When he made the deal to acquire starting pitcher Chris Archer, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington indicated that the player to be named later would be a significant one.
That turned out to be exactly the case when on Tuesday it was announced that former first-round pick Shane Baz, would be heading to Tampa to complete the deal.
Baz is ranked as the Pirates No. 4 prospect.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo was one of the first to break the news.
Sources: Shane Baz, the Pirates' first-round pick last year, will be the player to be named later that accompanies Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows in the deal for Chris Archer. A big-time prospect who is a favorite of a lot of analysts.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 14, 2018
Baz, the Bucs 2017 first-round pick, is coming off a good week in which he was named the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Week.
On the season Baz is 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 10 starts.
Throughout his brief minor-league career, Baz has compiled a 3.91 ERA in 69 innings of work, striking out 73 while walking 37.
Tampa’s return for Archer was impressive in Baz, Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows, but I don’t have much of an issue with it.
Glasnow has looked great in a couple of starts with the Rays and Meadows is hitting well for the Durham Bulls, Tampa’s Triple-A affiliate.
But they are three pieces that Huntington could afford to move and if Archer becomes a solid one or two at the top of the Pirates rotation for the next few years then it’s worth the gamble.
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