“Where are they now?”: Prospects traded from the 2019 deadline to the end of 2021
2 years ago
On Sunday evening, I had a Twitter thread about prospects that had been traded since the 2019 trade deadline. This thread popped off, but a lot of Twitter folks were asking if I could go more in depth with these prospects.
That’s what this article will cover. Please note that I’ve excluded players such as T.J Zeuch, Yennesy Diaz, Sean Reid Foley, Hector Perez and Andrew McInvale. These players are either too old for me to consider prospects, or they aren’t good enough to make the majors.
I also won’t be including players from the recent Matt Chapman trade, at least until the trade deadline article.
Also make note that this will be the first in a series of three articles. One will come around the trade deadline and one will come at the end of the season. Not just that, but it’s possible that I’ll also cover the players traded during the 2015 season if you’re interested.
With all that being said, I hope you enjoy this article.
Cal Stevenson:
Along with former all-star Aaron Sanchez (who plays for the Rochester Red Wings) and Joe Biagini (Buffalo Bisons), the then 22-year-old outfielder was traded to the Houston Astros for Derek Fisher.
Stevenson was originally drafted out of community college by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, but he elected to pursue further education. Two years later, the outfielder was drafted in the 10th round of the 2018 draft out of Arizona by the Blue Jays.
In his first professional season with the Bluefield Jays in the Appalachian League, he slashed .359/.494/.518 with two homers, six triples and thirteen doubles in 249 plate appearances. While he was 0.7 years older than the average outfielder at this level, there were some more encouraging signs.
The plate discipline was there as well, as he walked 21.3% of the time, while only striking out 8.4% of the time. In fact, dating back to his community college days, there has only been one season where he’s struck out more than he’s walked, which we’ll get too.
Coming into the 2019 season, he was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Jays’ 30th best prospect. He started the 2019 season with the Dunedin Blue Jays, which were the High A team at the time. In 390 plate appearances, he slashed .298/.388/.393 with five homers and an additional 13 extra base hits.
His stint with Houston was short, as he only appeared in 100 plate appearances, where he slashed .298/.388/.393 with no homers. He did walk 19% of the time while only striking out 13% of the time however, meaning he finished with more walks (69, nice) than strikeouts (65).
He was packaged with Peyton Battenfield to the Tampa Bay Rays for Austin Pruitt in January 2020.
In his first season with the Rays’ Double A team, he slashed .254/.368/.403 with nine homers in 365 plate appearances. Stevenson finished with a wRC+ of 118, which was a career low. Furthermore, this was the first season where he struck out more than he walked, as his BB% sat at 15.3%, while he struck out 21.4% of the time.
Despite this, he started his 2022 season with Tampa’s Triple A team. In just 35 plate appearances, he’s slashing .192/.382/.308 with just five hits. Yet, he still gets on base as he’s walked eight times, or 22.9%. His strikeout rate has also decreased, as it has dropped to 17.1%, or six times.
In 2021, he ranked as the Rays’ 57th best prospect according to Fangraphs. Here are his grades. Present Value, or PV, and Future Value, or (FV)
Hit: 50 (60)
Raw Power: 35
Game Power: 30
Run: 60
Fielding 40
Throw: 40
Has he hit a wall? It’s possible, but I believe he could play a small role on a mediocre MLB team. In Fangraphs’ 2022 prospects list, they mention he could be a bench guy
Chad Spanberger:
Chad Spanberger was traded for Chase Anderson at the end of the 2019 season. He was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 draft by the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies then packaged him and Forrest Wall (now in the Mariners organization) for Seunghwan Oh.
With the Rockies, his slash line hovered around .300/.365/.590 and he hit 41 homers between Rookie Ball and A level in 649 plate appearances.
Starting the next season with Toronto’s Double A team, he slashed .237/.308/.399 with 13 homers in 480 plate appearances. This was the start of his decline and he was traded after the season.
With Milwaukee’s Double A team, he slashed .204/.289/.384 with 12 homers in 332 plate appearances. However, his K% drastically increased to 33.4% and he finished his Double A tenure in 2021 with a 86 wRC+.
He had a cup of coffee with the Brewers’ Triple A team, but didn’t look good in his eight plate appearances, hitting a homer while striking out 62.5% of the time. He was released at the end of last season and has yet to find a club.
It was a sharp decline for the former 25th overall prospect (according to Fangraphs). Here were his grades from 2019:
Hit: 30 (45)
Game Power: 40 (55)
Raw Power 70
Speed: 40
Field 40 (45)
Throw 50
Here’s to hoping he finds a team soon.
Kendall Williams:
I remember the day this trade was announced. One of my good buddies was not a fan of the trade, as Williams ranked as the Jays eleventh best prospect at the time. Williams was one prospect moved to acquire Ross Stripling. The right-handed pitcher was drafted the year previous in the second round, and had a fine start to his professional career.
