The Rays added infielder Xavier Edwards to their 60-man player pool Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. He reported to their alternate training site.
Edwards was a first-round pick of the Padres in 2018, when the club selected him 38th overall. He’s now a top 100-caliber prospect, but the Padres traded him to the Rays last winter in a prominent deal that also saw outfielder Hunter Renfroe go to Tampa Bay. San Diego landed outfielder Tommy Pham and infielder Jake Cronenworth in return.
Edwards, who just turned 21 last week, has topped out at the High-A level as a professional. While Edwards didn’t hit any home runs during his 217-plate appearance debut there last season, he did slash .301/.349/.367 with a measly 8.8 percent strikeout rate and 14 stolen bases on 16 tries. MLB.com ranks Edwards as the Rays’ fourth-best prospect.
Sounds like a damn slapdick prospect.
Damn slapdick prospect.
Edwards is an excellent hitter with double-plus speed. He is a very good prospect.
Weird you know that about him but don’t know that Blake Snell hates him
Why did you get that info lol genuine question
@ parx
#1) Who cares if Blake Snell hates him? We weren’t talking about Snell.
#2) Snell liked Pham and was disappointed to see him leave. He sure as hell will have to get used to losing players when he is playing for the Rays.
#3) He took a shot at Edwards because he has zero power. That is fair if you value power greatly. I myself am a big fan of pure hitting ability, which Edwards has.
#4) Snell’s statement was far more of a rebuke against the Ray’s actions of trading away expensive players (or players who will soon become expensive) for cheaper players with lots of control than it was a shot at Edwards.
#5) Snell is the guy who made the statement about baseball players “risking their lives” to play. Like every other person in this country doesn’t risk their life every bit as much as he does every time we leave the house and go to work. I don’t put much stock in what Snell says.
Probably for the reps. He is no where near big leauge ready yet.
Very underrated prospect. He’s gonna make them forget all about Tommy Pham when all is said and done.
Tommy Pham has far superior power and better OBP ability than Edwards. Their BA should be roughly equal and Edwards should have close to twice the SB. Overall, Pham should still have noticeably better offensive production while Edwards has 4 more years of control. Of course that is only IF Edwards reaches his potential.
Not sure it’s true that Tommy Pham has better OBP ability. Edwards is a super tough out. Also, Pham is 32 and has a degenerative condition in both eyes. And Edwards can be controlled for basically 7 years with some easy service time manipulation.
Pham does. His career on base is 96 points higher than his average. Edward’s is 67.if Edward’s were to hit 270, his on base would be about 337. Not great. Not terrible.
He’d have to be a career 300 hitter to get on base at the rate Pham does, unless he improves his on base skills.
@Briffle again. Edwards is 21. He can improve. Pham is 32. He will decline (and has already started to).
Not disputing that, but that doesn’t answer the question of who has the better on base skills, does it?
Pham has 567 games at the MLB level and is legit, Edwards has 0 and is a prospect and a complete unknown. Pham >>> Edwards.
We. Are. Talking. About. What. They. Will. Do. Not. What. They. Have. Done.
Do. You. Realize. The. Vast. Majority. Of. Prospects. Do. Not. Pan. Out. Or. Hit. Worse. In. The. Majors. Than. What. They. Did. In. The. Minors. Pham. >>>. Edwards.
Also, direct quote from you:
“Not sure it’s true that Tommy Pham has better OBP ability.”
Uh, which is it? Are we talking about who has better on base ability right now, or are we talking about in the future?
Because I went off of this statement, obviously talking about now and no mention of the future. Then in your next post you said we’re talking about what they will do in the future.
Which is it, bud?
How can you compare Pham to a guy that was playing in High School 3 years ago? Renfroe is who you have to comp him too for now.
I still firmly believe rays won that trade. Refnroe is taking a little time to adjust but lately has seem to be rounding in to form. Everything about Pham is diminishing, his defense, hitting and base running all started to trend the wrong way last year for the rays and he’s not exactly tearing it up for the pads
Rays got some power back in Renfroe. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Edwards running the bases by playoff time. He’s a good ballplayer.
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Pham is a 2 year rental. He is not a future piece for the Padres. He was traded for to help in 2020 and 2021 ONLY. Yes, he has a degenerative condition in both eyes. He has had it for years. If he didn’t he would have been MUCH more expensive. Edwards has a .395 lifetime OBP in the minors. Pham has a .379 lifetime OBP in the majors. I personally believe that Edwards will have a .340-.360 OBP at best, IF he fulfills all his promise. If you care to believe differently that is your right. I just wouldn’t count on a .379 lifetime average OBP from Edwards as that is well above average for any mlb player. But I digress. Yes, Edwards can be controlled for 7 years with service time manipulation. So can any minor leaguer. The point is one is a proven plus mlb contributor and one is a minor leaguer. That was the whole point of the trade. One is a short control proven commodity, the other is a prospect and a risk but with tons of control.
It also took Pham awhile to get there; he wasn’t a .400 OBP guy at every level. Great players improve their abilities throughout the minor league system and it seems Xavier Edwards is a solid bet to be one of those guys with his plus speed and above average contact ability.
Yes it is theoretically possible that it could happen. It is just very unlikely. Prospects are just prospects until they have proven themselves over several years. I have seen several fans on this site guarantee that Wander Franco will hit .320/.400 with 30-HR, 20-SB and a gold glove every year in mlb. This despite the fact that none of his grades other than his BA and none of his numbers from the minor leagues other than BA support this. People get carried away with prospects. Guerrero had 80-hit and 70-power. Have you checked his numbers? He has come nowhere near meeting those expectations. He was the #1 overall prospect in baseball. He isn’t hitting like it. Tatis was the #2 prospect in baseball. He had 55-hit, 60-power, 70-arm, 60-defense and 60-speed grades. He has far exceeded all but the arm and defense grades. He was the #2 overall prospect in baseball. Edwards is currently the #78 prospect in baseball. Perhaps we should not get carried away?
Padres are getting what Pham will do, not what he has done. Ditto the Rays and Edwards. Pham will not have anywhere close to a .379 OBP in 2020 and 2021 and then he’s gone. And Edwards, who just turned 21, can certainly improve his overall game from where it is now. And where it is now is pretty great to begin with.
All this talk about Edwards, Renfroe, and Pham.
The sole piece of this deal that might have long term mlb value may wind up being Jake Cronenworth.
For a guy that was an INF/RP prospect nobody heard of he’s been far and away the best piece this year.
Rays fans heard plenty about him
They left him exposed in the Rule 5 draft a year 2 years ago