Post-Trade Deadline storylines to watch

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That was some Trade Deadline, wasn’t it?

Front offices certainly kept us busy at MLB Pipeline with 63 ranked prospects changing organizations before 6 p.m. ET last Thursday. Whenever a Top 30 prospect leaves his organization, we come up with a replacement as soon as we can, and we also place that prospect within his new club’s ranking, if necessary. This keeps lists full and relatively fresh, but it can also lead to mild panic when the Padres move as many as six Minor Leaguers in a single deal.

We covered the Deadline from several angles. I ranked the top 25 prospects traded this year, headlined by new Athletics shortstop Leo De Vries. Jonathan Mayo wrote about which five organizations got the biggest prospect hauls. We tracked all of the deals from a prospect standpoint for easy reference.

So that was another major date on the baseball calendar done for this year. In other words, it was last week’s news. We’re moving on. There’s still a good amount of Minor League Baseball to be played this summer. The Single-A and High-A leagues are running through Sept. 7, Double-A through Sept. 14 and Triple-A through Sept. 21. That’s at least one month left in every full-season circuit.

Before the summer is out, here are some of the storylines worth following across the Minors:

New faces in new places
This weekend brought five notable Top 100 prospect promotions across three different farm systems.

Brewers infielders Jesús Made (MLB No. 7) and Luis Peña (No. 32) are both headed to High-A Wisconsin at only 18 years old. Only fellow Top 100 prospects De Vries and Eduardo Tait have gotten more than 10 plate appearances at the High-A level in their age-18 seasons this year. The switch-hitting Made’s bat speed will be some of the best in the Midwest League instantly upon arrival, while Peña brings 70-grade wheels and his budding power to the Timber Rattlers.

In the Mariners system, shortstop Colt Emerson (No. 15) and switch pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje (No. 70) have moved up to Double-A Arkansas. Emerson, who just turned 20 on July 20, finds the barrel often from the left side, leading to one of the best hit tools in the Minors. Cijntje still profiles best from the right side, where he can hold a much higher velocity, but the time he turns over to the left side in these final weeks should catch some attention across the Texas League.

Finally, Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle (No. 92) is expected to join Triple-A Worcester, the third level of his first full season. The 2024 second-rounder out of TCU has elite extension down the mound and generates a ton of swing-and-miss on his mid-90s fastball, causing some speculation that he could be a bullpen option for a surging Boston club down the stretch.

Those are just the moves we know about this week. Other notable Top 100 prospects who could move up the chain within the Minor Leagues in the closing weeks are Mets shortstop/outfielder Jett Williams (No. 38), Dodgers outfielder Zyhir Hope (No. 30) and Mets right-hander Jonah Tong (No. 52).

Potential Major League debuts
Of course, what most fans care about aren’t the intra-Minors moves but those from MiLB to MLB, and there are a few of our Top 20 overall prospects closing in on The Show soon.

Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler (No. 5) has been inconsistent of late with Triple-A Indianapolis, but his stuff -- namely a 97-99 mph fastball and low-90s changeup -- is some of the best in the Minors and worthy of a look in Pittsburgh at some point this year. Phillies righty Andrew Painter (No. 8) has thrown back-to-back outings of six or more innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, a positive sign in his return season from Tommy John. He’s been circled as an option for the NL East contenders down the stretch since the spring. Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo (No. 9) is still a work in progress defensively, but his bat couldn’t be more ready; he’s slugging .648 with 12 homers in 35 games since the start of June.

Outside the Top 10, Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt (No. 16) is hitting .344/.425/.754 with more extra-base hits (12) and walks (nine) than strikeouts in his first 16 games with Triple-A Memphis. Normally seen at the two middle-infield spots, he played his first pro game at third base on Sunday. Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 17) has three homers in his last two games for Triple-A Sacramento and seven in his last 12. The 20-year-old only just arrived in the Pacific Coast League, but it’s difficult not to dream of what he could do with a few cracks at the bay at Oracle Park.

Races for statistical crowns
Yankees prospect Spencer Jones (NYY No. 4) missed much of May with an intercostal injury, but he still leads the Minors with 29 homers, one more than Dodgers farmhand Ryan Ward (28). The 6-foot-7 outfielder has been on a tear since joining Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with 13 dingers in 25 games at the Minors’ top level, leaving some to wonder if he could reach the 40-homer plateau by season’s end. If he does, he’d be the just third Minor Leaguer since 2021 to do so; MJ Melendez (41, 2021) and Deyvison De Los Santos (40, 2024) being the others.

Jones (29 HR, 20 SB) is one of only two 20-20 players in the Minors as of now. Kyler Fedko (20, 27) is the other. Other notable prospects closing in on that status are Kaelen Culpepper (15, 21), Dylan Beavers (16, 22), Carson Williams (18, 19) and Joseph Sullivan (17, 38).

Finally for the pitchers, it’s worth wondering just how many categories Tong will lead after his final pitch. Entering this week, he’s tops among full-season Minor League qualifiers with 146 strikeouts, a 14.3 K/9, a 40.6% K rate, a 28.9 K-BB%, a .139 average-against, a 1.78 FIP and a 2.09 xFIP. He’s also second with a 1.66 ERA and third with a 0.93 WHIP. A promotion to Triple-A Syracuse (where he’d transition to the MLB ball) would be well-earned but would test the Mets righty’s ability to keep up those numbers. As it stands, he’s still the favorite to be named MLB Pipeline’s Pitching Prospect of the Year, given this level of performance.

We’re talking about the postseason
Leagues across the Minors follow first-half/second-half postseason format, meaning teams clinch playoff spots on both sides of the season. That put everyone back in contention around the midpoint of the summer. The closest races right now sit in the International League, Midwest League West division and South Atlantic League South division. The postseasons begin in earnest next month.