Trades

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Brett Baty, Braves Draft Pick 3 to Astros for Yandel 23-Ricardo, Randy Rodriguez, Kendry 24-Chourio

Baty's playing very well this year. He's been about a 3 win player, playing good 2b & 3b, and hitting 10% above league average closing in on 20 homers...even while getting a big yo-yo'd in and out of the lineup. It's a tremendous improvement over last year.

This is going to be a boom or bust haul for him. Rodriguez was one of the, if not THE, best relievers in baseball this year before TJ hit. I'm not winning shit next year, so assuming a full recovery, he'll be ready to close games for me when I'm ready to actually have games to close. Chourio is one of the breakout arms in the minors in the second half of the year. Still just 17, he flew through the DSL & ACL all the way to full season ball where he's more than held his own. He's not tall and he's a pitching prospect, but he's a big talent. Ricardo is a top 5 prospect in the Royals system who destroyed the ACL before also getting some run in full season ball. He already has a plus hit tool and tremendous bat speed, and while he may outgrow short, that would be good for that untapped power. He's another one with a massive ceiling who'll be fun to watch develop.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Caleb Durbin, Brandon 23-Winokur to Guardians for George Valera, Christopher Morel

Caleb Durbin was a waiver pickup for me who had a very good year playing excellent defense and solid offense for the Brewers. Brandon Winokur is an elite athlete who had a decent season but still has major swing and miss issues.

I’ve got a ton of MIF’s and ‘23’s with COF being an area of weakness for me. This trade sees me pick up two fun ones. As recently as 2023, Morel looked like a breakout power bat who could play 6 positions. Inconsistent AB’s have yielded inconsistent results, so spring training is going to be massive for Morel to earn consistent opportunities. George Valera was flying up prospect lists before injuries and inconsistency took some shine off his star. He was injured to start this season but earned his way up to MLB and he had some huge AB’s for the Guardians down the stretch. He’ll go into next year healthy and with a chance to win a starting spot. If one of these guys finds consistent AB’s next year I’ll be very happy with the deal.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Pirates Draft Pick 4 to Padres for Luis Gil, Braves Draft Pick 5

Ends up being a jump of 15 picks in a pretty deep draft. It's not nothing.

While Gil came back injury and the top level stats looked ok, the secondaries hated him and zips (who was already pretty meh on him) punished him something fierce. The Yanks have let his name slip in trade rumors and, with Cole/Rodon/Fried ahead of him and good prospects behind him, he'll have to earn every start he gets. But he was awesome as a rookie and had a short runway back from injury. Here's hoping a healthy off-season puts him back on the 2024 plan.

[Yankees]

Astros traded Josh 23-Knoth, Esteban 23-Mejia to Yankees for Tyler Wells, Jasson Dominguez

Tough to move The Martian personally. He was a top 25 prospect as recently as last year and really held his own at the MLB level despite being constantly yo-yo'd in and out of the lineup. He'll be 23 in a couple of weeks, so plenty of developmental road ahead. Tyler Wells looked terrific back off an injury late in the season, and is someone who just keeps getting people out...despite secondary stats never totally buying in. Both will help in the SIM and are young enough to help moving forward, so not a lot of ways that Ty will truly rue this trade.

Esteban Mejia was clearly the get here. He's 18, raced up to A ball last year, and features some of the nastiest stuff in the minors. He's challenged by command, but so are many 18 year olds. He offers 102 mph cheese, a nasty slider, and tremendous shape on his changeup. He is one of the few in minor league ball that has true TORP upside, but, as always TINSTAAPP. Speaking of nasty stuff and TINSTAAPP, the Yankees welcome back Knoth to the squad. One of my favorite prospects from the '23 draft, he lost all of '25 with TJ, but will be back on the mound for '26. He can ramp up to the mid-90's, while also featuring two of the nastiest RPM secondaries in the '23 draft. Getting TJ out of the way while he's still just 20 was probably for the best, and he's expected to start the year ready to go. He'll be a fun follow.

[Yankees]

Mets traded 2025 Draft Pick 19 to Yankees for Luis Gil, Connor Norby, 2025 Draft Pick 26

The Mets stay nearby in the first round, get an SP who will absolutely start the year in the Yanks rotation, and a guy with a good sim and his first real runway for AB’s in the Marlins lineup. That’s a good haul.

