Hudson

Potts

Potts hit .234/.298/.453 with 14 homers and one stolen bases in 302 plate appearances over 77 games last year between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester in the Red Sox’ minor league system. The 24-year-old former first-round pick gives the Braves some organizational infield depth at Triple-A Gwinnett.

Potts cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and will remain in the organization. He was acquired from the Padres back in 2020 in the Mitch Moreland trade.

Boston needed to create room on the 40-man roster after claiming RHP Kule Tyler off waivers and Potts was the odd man out. The 22-year-old slashed .240/.302/.423 with 17 homers and 65 RBI over 111 games in the minor leagues last season.

The 22-year-old was a first round pick of the Padres (24th overall) and came to the Red Sox last season in the Mitch Moreland deal. In 2019, Potts slashed .240/.302/.423 with 17 homers and 65 RBI over 111 games -- mostly at Double-A Amarillo. He’ll likely return to Double-A to begin the 2021 campaign.

Ranked by MLB.com as the team’s No. 16 prospect, Potts posted a .696 OPS with 16 home runs at the Double-A level last season. He has some swing-and-miss to his game but is a nice power-hitting prospect.

It’s the first homer of the spring for Potts. The 24th pick of the 2016 draft, Potts has two plus tools in his power and arm, and while he hit just .260 last year, that number is a bit misleading because he wasn’t ready for Double-A and hit just .154 there over 22 games. Potts doesn’t offer the elite upside some of the other San Diego prospects offer, but there’s a chance he develops into a starting third baseman that could help the Padres before the end of the 2020 season.

Potts is a third baseman by trade, but with Manny Machado locked in at the hot corner the club will attempt to increase the prospect’s versatility. “We’ll find out his versatility and put him in a position to be impactful for us, because we really like him,” manager Andy Green said.

This is the first big surprise of the first round; Potts was rated as the draft’s No. 108 prospect by Baseball America. Most believe he’s destined to move off shortstop, probably to third base though catcher has also been mentioned. The Padres feel they see something with his bat that others don’t, but then, they don’t have the best track record with these things.