In the midst of a recent conversation with a trio of major-league scouts, one of them offered this definition of a prospect: “It is someone who has never done anything in the major leagues.”
That might sound harsh, but if you’re willing to believe that a player is no longer a prospect once he gets to the big leagues it is absolutely true. The subject arose because the calendar has turned to July and the clock is tick, tick, ticking toward the trade deadline.
It is always Christmas in July for contending big-league ballclubs. They have wish lists and if their general managers can come through, the odds of a trip to the postseason and the World Series significantly improve.