Five Top 100 Prospects Who Are Ready for MLB Impact

Over the past several seasons, teams around Major League Baseball have been looking more and more towards their top prospects to make it to the big leagues as quickly as possible and make an immediate impact on their club. The most recent examples of that being Michael Conforto, Kyle Schwarer and Carlos Rodon, who all made big league contributions in 2015 after being drafted in 2014 (no players from the 2015 draft have made it to the majors yet). With that in mind, there are several players ranked in the top 100 prospects right now who could be making impacts but have yet to play a single game in the majors for one reason or another.

Keep in mind, none of the players listed below may be ready for the big leagues in your mind. This is all merely my opinion, and is by no means any indication of the prospects who will be up within the next few weeks, or this year for that matter. It’s simply the five prospects who would be the most valuable players, were they to be playing in the bigs right now.

The first guy that pops into my head is Tyler Glasnow. Over his previous four seasons in the minors, Glasnow has never posted an ERA above 2.39 for any one year, and is off to another great start in 2016. Following eight Triple-A starts last year, in which Glasnow recorded a 2.20 ERA and struck out more batters than innings pitched, he’s now thrown 61 innings at Triple-A this season and has a 2.07 ERA. While Glasnow hasn’t even made 100 career professional starts, he’s more than proven himself ready to make an impact at the major league level. He might not be able to help the Pirates chase down the dominant Cubs, but he can certainly make sure they maintain a Wild Card spot.

Another player who I feel is extremely close to being ready to make an impact is Orlando Arcia. When the Brewers traded away Jean Segura early this year, many were lead to speculate that the move was done solely to bring up Arcia on Opening Day to be their starting shortstop. However, Arcia was sent to Triple-A, where he still remains. Regardless, I believe that Arcia is ready to step up and be a key piece to the Brewers, despite their poor record. Arcia isn’t a power hitter by any means, but he hits for average, has good speed and strikes out very few times over the course of any given season. He deserves a shot to make what I feel would be an immediate impact in the majors.

Those are the top two MLB-ready players on my list, but I still have three other players I feel would be impact players now. The first is Hunter Renfroe, who has a great combination of tools. With an ability to hit for average and power, and with a knack to drive in runs, I think he’ll be a big-time player for the Padres. Renfroe’s previous career high for homers is 21 back in 2014, but already having 12 not even half way through the year, he’s likely to surpass that number before all is said and done in 2016. The only downside to Renfroe is the fact that he’s only played in just over 70 games at Triple-A, but he has a great approach at the plate and seems ready.

If not for injuries that resulted in Tommy John surgery, it’s likely that Jameson Taillon would be dominating big league lineups right now. However, due to those setbacks, Taillon is in Triple-A. But he’s making a case for that time to be a short-lived one, as he’s blowing away the competition. Taillon has recorded a 2.04 ERA in his first season back since last having pitched in 2013. However, because of the injuries, Taillon likely won’t make his big league debut until later on in this season, despite the success. Even so, the former first-round draft pick is getting close to joining a Pirates’ rotation that could use a bit of help.

The final player on my list is the least likely to make it to the majors in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not even at all this season. But despite that, I think that Jeff Hoffman has the raw talent to have an impact for the Rockies now, even if he’s only seen time in eleven Triple-A games. But in that short time, Hoffman has posted a 2.67 ERA, and has been really impressive. Colorado undoubtedly could use the pitching help, and they would received a lot of help from Hoffman. Despite being drafted in the first round back in 2014 by the Blue Jays, he will ultimately make his impact as a Rockies starter. Hopefully, that time won’t come too far from now, as I think Hoffman is almost ready.

With so much talent to pick from of all the players on the top 100 major league baseball prospects list, it makes it difficult to choose just five that would appear to be ready to make contributions to their major league club. However, while it’s tough to select the best and most ready, it’s easy to see why they are all so highly thought of, and why they will be looked to for help in the very near future.

