On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays traded Randy Arozarena to the Seattle Mariners, receiving two prospects and a player to be named later. The prospects acquired by Tampa were ranked 14th and 15th in Seattle’s system by Baseball America.
When an actual trade like this happens with another team, the instant reaction is to look at the number 14 and 15 prospects for the Pirates and assume the values are the same.
For perspective, that would be RHP Zander Mueth and infielder Mitch Jebb.
It’s not that simple. On the outside of the game, we rely on outlets like Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and others to give a view of the system rankings for each team.