We’re in the time of year where we need to make the roster math work and I was 3 over the limit with only 1 player I was fine with cutting. While I didn’t have to face that issue now, I was also facing a draft dilemma. There’s 20 guys I really like in this draft and a bunch of guys I also like later on…so trying to move up from my mid-round picks wasn’t super valuable to me. I also really like where I’m at with 10 and 22. The 26 pick was the one I was anxious about. This trade allowed me to fix my roster math while also moving into a position to get a player I really covet. Not awesome to almost assuredly lose this trade, but do like that I finally feel like I have a deep enough roster to make a trade like this necessary.

[Yankees]

Rangers traded Josh 23-Adamczewski, 2025 Draft Pick 29 to Yankees for Justin Martinez, Randy Rodriguez

Martinez and Rodriguez are excellent, young relievers. Probably two of the better young relievers in the sport. Both will lose this season to TJ but will create a foundation for Brett’s bullpen for a long time.

There will be a day when relievers will be critical for me, but that day is not today in my rebuild. I’m going to be playing quite a few
Of my ‘24’s this season, so adding a draft pick was important…and I get it in an area where there’s a cluster of players I like, just behind the grouping I love. Adamczewski was described by BP as the ‘Caleb Durbin of Isaac Collins’’ and I liked that. Dude can’t pick it and may have a touch too much swing and miss, but he flat out rakes. I’m excited to have his bat in the system.

[Yankees]

Cardinals traded Cris 24-Rodriguez, Gage 24-Jump to Yankees for Lazaro Montes, 2025 Draft Pick 19

Pick #19 is going to be a good one in this draft. Not giving up this pick lightly. Montes is on every top 100 list, but a bit scattered between 30 and 80. Most love the power, but his doubters question the swing and miss and think he may end up at 1b. But he’s a monster and he’s only 20, so time is on his side.

Jump is a highly thought of prospect coming off an awesome debut season. He adds a lefty to my incredibly righty prospect arms, and one that may debut sooner than later…and one the sim already likes. Rodriguez has Montes type power and may actually be a CF. Only problem is that he just turned 18 last Wednesday and a lot of great prospects wash out when they come stateside. All that said, he’s a mammoth talent.

[Yankees]

Cardinals traded Jonathan 24-Santucci, 2025 Draft Pick 19 to Yankees for Jacob Reimer, 2025 Draft Pick 22

Reimer is an arrow-up prospect who makes solid swing decisions and is starting to tap into his plus power. Pick 22 got JP Steele Hall, so assuming he has zero complaints moving back.

Santucci is also an arrow-up LH pitching prospect who made a couple 'just miss top 100' and 'prospect to watch' lists. He got blasted to start the season, but finished his last 20 starts with a 1.95 era and 30% k rate...as well as pitching well in the AA playoffs. Adding him and Jump to my plethora of RH pitching prospects was a needed, healthy injection.

Kevin Costner/Draft Day-style my note to myself was 'Kilby/Parker and Conrad, no matter what.' Conrad just flat out hits. He tore it up at Marist. Crushed back-to-back season in the Perfect Game Summer League. Absolutely smashed Cape league and was probably the best hitter in college baseball at Wake until he got hurt. He has elite bat-to-ball ability, improved his swing decisions at Wake, and is well above average in hard hit rate and launch for his age (still just 21). He is playable in center field, but will most likely settle in left or right. Had he finished the NCAA season without injury, there's almost no chance I'd have a shot at him at #19. While he tore it up at Fall instructs, there's an obvious difference between pro and collegiate pitching...but I'm so excited to see him in action.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Joe Boyle, Jonathan 24-Santucci to Mets for 2025 Draft Pick 26

Boyle was absolutely electric last year in AAA and start to his MLB tenure before he struggled a bit down the stretch. He has tremendous stuff and started to get it to really work for him last year. He may be a reliever long-term, but he'll be an awesome one. Santucci was electric after a rough start and, as mentioned, worked his way into top 100 conversations.

I'm heavy on arms and lighter on bats...and Fien was sitting there at 26 and felt like I needed to pull the trigger. I'll write more in my draft profile, but he was an exciting pick for the Rangers, and was the target for the Nationals in the Gore trade and is consistently in the top 15 for FYPD rankings.

