26)
(Returned to Nationals from Marlins on Aug. 27)

20. Jordan Humphreys, RHP, Giants (No. 26)
(Acquired from Mets for Billy Hamilton on Aug. 2)

21. Edgar Garcia, RHP, Rays (NR)
(Acquired from Phillies for PTBN on Aug. 18)

22. Addison Russ, RHP, Yankees (NR)
(Acquired from Phillies for David Hale on Aug. 21)

23. Mark Payton, OF, Reds (NR)
(Acquired from A’s for PTBN on Aug. 7)

24. Gerardo Reyes, RHP, Angels (NR)
(Acquired from Padres for Jason Castro on Aug. 31)