When the Tampa Bay Rays sent starter Chris Archer to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline they got back pitcher Tyler Glasnow, outfielder Austin Meadows and a player to be named later. Today that player was named: it’s pitching prospect Shane Baz. The completion of the deal was first reported by John Dreker of Pirates Prospects.
Baz, the Pirates top pick in the 2017 draft, is an excellent prospect, generally thought to be in the top-100 in all of baseball. He’s been at low-A Bristol this season, where he is 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA in ten starts with 54 strikeouts in 45.1 innings. Baz was just named Appalachian League pitcher of the week to boot after putting up two shutout appearances with outings of four and two-thirds and five scoreless on Monday and Saturday, respectively.
All in all that makes for an excellent haul for the Rays in the Archer deal. Which, given that Archer is under team control through the 2021 season, makes some sense.