Things Heating Up As Trade Deadline Looms

Over the past week or so, trades and rumors of trades have been taking place right and left. Although things are still bound to happen, with the trade deadline not until Friday afternoon, here’s an overall recap (most of the trades, but not every one) of what has happened so far, with my thoughts on each:

Back on the 23rd, two of the first impactful moves were made. The Brewers’ Aramis Ramirez was sent to the Pirates in return for minor leaguer, Yhonathan Barrios, and the Astros acquired Scott Kazmir from the Athletics in exchange for Daniel Mengden and Jacob Nottingham. The following day, the Marlins moved Steve Cishek to the Cardinals for the addition of Kyle Barraclough.

For the most part, I felt all of those trades were productive ones. The Brewers are out of it this season, and sending Ramirez to the Pirates will likely benefit them moving forward as they push towards the hope of a postseason spot. The Marlins sending Cishek to another team makes a lot of sense to me as well, as Cishek used to be dominant for Miami, but has struggled somewhat this year. Hopefully a change of scenery will help him out.

Of the three deals, the Scott Kazmir one will undoubtedly be the one that has the most impact this season. With the Astros in first place, Kazmir could really be crucial in helping them hold on to make the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

But while those few trades were somewhat beneficial, a major move took place Sunday, with Johnny Cueto being shipped to the Royals in exchange for cash and minor league pitchers Cody Reed, Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb. After reaching the World Series last year, only to fall short in game seven, there are a lot of people who feel that Cueto can help them win it all this year. While that remains to be seen, Cueto will assuredly be a big impact for them the remainder of the regular season into October.

As far as what the Royals gave up from their farm system, Finnegan is the type of guy who is immediately ready to make an impact, even though he was sent to Triple-A. Finnegan came up big in the postseason for the Royals last year, and he, along with future impact pitchers Cody Reed and John Lamb, should be able to help the Reds turn things around in the years to come.

Tuesday turned out to be a big day as well in the trade market, as several impact trades took place.

On the lesser impactful side of things, Ben Zobrist was sent to the Royals for Aaron Brooks and future star Sean Manaea, with Jonathan Papelbon finally getting moved, sent to the Nationals for Nick Pivetta. The Zobrist move should help the Royals, as will the Cueto move, leading to another deep playoff run this season. In the same way, the acquisition of Papelbon as the Nat’s closer should help them be able to lock down games at the end, despite already having a good closer in Drew Storen, who now becomes their setup man.

However, while those were good moves, the one that had everyone talking on Tuesday was the swap of Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins to the Blue Jays in return for Jose Reyes, Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco. Of all of the trades thus far, I feel this is the one that makes the most sense for both sides.

Although the Jays supposedly needed a pitcher at the time, you can never complain when you pick up an impact bat like Tulowitzki and a veteran reliever in Hawkins. Likewise, the Rockies look to be headed in a good direction, as Reyes is a fine replacement for Tulowitzki, and all three prospects, especially the highly hyped Jeff Hoffman, will help them down the road.

But while most trades go through without a hitch, one deal went down on Wednesday that ended up falling through. The Brewers planned to sent Carlos Gomez to the Mets for Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores, but concern with Gomez’s hip (now reported as a financial issue, too) caused the deal to be called off. Obviously an unfortunate set of circumstances, as both teams would have benefited from the deal.

Nonetheless, trades continued to happen. Thursday saw a blockbuster, three-team swap that involved numerous players. The Dodgers picked up Mat Latos and Michael Morse from the Marlins as well as Alex Wood, Bronson Arroyo, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan and Jose Peraza from the Braves. In exchange, the Marlins received Jeff Bringham, Victor Araujo and Kevin Guzman from the Dodgers, with the Braves getting Cuban star Hector Olivera, Zack Bird and Paco Rodriguez. The Braves also received a competitive-balance round draft pick from Miami.

To me, the trade doesn’t make a lot of sense to anyone but the Dodgers. For them, they made out with a ton of talent. But Miami merely picked up a few decent players, with the Braves receiving the same. Although time is the only thing that can tell whether a trade turns out to be a good or bad one, this trade seems to be one sided.

