Often the PTBNL, player to be named later, in baseball trades is a throw-in and not an essential element of the final deal. But that wasn’t the case on Monday when the Pirates sent pitcher Shane Baz – the 12th overall pick from the 2017 draft – to the Rays to complete the Chris Archer trade.
The 19-year-old Baz is now the Rays’ number six prospect according to MLB.com, which is particularly impressive given that Tampa Bay employs a deep farm system. He supplemented an already impressive haul that included flamethrower Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Austin Meadows, making it even harder to swallow the meager return the Orioles received in their trade of Kevin Gausman to the Braves.