You didn’t actually suppose groups had been carried out swapping relievers after Friday and Saturday, did you? In case you thought perhaps they had been tapped out for late reduction assistance on Sunday and Monday, nicely, you thought unsuitable! In case your bullpen doesn’t seem like there are sufficient dudes to seize Helm’s Deep, you’re woefully short-armed.
The San Diego Padres acquired LHRP Tanner Scott and RHRP Bryan Hoeing from the Miami Marlins for LHSP Robby Snelling, RHSP Adam Mazur, 3B/2B Graham Pauley, and 3B/SS Jay Beshears
As one in every of baseball’s elite closers on an expiring contract, Tanner Scott was arguably the very best short-term possibility obtainable amongst relievers. His stroll price has peeked up a little bit to the numbers of the unhealthy previous days, however his first-strike share has stayed firmly in constructive territory, which is a crucial indicator of the place stroll numbers will settle. Scott is probably going to assist the Padres in a really tight NL Wild Card race, however he’ll most likely be much more vital for them within the playoffs if they’ll get there. In San Diego, he groups up with Robert Suarez to asphyxiate opposing lineups late within the video games. So far as elite closers who sometimes stroll a number of too many batters go, Scott is among the much less worrying of the style, as a result of he’s so arduous to hit towards with any authority, giving him a superb shot at escaping jams following these free passes.
Bryan Hoeing is a sinker/slider reliever who has by no means fairly clicked, as he’s by no means actually been capable of induce many swings-and-misses, nor has he mastered the artwork of inducing weak groundballs. He strikes me largely as a depth man who has loads of years of membership management left, and barring a breakout, he appears destined to be shuffled forwards and backwards between San Diego and Triple-A El Paso rather a lot over the subsequent few years. This commerce is about Scott.
Robby Snelling is the large identify prospect right here, and there’s a superb little bit of divergence of opinion on him. He’s not featured on our High 100 Prospects checklist and obtained a 40+ FV within the Padres prospect rundown a few weeks in the past. One in every of Eric Longenhagen’s considerations about Snelling — that he lacks a killer secondary pitch to punch out batters — is one which ZiPS now agrees with after his rocky stint for Double-A San Antonio this season. (He was no. 58 on the ZiPS High 100 in February, however he’s nearly actually fallen off that checklist since then). That stated, Snelling is not any. 44 on MLB Pipeline’s checklist, and was the third-best lefty pitching prospect there after Noah Schultz and Ricky Tiedemann. The Marlins do have a superb monitor document for creating pitchers, even when all of them appear to finish up injured.
We had Adam Mazur as practically equal to Snelling among the many crew’s high prospects, although Mazur clearly wasn’t prepared for the eight begins he made for the father or mother crew, primarily as a result of injury-related desperation. Whereas he has a pair extra ticks of velocity than does Snelling, he suffers an analogous illness in not having secondary pitches that batters chase out of the strike zone. Graham Pauley can hardly be described as a high-upside prospect, and he hasn’t gotten a variety of love from prospect watchers, however he was actually price watching after he beat up pitchers throughout three ranges in 2023. That hasn’t continued in 2024. He hit a wall at Triple-A, which was sufficient for ZiPS to take a fairly good chunk out of his 2025 wRC+ projection, dropping it from 97 all the way in which right down to 83. He can kind of faux to play second and third base, and the Marlins are at all times devoid of offensive expertise, so he’s bought loads of time to show it round and have a Dan Uggla-esque profession. Jay Beshears has solely 5 house runs in a few season’s price of plate appearances within the low minors regardless of not being terribly younger, and he doesn’t make up for that with any notable contact or defensive abilities. He’s not more likely to be on anybody’s radar anytime quickly and can more than likely fill out Double-A rosters for some time.
Even for those who’re down on Snelling and/or Mazur, it’s nonetheless a superb haul for 2 months of a reduction pitcher. Each groups must be pleased with how they did right here.
The Kansas Metropolis Royals acquired RHRP Lucas Erceg from the Oakland A’s for RHSP Mason Barnett, RHRP Will Klein, and OF Jared Dickey
Lucas Erceg might be not a completed product. He misses bats and is tough to hit, however he additionally will get off to a variety of 1-0 counts, which means that his stroll price enchancment from 2023 to ’24 most likely isn’t fairly as sustainable because the uncooked numbers seem (14% to eight%). However throwing within the high-90s makes up for lots of sins, and his slider is a worthy secondary pitch. You additionally should consider that he began pitching professionally solely a pair years in the past. (Although he did pitch some reduction innings in school, he was primarily an infielder and was drafted as such.) The Royals get him for 5 full seasons, which is a fairly large deal, particularly if he continues to enhance.
