After weeks of discussions, the Alamo Short Stacks and San Mateo Oppo Tacos settled on a five player, three pick deal on Monday. The Stacks will acquire second baseman Marcus Semien (2/$37), left-hander Justin Steele (2D/$5) and a 2024 5th Round Pick (71st Overall) from the Tacos in exchange for right-hander Walker Buehler (2D/$5), prospects Adael Amador (Minors) and Sammy Zavala (Minors), as well as 2024 3rd and 4th Round Picks (30th and 40th Overall).
Semien needed a strong final four months to rebound from a slow start in his first season with the Rangers in 2022, but was much steadier in his second year as he slugged his way to an .826 OPS while finishing third in American League MVP voting. He finished 2023 ranked 8th in hitter scoring overall, trailing only Mookie Betts in scoring among middle infielders with 485.5 points while leading all of baseball in plate appearances for the third consecutive season.
Steele rejoins the Stacks after the club selected him the 2023 Reserve Draft before being included in a mid-season deal with the then Idaho Taters. The 28-year-old southpaw finished last season with a 3.06 ERA and 1.17 WHIP alongside a 176:36 K:BB across 173.1 innings, and he finished fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting. His 427.0 pitching points in 2023 ranked 21st among all starting pitchers. Steele has been named the Chicago Cubs Opening Day starter and will come out of the gates with a duo of tough opponents between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Tacos continued their off-season overhaul and don't appear to be finished. The club has quickly rebuilt their Farm System with Amador serving as the lead return and rivaling Walker Jenkins as the best prospect in their System behind James Wood. A 6-foot middle infielder with one of the best approaches and hit tools in the minors, Amador has a chance to contend for batting titles in his prime. Unfortunately, injuries limited him to 69 games (including rehab assignments), but he was able to reach Double-A as a 20-year-old. The skilled switch hitter made notable exit velocity gains last year, notching a career-best 110.4-mph maxEV while upping his hard-hit rate and average exit velocity. Even with those gains, he doesn't barrel the ball regularly enough to the pull side to project for more than 15-20 homer pop at peak, and he's not the type of burner on the bases who projects to top 20 steals in a season, even if he's on base all the time. Amador's overall fantasy profile is similar to Rockies era DJ LeMahieu, where batting average/OBP will be his banner stats which aligns well with the RDBL scoring format. He was added to the 40-man roster and could make his big-league debut this summer. Ezequiel Tovar is the superior defender, so Amador's long-term home is likely second base.
For the third offseason in a row, the top traits to point to with Zavala, a 2023 5th Round Pick by the Stacks, are his command of the zone and youth relative to the average age of the pitchers he faced. He slashed .267/.420/.451 with 14 home runs and 20 steals in 101 games primarily as an 18-year-old at Single-A before falling flat (.078 AVG, 33.9 K%) in 14 games at High-A. Much like Amador, Zavala aligns well with the RDBL scoring format with his ability to draw walks arguably being his most tangible skill. He should return to High-A and could reach Double-A by the time he turns 20 in July.
Loaded with early-season options, the Dodgers are delaying the return of Walker Buehler as he continues to build back from his second Tommy John surgery. Early reports have been very positive on the right-hander who is under Tacos control through 2025 with a likely return to a big league mound in May.
Comentários