[BlueJays]

Yankees wrote:
> [b]Yankees traded Joe Boyle, Jonathan 24-Santucci to Mets for 2025 Draft
> Pick 26[/b]
>
> Boyle was absolutely electric last year in AAA and start to his MLB tenure
> before he struggled a bit down the stretch. He has tremendous stuff and
> started to get it to really work for him last year. He may be a reliever
> long-term, but he'll be an awesome one. Santucci was electric after a
> rough start and, as mentioned, worked his way into top 100 conversations.
>
> I'm heavy on arms and lighter on bats...and Fien was sitting there at 26
> and felt like I needed to pull the trigger. I'll write more in my draft
> profile, but he was an exciting pick for the Rangers, and was the target
> for the Nationals in the Gore trade and is consistently in the top 15 for
> FYPD rankings.

Great grab, I was going Fien at 28.

[BlueJays]

Great grab, I was going Fien at 28.

[BlueJays]

Eh, double post. Fuck it.

[Mets]

BlueJays wrote:
> Great grab, I was going Fien at 28.


I was taking Fien at 26 if I didn't trade the pick, so we were all on the same page here.

[Yankees]

BlueJays traded C.J. Kayfus, 2025 Draft Pick 31, 2025 Draft Pick 51 to Yankees for Kendry 24-Chourio, 2025 Draft Pick 84

Chourio was really tough to give up. He was outstanding as a 17 year old this year, pitching his way up to full season ball and holding his own. He's started to appear on, or near, top 100 lists. He's small, he has solid-not-great stuff, and he's a 17 year old pitcher so *shrug*...but he'll be a fun guy to follow.

Kayfus was also breaking on to top 100 lists this year before his eligibility expired. He's a 1b/cof, so that limits the upside, but he's hit everywhere he's ever been and zips likes him. He fills a big need for me at 1b, short-term and long-term. #31 puts me back in the mix here shortly in a pretty loaded draft, and #51 jumps me back into the late 2nd where I have some fun targets. I'll miss rooting on Chourio, but I'm happy with the haul.

[Yankees]

Royals traded 2025 Draft Pick 94 to Yankees for Foster 0-Griffin, 2025 Draft Pick 126

Griffin is a real guy. People are excited about him in DC. He even sat comfortably in the 40's in FYPD rankings.

I used funny money to move up a round for a guy I had no real intention of keeping. Should work well for both of us.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Colt 23-Emerson, Kellon 24-Lindsey, 2025 Draft Pick 51 to Pirates for Brett Baty, Angel Genao, Ricky Tiedemann, 2025 Draft Pick 21, 2025

Yankees traded Brett Baty, Josh 23-Adamczewski, 2025 Draft Pick 94 to Royals for Jonny 23-Farmelo, Travis 24-Bazzana

Clearly these two trades are linked, and represented the value I needed to get to move Emerson. Emerson's floor is pretty high as a player who can play short and will make multiple all-star teams. Ultimately the juice in his bat and his swing path will keep him from MVP conversations, and his value proposition shifts if the Mariners make him a 3b, but he's an outstanding baseball player.

The headline for me was Bazzana, who was my favorite player in last year's draft. Injuries derailed his 2025 season, but he still battled through to be an above average hitter at the upper levels and still a top 25 prospect on most sites. Genao was also injured for most of last season and still sits on all top 100 lists. Healthy this winter, he has raked in the Dominican Winter League, and staying so and performing in the upper levels will be crucial for him in 2026. Speaking of injury, I've been obsessed with Farmelo's profile and asked Hamlin for him multiple times. He desperately needs more game time (under 100 games in his MiLB career), but few in the game possess his power/speed profile. If it clicks, he has MVP potential. Continuing to speak about injuries, Tiedemann was moving into top 25 prospect status as a power lefty with DIRTY stuff before TJ. Likely he's a power reliever, but the Jays will give him every chance to be a starter. Finally offf the injury train, we pick up a player I've really loved in this draft in Carlson. He's a no doubt shortstop with a rocket arm. He was a two-way player who will now focus on hitting, and if his much improved hit tool can find it's way to pro ball to supplement his plus power, he will rocket up lists.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Khal 24-Stephen to Rays for 2025 Draft Pick 43

I like Stephen quite a bit. The SIM likes Stephen. ESPN likes Stephen so much they put him as the #68 prospect, and I think FanGraphs will have him top 100, too. He doesn't have a huge ceiling, but he has a really high floor as a #3/#4 starter...I just have a ton of those types...