Mason Barnett received’t make the ZiPS High 100, however the pc does suppose he’s been competent sufficient at Double-A to sneak above alternative stage for his main league translation. Barnett was truly our second-ranked pitcher on the Royals high prospect checklist, with a 40+ FV; Travis Ice referred to as him a attainable back-end workhorse starter, and that’s the form of factor the A’s are on the lookout for when you think about that possession’s high precedence is to expire the clock whereas it waits to get its hoped-for Las Vegas pot of honey. RHRP Will Klein is your prototypical hard-throwing reliever with a foggy thought of the place the pitch goes, however he does not less than preserve the ball down. Each group has a number of of those pitchers hanging round within the minors, and a few of them will work out. Eric advised me Tuesday afternoon that he sees Jared Dickey as an “upper-level depth kind.” ZiPS offers Dickey a peak projection of an 85 wRC+, and since he doesn’t venture to play heart discipline, the pc agrees with Eric’s evaluation.
The Texas Rangers acquired LHRP Andrew Chafin from the Detroit Tigers for RHRP Chase Lee and RHSP Joseph Montalvo
I personally really feel the Rangers would have been higher off retooling on the deadline, however they’ve stayed shut sufficient within the race – they’re solely 3 1/2 video games out within the AL West – that they’ve determined in any other case. Texas is a crew that’s been fairly devoid of lefty relievers this season, with rookie Jacob Latz shouldering many of the burden. Latz’s command remains to be a bit spotty, so Andrew Chafin, who was having a tremendous comeback season with the Tigers, immediately turns into the primary lefty out of the Texas bullpen for a high-leverage scenario. If he’s stable sufficient, the Rangers might even think about choosing up his $7.25 million possibility for 2025, however let’s not get too far forward of ourselves. Chafin will take Latz’s higher-leverage innings, and Texas will likely be higher for it.
Suffice it so say, the Tigers had been unlikely to get a haul for Chafin – they usually didn’t. Chase Lee made the “weirdos” part in our prospect rankings, and whereas the article didn’t actually go into a lot depth on him, he’s a fastball/sinker/slider pitcher who’s lacking the fastball a part of that label. A sidearmer with a “heater” that’s averaged underneath 90 mph this yr, Lee depends on deception and command to get his whiffs. His sinker doesn’t actually induce the super-low launch angles that the nice ones do, and when batters make contact with the slider, they have an inclination to hit it pretty arduous. Joseph Montalvo can be a command pitcher with out a powerful repertoire. He’s succeeded within the low minors, however pitchers like that ceaselessly splat once they get to Double- or Triple-A, so the Tigers should wait and see with him.
The Philadelphia Phillies acquired LHRP Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox for 2B/SS William Bergolla
I’m like 99% positive that the White Sox picked up William Bergolla, the 40 FV infield prospect and never William Bergolla, the 41-year-old dad and former Reds participant who kicked round for some time as a utility infielder in Triple-A. In spite of everything, that is the group that when by chance acquired Jeff Barry as an alternative of Jon Berry, and an infielder in his 40s has a variety of veteran management to supply to the White Sox. Assuming the White Sox bought it proper, Bergolla’s an attention-grabbing prospect, fast with out being a real speedster, and a very superior contact hitter for a minor leaguer. Whether or not he develops greater than this, he’s extra attention-grabbing than the grim parade of second basemen the Pale Hose have despatched on the market just lately.
Tanner Banks by no means actually found out how you can get out of innings as a beginning pitcher prospect, however he’s discovered a second life within the bullpen the previous few years. He’ll solely hit 92-93 mph together with his fastball, however he has good secondary choices and a wider choice than most relievers. He’s a bit uncommon in that he makes use of his curveball form of like a slider, the attain pitch towards lefties, whereas he’ll use his slider nearly prefer it’s a cutter, throwing it pretty excessive and in towards righties. That’s been sufficient to internet him 10 strikeouts per 9 innings, and he’s not a free agent till after the 2028 season, when he’ll be turning 37. Banks makes a terrific Phillies bullpen even higher now, they usually get to maintain him for a very long time. This is among the extra underrated pickups this July.