In a short stint in Rookie Ball, the then 18-year-old threw 16 innings and registered a 1.13 ERA and 2.63 FIP. He had a solid K/9 of 10.69, but had an elevated BB/9 of 3.94. Like all minor leaguers, he missed the 2020 season due to COVID, but started with the Dodgers’ Low A team in 2021.
It was a surprising decline for the then 20-year-old, as he pitched 93.1 innings, posting a 4.53 ERA and 5.15 FIP. His K/9 also declined to 8.39 while his BB/9 dropped to 2.12. Interestingly, his ground ball percentage jumped from 32.4% to 52.8%.
Now he’s 21 years old, still with the Low A Dodgers. Thus far in 2022, he doesn’t look particularly great in his eight innings pitched. His K/9 has hit a new high at 11.25, while his BB/9 has dropped to 1.13. However, his ERA sits at 6.75 while his FIP is sitting at a 7.12.
Due to his 2021, he fell off all prospect lists (Fangraphs, Baseball America, MLB Pipeline) Therefore, here are his grades according to his 2021 MLB Pipeline report.
Fastball: 55
Curveball: 55
Slider: 45
Changeup: 50
Control: 50
Overall: 45
Here’s to hoping he finds his game.
Ryan Noda:
Surprisingly, Ryan Noda was the best prospect that the Jays lost in the Ross Stripling trade. Drafted in the 15th round of the 2017 draft, the outfielder was what you could consider a late bloomer.
In his first season with the Jays organization, he slashed .364/.507/.575 with 7 home runs in 276 plate appearances. He had a BB% of 21.4% while striking out 21.7% of the time.
In 2018, he was promoted to the Class A team, where he slashed .256/.421/.484 with 20 homers in 527 plate appearances. He also walked 20.7% of the time, while owning a K% of 25.6%.
In 2019, he slashed .238/.372/.419 with 13 homers in 469 plate appearances. However, a BB% of over 20% was never sustainable, as it dropped to 15.8% (which is still very good), while his K% increased to 29.4%. Did the then 23-year-old hit a wall at the High A level?
Not even close. Upon the return of the minor leagues in 2021, Noda started 2021 with the Dodgers’ Double A team and absolutely tore it up. In 475 plate appearances, he slashed .250/.383/.521 with 29 homers, which was second across all Double A leagues. Not just that, but his BB% sat at 15.6%, while his K% decreased to 26.7%.
Now 26, Noda is in Triple A, where he’s slashing .400/.510/.750 in 49 plate appearances. He already has four homers and is second in OPS in the Pacific Coast League, ranking ahead of third place Kevin Pillar. Furthermore, his BB% has increased to 16.3%, while his K% has decreased to 20.4%. However, PCL stats should be taken with a grain of salt.
The Jays could really use Noda, as he’s a left handed hitting outfielder/first baseman who hits for power. Currently, he ranks as the Dodgers 38th best prospect according to Baseball America. Sadly, there are no grades on the 26-year-old.
Griffin Conine:
We’ll keep this short and simple. Conine, an outfielder who bats left, was drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft by the Blue Jays. He was sent to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Jonathan Villar.
In 2019, he hit 22 home runs and had a slash line of .283/.371/.576 in 348 plate appearances in Class A. However, he had a K% of 35.9%.
In 2021, he slashed .247/.382/.587 with 23 home runs with Miami’s High A affiliate in 288 plate appearances. However, Conine’s K% was practically the same, sitting at 35.8%.
Yet, he was called up to Double A mid-season, where he hit 13 homers in just 173 plate appearances. We’ll ignore his slash line of .176/.243/.447, however, his K% jumped to 47.4% while his BB% dropped to 6.9% (down from 16% in High A).
In his 37 plate appearances in Double A, he hasn’t had success. He’s slashing just .139/.135/.222 with a single home run. Furthermore, he has not taken a walk while he’s struck out 51.4% of the time.
The likelihood of him making it to the MLB isn’t very high. He currently ranks as the Marlins’ 27th best prospect, below are his grades.
Hit: 40
Power: 55
Run: 40
Arm: 60
Field: 50
Overall: 40
According to his bio, he also struck out against a batting machine.
Alberto Rodriguez:
This one is tough. Alberto Rodriguez is the first International Free Agency signee that was traded by the Jays front office on this list. The 21-year-old left handed batter was traded for Taijuan Walker during the 2020 season.
In 2019, he played in Rookie ball, slashing .301/.364/.422 with two homers in 195 plate appearances. One reason why the Jays were willing to let him go was because he was out of shape.
In 2021 with Seattle’s Low A team, he slashed .295/383/.484 with 10 homers in 431 plate appearances. This prompted a mid-season promotion to Seattle’s High A team, where he struggled.
