Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Which MLB top prospects are most likely to get traded this year before becoming stars with their current team?
MLB.com released its annual list of top prospects on Saturday. The list gives a future preview of what to expect from many franchises. However, in some cases, the top prospects may not stick around. Many of them will get traded before ever reaching their full potential with the team that drafted them.
As is the case every year, the best teams competing for a playoff spot will often deal prospects at the trade deadline. We don’t know for sure which teams will be in the hunt for the postseason just yet. This doesn’t mean some of those prospects listed in MLB.com’s top 100 aren’t clearly already on the trade block.
Many teams have top prospects at positions already filled with big league players. Because of this, even the best of prospects sometimes become expendable.
It’s not uncommon to see top prospects traded on a regular basis. In the last 365 days, several of baseball’s best young prospects have been dealt. In the top five alone, three are with different franchises than they started with. There’s little reason to doubt these young players will continue to swap franchises in order to improve the big league squads they had hoped to one day represent.
The season has yet to start, the trade deadline is months away, and the top prospects list isn’t even a week old. Despite this, we can already estimate which future MLB stars could be on the move this season.
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Los Angeles Dodgers’ prospect Cody Bellinger has the distinction of entering 2017 ranked at number 13 on MLB.com’s list. Unlucky or not, he has a bright future ahead of him. Unfortunately, for Dodgers’ fans, Bellinger may not see any action alongside Clayton Kershaw and the boys.
Bellinger has had two very powerful years in the Dodgers’ minor league system. He has done so while playing first base and, more recently, some outfield. The position switch was necessary as the Dodgers have Adrian Gonzalez locked in at first base for a few more years. While the Dodgers can find a way around this, Bellinger could end up as a trade candidate.
The best trade chip the Dodgers have in their system is Bellinger. They have already dealt Jorge De Leon to the Tampa Bay Rays to fill their need at second base. Bellinger may end up helping them fill another need later this year if they find themselves with a hole. The Dodgers have already been reluctant to trade him in the offseason. This may change when push comes to shove and their desire to win in 2017 outweighs what Bellinger might become.
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Ranked one spot behind Bellinger at number 14 is Chicago Cubs’ outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez. The young prospect has only recently put his teenage years behind him. He has a great chance at becoming a contributor to the Cubs in a few years. However, he may end up helping them by proxy a lot more in 2017 to repeat as champions. Jimenez is now one of the most desirable outfield prospects in baseball which means trading him may get the Cubs a really nice piece in return at the deadline.
To call Jimenez expendable is not fair. He looks to have some great power and may put up a good batting average as well. The Cubs do, fortunately, already have several other promising young outfielders in the system. This could ultimately lead to them trading their best in order to receive exactly what they want in return.
The Cubs’ outfield of the future remains a mysterious one. Between Kyle Schwarber learning how to play left field and the Jason Heyward contract, it’s unclear what it will look like in the future. We also should see Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Ben Zobrist play there regularly for a few more years. There is no obvious place for Jimenez to play at this time. So, if the Cubs do find themselves in need of a starting pitcher or someone else that can help them immediately, trading Jimenez might be their best move.
Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Another Chicago Cubs’ prospect that could be on the move this year is Ian Happ. The second baseman/outfielder begins 2017 as the 28th ranked prospect in the MLB. Despite his recently added flexibility after moving to the outfield, the Cubs’ roster may not have room for him.
The same way Jimenez may have trouble finding a spot with the big league team, so will Happ. Second base is already occupied by a mix of Ben Zobrist and Javier Baez. The outfield has more choices. Happ could end up as the odd man out especially if the Cubs do decide to keep Jimenez.
Happ’s performance last season was a promising one as he hit with some power and for a pretty good average. It appears that he will need at least another year in the minors before the Cubs actually have to find room for him. By that point, the Cubs will have a similar roster still in place. As a result, moving Happ for pitching this year could end up being the way his time ends with the franchise.
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Playing shortstop for the New York Yankees is a dream come true for many young athletes. Thank Derek Jeter for making this the most desirable job in sports. For Yankees’ prospect Jorge Mateo, he may not get that chance. There is already a surplus of middle infielders on the big league roster which would have made it hard for Mateo to breakthrough.
The Yankees have another shortstop prospect named Gleyber Torres. Torres was about even with Mateo last year, but this season will begin the year as the third best prospect in all of baseball. This likely means Mateo is a trade target for the Yankees once they decide to start building the MLB roster.
Added to the possibility that he is traded is the fact that Mateo did not perform too well last year in Single-A. While not a complete flop, he has seen his status slide down the Yankees’ system and across the MLB. He remains a top 50 prospect in baseball and a guy we should see get a job somewhere. Unfortunately, it may not be in New York.
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The lone pitcher on this list of prospects likely to get traded is St. Louis Cardinals’ Luke Weaver. His status, as someone who could get traded, is a result of the Cardinals already having a lot of other pitchers on the roster. Additionally, Weaver is well behind Alex Reyes, the number six best prospect in baseball. Reyes is also the best pitching prospect in baseball which means Weaver has some big shoes to pass in order to find a roster spot in St. Louis.
The Cardinals have already provided Weaver with a chance in MLB to showcase what he can do. Clearly, it was too early of a call-up as he struggled in his brief appearances. The 22-year-old went only 1-4 with a 5.70 ERA for the Cardinals after what had been an excellent season in Double-A.
Weaver is still a few months away from reaching the big leagues and sticking there. He only played one game in Triple-A so it’s fair to expect him to once again begin the year in the minors. It’s clear he will begin 2017 with the Cardinals’ franchise, but where he ends it remains unclear.
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