July is a busy month on Major League Baseball’s calendar, for it contains the amateur draft, the All-Star Game, and the trade deadline. Comparatively, August is a bit of a bore — at least off the field. There are no more draft selections to make or trades to execute; now, everyone can focus on the action taking place between the lines, as opposed to inside conference rooms.
Before we officially put July in our rearview mirror, let’s take one last look back by highlighting five organizations that may have walked away with their organization’s new No. 1 prospect.
As always, this exercise is more of an art than a science. While I suspect most of these calls will hold up until the publication of CBS Sports’ offseason prospect lists, I will note that there’s still enough daylight left this season for some of the closer calls to shift. Treat this, then, like a snapshot in time rather than a declaration of how things are going to be viewed in six months.
Onward.
Obviously. De Vries was the best prospect traded this summer by virtue of being one of the two or three best youngsters in the entire minor leagues. He’s a switch-hitting shortstop holding his own in the Midwest League as an 18 year old, making him several years younger than his average competition. Yet, prior to the deal, he was sporting a .767 OPS that was well above and beyond the league’s .703 mark. De Vries will require time to fulfill his star upside, but even if he falls short, he could emerge as a regular with five average or better tools. With due respect to lefties Jamie Arnold and Gage Jump, De Vries is the obvious top prospect in the A’s system.
Another obvious inclusion, another young switch-hitting shortstop. I ranked Willits as the top player in the draft class based on his well-rounded, instinctual game (the only tool he lacks is power) and his extreme youth. (He’s roughly 10 months younger than Ethan Holliday, the other top prepster in the class.) Evaluators with other teams questioned if the Nationals had the discipline to take Willits, especially after firing both general manager Mike Rizzo and field manager Davey Martinez a week prior to the draft. They did, and in due time, they’ll get to enjoy the dividends. For now, Willits is the clear top choice in a system that’s reeling from graduations and injuries to right-handers Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana.
There’s a running joke in prospect circles that states that, at any given point, the Angels’ top prospect is always their next first-round pick. A lot of truth gets delivered in a jest-shaped cardboard box, and there’s certainly some of it at play here. The Angels, who lack organizational depth, love to rush their top prospects to the minors. That creates a void near the top of their system. Anyway, Bremner was the biggest surprise near the top of the draft. He’s a changeup artist whose stock plummeted early in the season before ticking up late after he rediscovered his fastball. Other teams have questioned his breaking balls and his ability to win battles in the zone against top competition. If history is any indication, Bremner will probably be in the majors by Flag Day 2026, clearing the way for whomever the Angels take next July.
4. Rockies: SS/3B Ethan Holliday (No. 4 overall draft pick)
Holliday was the most famous prospect in this draft class, but that didn’t necessarily make him the top prospect. He’s an intriguing talent all the same, thanks to his above-average strength and discipline, as well as the X-factor that is his father, longtime big-league outfielder Matt Holliday. This particular Holliday scion has struggled with swing-and-miss issues as an amateur, and it’s expected that he’ll slide over to third base before he reaches the majors. The struggles of Charlie Condon, Colorado’s first-round pick last summer, make it easier to give Holliday the nod.
I’m including Schoolcraft with the caveat that I may change my mind on this one before the winter lists are published. He’s an intriguing, athletic lefty who entered the spring in consideration to go much higher than No. 25. With De Vries traded to the Athletics and almost everyone else near the top of the system dealt away in various other moves, the real question with this system is what to make of teenage backstop Ethan Salas, who struggled with the bat last season and has missed most of this year because of a back injury. If you maintain hope with Salas, he’s probably still the top prospect here. If you don’t, it’s Schoolcraft or fellow young arms Kash Mayfield or Humberto Cruz. The rest of the season will help clarify the proper order.
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