He redeemed himself at the start of the 2022 season, as he is slashing .276/.364/.345 in his 33 plate appearances (much better than his previous 28 plate appearances in 2021). In fact, he currently ranks as the Mariners 8th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Below are his grades:
Hit: 55
Power: 50
Run: 40
Arm: 55
Field: 50
Overall: 50
They added Rodriguez to the 40-man roster prior to the lockout as he would have been available for selection in the Rule Five draft. Also of note, he ranks as the Mariners 13th best prospect according to Baseball America, while he doesn’t rank on Fangraphs.
Josh Winckowski:
I know quite a lot about the Blue Jays organization, but Winckowski slipped under my radar. Drafted in the 15th round of the 2016 draft, Winckowski was part of the Steven Matz trade.
He had a pretty darn good 2019 with the Blue Jays Class A affiliate, where he posted a 2.32 ERA and 3.23 FIP in 73.2 innings pitched. While his K/9 of 8.67 may be considered low, the 23-year-old right-hander is a ground ball pitcher, as he has a ground ball percentage of 55.8% in 2019.
Winckowski received a promotion to the Jays High A affiliate where he posted a 3.19 ERA and 4.20 FIP in 53.2 innings pitched. His ground ball percentage dropped to 48.8%, while his K/9 also dropped to 6.20.
In a huge four team trade the Mets traded for Khalil Lee while trading Winckowski to the Boston Red Sox. This was the same trade that saw Andrew Benintendi join the Royals. It’s a whole thing that doesn’t relate to the Blue Jays.
Anyway, Winckowski had a solid 2021 with the Red Sox’s Double A team, posting a 4.14 ERA and 4.02 FIP in 100 innings. His ground ball percentage recovered to 51.2% and he was off to Boston’s Triple A team.
In just 12 innings pitched, he posted a 2.25 ERA and 3.28 FIP. His ground ball percentage was 50%, while his K/9 actually jumped to 9.75, the highest in his career. He started the 2022 season with the Triple A team.
In his two starters, he’s pitched 10 innings, posting a 2.70 ERA and a FIP of 4.87. His K/9 has dropped to 5.40, the lowest of his career, however his ground ball percentage increased to 57.1%, the highest since his rookie season.
He ranks as the Red Sox’s 14th best prospect. Below are his grades:
Fastball: 55
Slider: 60
Splitter: 50
Control: 50
Overall: 45
I see him as a back end of the rotation starter and it’s possible that he could be called up this season as he’s on the 40-man roster.
Austin Martin:
The only Top 100 prospect on this list, Austin Martin was traded to the Twins for Jose Berrios. Drafted fifth overall in the 2020 MLB draft, the Blue Jays aggressively assigned him to Double A.
Martin was projected to go second or third, but he dropped to the Jays, which was considered a blessing at the time.
One thing that was noticeable right away was his decline in power and exit velocity. He only had two homers with the Fisher Cats in 250 plate appearances. Despite that, he slashed .281/.424/.383 with a wRC+ of 133. Interestingly, he was hit with 14 pitches, which was a huge contributor to such a high on base percentage.
After the trade, he stayed in Double A, where he finished his season slashing .254/.399/.381 with Minnesota’s affiliate. He hit three homers in that time frame and also got plunked another 10 times.
Martin was assigned to Double A for the 2022 season, where he’s slashing .423/.364/.324 without a homer in 44 plate appearances. Interestingly, his walk rate has dropped to 11.4% (14.8% with the Jays, 13.7% with Minnesota in 2021). He has already been hit with a pitch two times as well.
One big issue with Martin is his defensive home. According to some scouts, he doesn’t have the arm strength to play in the infield, meaning his value declines slightly if he were to play in the outfield. His floor is definitely the major leagues.
Martin ranks as the Twins’ second best prospect as well as the 51st overall in the MLB. Below are his grades.
Hit: 60
Power: 40
Run: 55
Arm: 45
Field: 50
Overall: 55
Whether it was injury struggles or not, Martin hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. However, his career is certainly worth following, as the potential is there.
Simeon Woods Richardson:
Originally drafted in the second round by the New York Mets, Simeon Woods Richardson was one of the prospects that the Blue Jays received in the Stroman deal in 2019.
He had a fine start with the Jays organization, pitching 28.1 innings and registering a 2.54 ERA and 2.46 FIP. Richardson was known for his ability to throw strikes, and that was reflected by his 9.21 K/9 and 2.22 BB/9 in High A.
However, he struggled mightily with the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats prior to the trade, posting a 5.76 ERA and 3.78 FIP in 45.1 innings pitched. While his K/9 increased drastically to 13.30, his BB/9 also took a heavy increase, sitting at 5.16.
His woes continued after the trade in eight innings pitched, as his ERA with Minnesota sat at 6.75 and had a FIP of 3.98. His K/9 sat at 11.25, but his BB/9 again elevated to 9. However, I believe an Olympic call up, injuries and the fact that he was only 20 in Double A contributed to his apparent decline.
