We'll go in reverse order, first with the waiver claim:
The 33-year-old vet still is rated 55/55/55 as a starter which looks like it should play. He'll take
Brad Garrard's spot as the 5th starter although it should be temporary until
James Hays comes back, but he could have some use as a middle/long guy. Manning was 6-2, 2.09 with Miami so I'm not really sure why they waived him but their loss is our gain.
Now, a trade:
A rare AI trade proposal I was willing to accept, mainly for Post. Manross was our Rule 5 guy in 2029 but has been stuck at Durham since and behind 2030 Rule 5 guy
Jamie Reiner on our depth charts, plus he's 28 now. I shopped Manross to see what else I could get and nothing topped this. Adon is a veteran righty reliever, whom I'm a bit skeptical of at 60/45/60 and had a ghastly 6.92 ERA for the Cubs but I'll give him some low-leverage opportunities just to see if he has anything left. Lopez is a C- prospect, likely just organizational depth. But as I mentioned the real prize is Post:
A 2028 second-round pick, Post looks like a future late-inning fixture for us and was impressive in his MLB debut with the Cubs, going 8.1 2 0 0 2 8 over 6 appearances. For now he goes to Durham but he could be up sooner than later.
Transaction-wise
Gavin Bruni, who has been inconsistent this year, went to Durham to make room for Adon, leaving us with only one lefty in the pen (
Dax Fulton) so we'll see how that goes.
Now to the draft:
Dicochea:
Our first-rounder (#34 overall) is a high-schooler from West Virginia who has a thunderous bat with great potential. If he lives up to it we can make it work at 3B with him, otherwise he seems ticketed for the other corner.
Berumen:
Our supplemental 1st rounder, compensation for the free agent loss of Andrew Greckel, is a Florida high school OF/P, and since he's listed as a pitcher I put up his full rating page here to show that he's more likely to end up an outfielder with that eye-popping hitting potential he has, not only bat-to-ball but power. He could be a 2-way player although his pitching ratings scream emergency starter/long reliever to me.
Darrough:
Our second-rounder hails from an Arizona high school and is a legit pitching prospect whom my scout says "should be taken seriously as a starter as he matures".
Sanders:
The parade of high-schoolers continues with Sanders, who hails from Maryland. He's a toolsy kind of guy, a good athlete with defensive skills, potential plus power and a potential plus-plus eye. Contact will determine how far he goes.
Huerta:
You guessed it, a high school guy. Huerta's from California and I like this pick as he's a speedy, plus-defensive middle infielder with potential for some pop in his bat.
Gutierrez:
The graybeard of our high picks, 19-year-old Gutierrez spent a year at a JuCo and is a lefty starter with a dazzling curveball who could have a future.