This one's a biggie as far as prospects go, as SS Isaac DeLeon is a top 15 MLB prospect and gives us another option for Wander's impending departure. And I use the adjective "impending" because this is his current extension demand:
His initial demand was 8 years at $39M/year, I countered with 6 at $34M, and then he came back with that. Okey-dokey.
So about Isaac DeLeon. He's a 65 at SS and a 65 baserunner, which is good, but the real allure here is the power. He's 70 current and 75 potential in power and the editor he says he'd hit 40 HR in the bigs right now. So what's the catch and why did Columbus trade him? Aside from the fact they have #2 prospect in the game Jorge Perez at the position (whom we traded to them several years ago for Asa Lacy), DeLeon has poor plate discipline, and is strikeout-prone and will be about a .250 hitter. But with that kind of power and that glove, I can live with it. Ricky Widmar at AA is still in the mix too, and he's having a decent season at AA Montgomery. DeLeon will play at Durham and between him, Nate Clark, Luis Berdin and Chris Sharp, they'll have a MLB-quality middle of the order. Saucedo is a power reliever with potential 70-80 stuff. The price? The key for Columbus was Waun, our 2nd-round pick in 2025 who's projected to be an above-average MLB CFer. He's got blazing speed, could ultimately be a 65-70 glove in center, and has excellent gap and power potential. The other 3 guys are marginal arms in the system, kind of quantity over quality thing with Manzano the most advanced but he has some flaws.
Designated 1B Alec Bohm for assignment and placed him on waivers; added Isaac DeLeon to the 40-man roster; activated 1B Yordan Alvarez from the 10-day IL.
DeLeon was on Columbus's 40-man, so he has to go on ours, meaning room had to be made. Therefore bye bye Bohm, who didn't do much in his 10-day cameo, and welcome back Yordan. He still shows 4 days left with knee tendinitis, so I'm going to limit him to pinch-hitting duties during that time.