Thankfully, he is right back on track early in the 2022 season. In his 10.2 innings pitched, he hasn’t allowed a run, but has a FIP of 4.01. His K/9 has declined quite a lot to 6.75, but so too has his BB/9, which sits at a respectable 3.38.
He ranks as the Twins’ eighth best prospect, below are his grades.
Fastball: 55
Curveball: 55
Slider: 50
Changeup: 60
Control: 50
Overall: 50
From all accounts, he’s a great kid, and I’m wishing nothing but the best for him.
Riley Adams:
I don’t really consider Riley Adams a prospect anymore, but I included him on my thread solely to dunk on Brad Hand. The 25-year-old catcher was drafted in the third round of the 2017 draft.
In his three seasons before his call up, he had shown some pop, but never really hit for a high average. Regardless, he had the ability to get on base, as evident by his 12.2% walk rate in 2018.
Prior to the trade in 2021, he showed a lot more pop, smashing 7 homers while slashing .239/.371/.487 in 143 plate appearances. Unfortunately, the Jays had five catchers on the 40-man roster, meaning that Riley Adams, the odd man out, was traded to the Washington Nationals for Brad Hand.
Obviously, this sucked for the Jays as we had to watch “The Hand” blow multiple games, but for Adams, it presented an opportunity. With the Nats, he slashed .268/.422/.465 with two homers. He walked 14.4% of the time while striking out 31.1% of the time.
He started the 2022 as the backup catcher for the big league team. In 10 plate appearances, he’s slashing .125/.300/.125 with an RBI. Here’s to hoping he can stick with them!
Yaifer Perdomo:
Only the second of three IFA signings on this list, Yaifer Perdomo was one of the prospects traded to the Diamondbacks for Joakim Soira. In 2019, he pitched 53 innings and had a 2.89 ERA and 2.98 FIP. Perdomo also had a K/9 of 8.83 and BB/9 of 3.57.
Last season was his breakout season though, as he registered a 2.45 ERA and 2.60 FIP in 33 innings pitched in the Florida Complex League. His K/9 increased drastically to 16.09, which made me start paying attention to the then 19-year-old.
However, after a call up to Low A Dunedin, he struggled in his first and only game. He registered a 15.00 ERA and 13.13 FIP in his three innings pitched. Sadly, this carried over to the Diamondbacks’ Low A team, as he registered a 7.20 ERA and 6.63 FIP in his five innings pitched in relief.
The start of the 2022 hasn’t been kind to Perdomo either, as in his four innings pitched (or two games), he has an ERA of 15.75 and a FIP of 11.75. Furthermore, he’s struggling with the walks, as he’s walked five batters in those four innings pitched.
Despite his struggles, he ranks as the Diamondbacks’ 43rd overall prospect. Below are his grades:
Fastball: 40 (60)
Curveball: 40 (50)
Command: 30 (50)
Numbers in parentheses indicate future value, what he may have in the future. Here’s to hoping that his future is a good one.
J.J D’Orazio:
J.J D’Orazio was the other prospect sent to Arizona. The 20-year-old catcher signed with the Jays in 2018 (along with Orelvis Martinez).
He had a solid start in his first professional season, slashing .281/.320/.342 with no homers in 175 plate appearances. D’Orazio spent time in 2019 between the Dominican Summer League and the Gulf League in 2019.
In 2021, he had a great start with the Blue Jays Florida Complex League team, slashing .370/.400/.5000 in just 50 plate appearances. This earned him a call up to the Dunedin Blue Jays, where he struggled, slashing just .146/.200/.220 with a single homer.
Throughout his time with the Jays, his K% has always been astronomically high. In the four levels he had played in with the Jays, only one time did he have a K% below 28.9%.
With the Arizona’s Low A team, he slashed .095/.296/.095 in 27 plate appearances in 2021. In fact, at the same level in 2022, he has struggled in his 31 plate appearances, slashing just .111/.226/.148.
The trade made sense, as the Blue Jays have Victor Mesia and Luis Meza, both catchers, on the way. Here’s hoping that D’Orazio can find his footing.
Who makes it:
I think it’s safe to say that Austin Martin, Ryan Noda and Alberto Rodriguez will definitely impact an MLB team at some point in their careers. Furthermore, Cal Stevenson, Josh Winckowski and Simeon Woods Richardson all have a decent shot of making an MLB team.
I hope that all of these prospects have long and healthy careers, and we’ll check back in on each of them around the trade deadline!
As always, thanks for reading. You can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. This thread did wonders for my career, as I’m now under 10 followers away from 1000! Lately, I had said my goal was 500 by the all-star game. The goal is now 2,000 by the all-star game, but send me a follow!
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