...and I thought de Brun was really good value here. He was someone I looked at for pick #26, and would have been thrilled with at #31 if Fischer weren't there. He is an incredibly dynamic athlete with electric speed, a surefire CF, and someone with sneaky pop...that is in a really good organization to optimize it. He was a big target for them in the Baz trade, but at the end of the day hitting professional pitching is really hard...so we'll see how Lil Slayyy does when the rubber meets the road.

[Yankees]

Angels traded Jacob 24-Cozart to Yankees for Adael Amador

I liked Amador when he was a top 100 prospect in 2023, but a down 2024 (although with an MLB promotion) saw his prospect status take a hit. He had a very strong 2025 and got a more full-time MLB promotion and lost prospect eligibility. He has struggled mightily in both MLB stints, but I think a full year of the job will help him come good. I just have a ton of 2b's now.

And what I don't have are a lot of good c's. Cozart comes into the mix as a pretty high floor, still decent ceiling candidate. He excels at all aspects of catching (blocking, throwing, game prep, calling a game, etc.), and has a good sense of the strike zone and plus pop. His hit tool is a big concern, which limits his ceiling if it never comes around. That said, even a modest boost there could see him reach his ceiling as a starter. He and Janek provide solid insurance behind Ballesteros now.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Tre' Morgan to Tigers for 2025 Draft Pick 54

Love Tre', drafted Tre', traded for Tre', probably try trading for him again. He'll win Gold Gloves and get on base, with the upside of a decent hit tool and the raw power to run into some owners, but still without the optimized swing. He's very high floor.

Kayfus is my long-term at 1b, offering more offensive upside than Morgan, and knowing that guys like Bitonti & Fischer may move over and Toglia will get some run with the Reds if he performs in the spring, it makes sense to me to move back in with guys on the board I still quite like.

[Yankees]

Royals traded Markevian Hence, Jake 22-Bennett, Tommy 23-Troy, David 24-Hagaman to Yankees for George Valera, Christopher Morel, Ben Williamson

We've been dropping a couple trades to each other and Mark sent this over and I felt it was fair enough. The SIM loves Williamson's defense, but I've got some loftier visions for my long-term at the position. Morel is in a really good situation for himself in Miami, so hoping more full-time ab's can restore his power. Valera is a guy I really liked...and seems like the Guardians will bet on this year, but I liked the pieces as a whole a bit too much to hold on to him. All in, a lot of good pieces for someone contending sooner.

Troy was the main piece for me coming back. While the guy has fallen off top 100 lists, he still just hits and hits. He's mostly a 2b/cf now, and he had an .833 ops across the high minors with 47 ebh's and 24 sb's. I still think there's a solid regular in there. Hagaman is really splitting prospect gurus. Some have him just off their top 100 lists, some have him towards the bottom half of the Dbacks lists...but what everyone agrees is that he has to find a way to stay on the mound to let his excellent stuff propel him. Bennett doesn't quite have the stuff that Hagaman does, but he gets people out. The Red Sox targeted him and were willing to give up Perales for him, which says a lot of how their talent evaluation sees his ability to help their rotation sooner than later. The final piece is Markevian 'Tink' Hence who was on prospect lists and then has suffered a bunch of injuries that curtailed some of his stuff, but not his effectiveness, last year. Core injuries have sapped some of his ability to get to his tremendous arm speed, but if he can iron that out, the top 100 prospect pedigree is there. That said, the size, injury history, and stuff is looking more bullpen-ish than ever. 2026 will be a massive season for him.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Markevian Hence, Angel Genao to Cardinals for Gabriel Gonzalez, Jaxon 23-Wiggins

Genao is a top 60 prospect across the board. If he's healthy and the bat comes back, he'll jump up even higher. Speaking of healthy, Hence needs a good, healthy season to return his prospect status. He's an undersized righty, which makes his injuries challenging to his long-term profile...but it's also not arm troubles...which leaves a lot of hope if he can stay healthy.