The Houston Astros acquired LHRP Caleb Ferguson from the New York Yankees for RHRP Kelly Austin and worldwide bonus pool cash
The Yankees had been excessive sufficient on Caleb Ferguson to provide him a variety of high-leverage conditions early within the season, however after a number of too many homers and walks, and a fastball lacking a little bit of its regular chunk, his position has been minimized to the extent that he’s entered solely a single recreation with a leverage index above one over the past month. The Yankees aren’t ready to attend round on him, so that they determined to get whereas the getting was good one thing. The one thing on this case is a low-level depth arm in Kelly Austin, a reliever with a low-90s fastball and a few bizarre pitch knowledge: A seemingly implausible 1,450 rpm common spin price on one secondary pitch has left Eric questioning if Austin has been throwing some awkward splitters which can be chopping and being mischaracterized as sliders. The Yankees additionally snagged some further flexibility of their worldwide signings, leading to a good haul for a pitcher they’d little curiosity in utilizing as of late. Ferguson is a free agent on the finish of the season, so there’s no large potential payoff for the Astros, however one factor that hasn’t modified about them within the Bagwell period is that they’re interested in pitchers with upside however some form of drawback they suppose they’ll repair. In the event that they noticed one thing they’ll iron out shortly, Ferguson might return to being a reliable lefty down the stretch and within the playoffs, and for a really low price.
The Minnesota Twins acquired RHRP Trevor Richards from the Toronto Blue Jays for 2B/SS Jay Harry
This commerce would have been a considerably larger deal three years in the past. Trevor Richards usually has (barely) survived being sometimes crushable by placing up elite whiff numbers, however he’s had an enormous drop-off this season. He lives and dies by his changeup greater than ever, leaving him within the place of being kind of a LOOGY that the manufacturing unit truly manufactured as right-handed. He’ll be the seventh or eighth greatest reliever in Minnesota’s bullpen, so he’ll possible simply choose up some bulk innings. Jay Harry is mainly a future organizational participant who will possible peak as a utility man for a weak Double-A crew. With no large draft pedigree, hitting .214/.306/.349 isn’t going to get him a lot consideration, until, I suppose, he begins telling individuals he’s associated to Debbie Harry.
The New York Mets acquired RHRP Huascar Brazoban from the Miami Marlins for 3B/OF Wilfredo Lara and RHRP Tyler Zuber from the Tampa Bay Rays for RHRP Paul Gervase
With these two small strikes, the Mets continued to remake their bullpen on the fly for the stretch drive. I believe Huascar Brazoban is best than a number of larger identify relievers who had been traded this deadline, with some good high-90s warmth, an equally arduous sinker, a usable cutter, and a nasty changeup he’s lastly bought a deal with on inside the final yr or so. Even higher: He’s not a rental, so the Mets get to maintain him for some time. Wilfredo Lara is a 35+ FV prospect who has been hanging simply on the sting of the Mets prospect checklist, a speed-based utility participant who doesn’t make adequate contact to essentially make that matter. He does have quite a lot of versatility; he’s performed in all places however pitcher and catcher just lately. Tyler Zuber was a Royals reduction prospect years in the past with a mid-90s fastball and command points, however he’s made a comeback from a shoulder impingement concern, revamping his secondary choices to throw a cutter and a sweeper. He was fairly stable in Triple-A for the Rays and serves as an attention-grabbing flyer, although the Mets might take a look at him extra subsequent spring fairly than this August. Paul Gervase is a 6-foot-10 reliever with a low-90s fastball who will get a variety of whiffs, however he nonetheless has some vital command points to iron out. The Rays are a superb group for that form of factor, however he’s unlikely to contribute shortly.
The Seattle Mariners acquired RHRP JT Chargois from the Miami Marlins for RHSP Will Schomberg
The Mariners already bought the reliever they wished a number of days in the past once they picked up Yimi García from the Blue Jays, however JT Chargois is an honest depth piece, a sinkerballer who survives a really low strikeout price by preserving batters crushing pitches straight into the grass. He’s missed time with a neck damage this season, however he’s been inconsistent in his restricted innings when he’s pitched, permitting much more fly balls than typical. Because you’re a FanGraphs reader, I don’t suppose I’ve to quiz you on whether or not his 1.62 ERA or 5.32 FIP extra precisely displays his efficiency in 2024. Chargois possible received’t deal with high-leverage innings, and I’m unsure he’s even a lock to be on a attainable postseason roster. Will Schomberg is an older prospect, signed as an undrafted free agent, who has a pair first rate breaking pitches, however he wasn’t sufficient of a prospect to land a FV estimate.