Another big deal went down on Thursday as well, with Cole Hamels (along with Jake Diekman) finally getting moved after months and months of trade rumors surrounding him. Hamels was sent to the Rangers in exchange for Matt Harrison and prospects Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, Jake Thompson, Alec Asher and Jerad Eickhoff.

In the short term, the Rangers should see an instant boost in their rotation, as Hamels has been one of the top pitchers around baseball for the past numerous years. In the long term, however, the Phillies could see the prospect they picked up helping to turn their current subpar squad into a postseason potential team once again. All five prospect are expected to be big time impact players in the majors, and they should all be able to help within the next few years.

Finally, one of the biggest trades of the day on Thursday saw David Price getting moved once again. This time, Price was sent to the Blue Jays in exchange for prospects Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt. With Price being one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past several years, he will inevitably help out the Blue Jays, who are currently sitting at .500, seven games back of first place.

With around 24 hours remaining until the trade deadline arrives, things should continue to stay exciting, with a big deal having the chance of taking place at any given time.

Previewing the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft

The 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft is now less than two weeks away.

Set to air live on MLB Network on June 5th, and continuing through June 7th on MLB.com, the draft has become a bigger focus each and every year as time has gone by. With teams now counting on their first few picks to make it to the big leagues within a couple of years and have an immediate impact, choosing the right player for your organization has become a huge deal.

While none of last year’s first round draft picks have made the major leagues as of yet, currently, four of the 2012 first round picks have made the majors for at least a brief period of time, being Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman, in addition to Mike Zunino and Michael Wacha who have made the biggest impacts.

With this year’s draft being pitcher heavy, a lot of teams are going to be picking up a possible future ace of their rotation as their first pick. Though there are some good position players in the mix as well, overall, pitchers are the dominant presence, making up seven of the top ten ranked draft prospects who will go quickly come draft day.

As I did last year, I’m planning to blog about the results of the draft, along with a few of my thoughts, the day after the first round takes place. With the first five picks going to the Astros, Marlins, White Sox, Cubs and Twins, it should be interesting to see how teams play things, depending on their overall biggest needs that they need to fill for the future.

Though I’m not going to give any predictions for the order in which the players are chosen (I’m by no means a draft expert) I do want to talk a bit about the “experts'” picks for who will likely be some of the first off the board.

For the number one overall pick, no one can seem to agree who it will be, however, nearly everyone is predicting that it will be one of two left-handed pitchers: Brady Aiken or Carlos Rodon.

Aiken is one of four high school players ranked in the top ten draft prospects, and is expected to go in the top two, if not number one overall. Possessing some of the best stuff seen out of a high school pitcher in quite a while — set to be the first high school lefty to go in the top five since 2002 — Aiken is one of the younger players in the draft, currently age 17, but he could possibly be one of the most talented.

With a good fastball, as well as a great curveball and changeup, it will be up to the Astros if they want to take a chance on the young pitcher.

Or they could go with Rodon, who began the year as the clear cut first overall pick, but due to a somewhat down year by his standards — he still managed to post a 2.01 ERA despite poor run support leading to a 6-7 record — his stock has fallen a bit.

But with that said, he still has everything you want and expect to see in the number one pick. With a good, hard fastball, a really good slider, and a work in progress change up, Rodon may not be the highest ranked draft prospect, but he may have the most upside.

On the position player side of things, high school catcher Alex Jackson appears to be the favorite to be the first non-pitcher off the board. While not too many of the game’s top catchers produce big time stats at the big league level, many people feel that Jackson has the ability to do just that.

With a cannon for an arm behind the plate, as well as a real power swing that should yield a good deal of power in addition to hitting for average, Jackson will likely become one of the brightest catching prospects in baseball after June 5th.

And therefore, with so much fantastic talent, from pitchers to position players, the 2014 draft could turn out to be one of the best in years.