I've got a glut of MIF's and turning that into a solid cof profile and an sp upgrade seemed a good roster shuffle for me. Wiggins will enter his 3rd year off TJ and has raced up prospect lists. He features an almost untouchable fastball with secondaries that play up due to the fastball effectiveness. He's an easy top 75 prospect with more to gain if he can continue to add IP's post-TJ. Gonzalez stayed healthy and absolutely ripped his way to AAA in 2025. He needs to find a little more elevation in his bat path to maximize his power, but, at worst, he'll tank lefties. At best, he's a #5-#6 hitter in the middle of a good batting order.

[Yankees]

Rays traded Reese Olson to Yankees for Gabriel Gonzalez, Micah 24-Ashman

Yankees traded Walker 23-Martin, Jacob 24-Cozart, C.J. Kayfus to Angels for Anthony Volpe, Garrett 21-Hawkins, R.J. 23-Schreck

These two are decently intertwined...so we'll take them together. Out the door go a lot of my good SIM's. Kayfus and Gonzalez, even Cozart and Ashman are playable. There's not a ton of ceiling in that group, but it's an excellent grouping of talent.

Coming back are people that I believe can truly increase our ceiling. It starts with Olson, who will sit out this year with TJ, but worked his way up to #2 starter sim status before TJ will knock him out this year. He'll be 27 when next season starts and assuming he gets knocked a bit on his sim, he'll still be in the #3 starter range...and he still remains Reese Olson. Volpe finally had the surgery on the shoulder that's been impacting for two seasons, so the hope is that this is the buy low moment on this top 20 prospect. Schreck hits. He really does. I think he's 90% the hitter that the Gonzalez and Kayfus become, and the SIM agrees. Hawkins is a nice final piece as a player who dominated the minors out of the pen last year, has an ok sim, and is on the precipice of big league help.

All in, I raised my overall ceiling while making myself worse for next year...so a trade I'll make.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Yandel 23-Ricardo, Joshua 24-Kuroda-Grauer to Twins for 2025 Draft Pick 101

Ricardo is young, but has some really fun talent and should stay on short. It's unlikely he'll run into a ton of power, but if he unlocks something he becomes very interesting. JKG is one of the more defensively appreciated ss' in the sim, but has almost no power...but an excellent floor and has moved into the top 5 of most A's prospect lists since he'll make contact and pick it.

I've been staring at Sime & Kussow's profiles for a while now. Both have interesting upside, just think Sime has the more explosive current stuff at a similar age. Once we cleared the Dodgers pick this morning, it was time to make a move...then, while I was leaning Sime anyway, Pat made my decision for me.

[Yankees]

Yankees traded Jake 22-Bennett to RedSox for Robert 22-Calaz

Felt fortunate to snag Bennett as part of the Valera trade, as his prospect profile is really fun, but 1) He's a Red Sock, 2) He has more of a back-end profile, and 3) He's a Red Sock. That meant he was movable.

Calaz was on or approaching all top 100 lists after last season (was actually #49 on BP's) where he tore up rookie and A ball as an 18-year old. His 2025 started with injury and then he was inconsistent in his first full run at true, pro pitching. The Rockies are also historically terrible at player development. The good news was his background against age appropriate pitching has been nails, he still hit the ball WAY harder than his peer group, he did see some real success in moments, he proved he'll be playable on the grass (not 1b), he'll play all of this year at just 20 years old, the Rockies have a whole new player development group in, AND, if he makes it, he'll play pro ball as a hitter in Colorado. I'm in a good place to bet on the upside and pre-2025 track record.

[Yankees]

Pirates traded Joe Jimenez to Yankees for Josh 23-Knoth

Knoth is a really fun, young arm who flashes impressive velocity and spin rates, and is in a really good organization to maximize those traits and he missed a full year of development with TJ at a crucial stage and command was never really his strength to begin with. He'll be back and ready to go this year, and it will be interesting to see how aggressively they move him.

I'm borderline on the amount of SIM eligible players I have, and while Jimenez doesn't have a return date set, he should return this year and his sim era isn't awesome...but his FIP is very strong. And when he pitches he's absolutely one of the best relievers in baseball. He can be an asset in the trade market or a weapon out of my pen as I try to compete over the next 2-3 years.