Prospect Watch: Top Five Young MLB Moves at the Trade Deadline

You may have heard that Major League Baseball’s trade deadline passed on Tuesday night. (If not, you can use our handy trade tracker to catch all the moves of the last several weeks.) So, this edition of Prospect Watch, predictably, ranks and analyzes five of the best young prospects. About to do that were added. In deals

Keep in mind that these exercises are always more of an art than a science and trade more than five valuable prospects at the deadline. Now, forward.

There’s a lot to like about Mart’s game. He is a lefty infielder with good average raw power who walks and who has maintained his strikeout rate despite playing against competition several years older than him. A major unknown facing Mars is its defensive position. He’s been error-prone at short the past two seasons, and may have to move to third. If he hits the way he’s capable of hitting, it won’t be too negative.

Hassel, the eighth pick in the 2020 draft, has already had success in High-A, hitting .299/.379/.467 with 10 home runs in 75 games. Scouts have raved about his hit tool and approach since his draft days. Alas, they’ve also questioned when (and how much) he’ll tap into his raw pop, and if he’ll stay in the middle. Those concerns remain, but now it’s up to the Nationals to help him find a good solution.

3. Edwin Arroyo, SS, Reds (Luis Castillo)

Arroyo earned his share of fans in the 2021 draft thanks to his combination of extreme youth and defensive prowess at shortstop. It didn’t hurt that he showed enough positive traits at the plate for scouts to envision him moving forward as a utility player. Still, Arroyo showed more offensive prowess than his most enthusiastic boosters, hitting .316/.385/.514 in 87 games in the Cal League, where his average opponent was, oh, more than three years his senior. . Arroyo is a few seasons away from big-league relevance, but he’s one to keep in mind.

4. James Wood, OF, Nationals (Juan Soto)

Wood, the second outfielder in the Soto trade, has the kind of raw power you’d expect from someone listed at 6-foot-7. He moves better than the Richie Saxons of the world, however, and the Padres played him primarily in center field. One of the main concerns about Wood’s game as an amateur was that he attacked too often to maximize his pop. It’s an encouraging sign, then, that he’s been able to keep his seasonal strikeout rate under 20 percent. If this trend continues as he climbs the ladder, Wood could become a medium hitter.

If the Angels were determined to take up an offer on Marsh, a former top prospect who has struggled to make consistent contact in the majors, they could do worse than net O’Hoppe in return. He spent the season in Double-A, hitting .275/.392/.496 with 15 home runs in 75 games. O’Hoppe is a well-rounded backstop, a field general type who can provide average or better offensive production. He looks ready for Triple-A, and should be able to make his big league debut in 2023.