July is an eventful month on Major League Baseball’s calendar for a few reasons. Foremost, it features the All-Star Game and the official line of demarcation between the first and second halves. But, for a certain type of fan, the greater significance of July is that it contains both the amateur draft and the trade deadline.
In turn, that means July tends to be the month where prospect lists are moved in all kinds of directions through selections and trades. With that in mind, we here at CBS Sports wanted to use this edition of Prospect Watch to touch on which teams added new No. 1 prospects during July.
Before we get to those seven teams, a disclaimer: bear in mind that we’re making these assertions with two months of ball to play, meaning it’s at least possible that some of them will fall from the No. 1 spot by the time we get to our offseason lists. It would be wise, then, to consider this more of a progress report than a report card.
1. Cincinnati Reds: RHP Chase Burns
Burns was our favorite arm in the 2024 draft class. He has a power fastball-slider combination, as well as a better third pitch (a curveball) than some of his competition. He also served as the second consecutive Wake Forest pitcher the Reds selected in the first round. (They took Rhett Lowder last year, but Burns has more upside than Lowder does.) Given Burns’ dominance in SEC play, we think he should be quick to rise to The Show.
2. Cleveland Guardians: 2B Travis Bazzana
The worst-kept secret in baseball this spring concerned how much the Guardians loved Bazzana. As it turned out, they loved him enough to take him with the No. 1 pick. Bazzana has a great feel for the barrel and the zone alike. He also has surprising strength given his smaller stature. Bazzana is considered a maxed-out second baseman, but everyone fawns over his makeup — that suggests to us that he’s going to be well positioned to make the necessary adjustments to get the most from his talent.
3. Colorado Rockies: 3B/OF Charlie Condon
We ranked Condon as the top prospect in the draft, and we’re giving him the nod here over right-hander Chase Dollander. He raised his stock over the course of the spring, from second-tier collegiate bat to legitimate No. 1 pick candidate. It’s somewhat fitting that Condon wound up in the same organization as Kris Bryant, since both will begin their careers as tall, right-handed hitting third basemen with patience and power.
4. Kansas City Royals: 1B/LHP Jac Caglianone
Caglianone was one of the most polarizing players in the class — to the extent that we knew of teams who had him outside of the top 10 on their own boards. He went No. 6 to the Royals. We’re not sold that Caglianone is going to remain a two-way player for long (he’s too wild on the mound for that), but the contact/power combination he showed at Florida was stunning. He’ll need to work on his swing- and chase-happy approach to enjoy similar success in the majors. For now, though, there are some enticing possibilities in play.
5. Miami Marlins: C Agustin Ramirez
Maybe this is overaggressive, but hey, we reserve the right to change our minds at a later date as we gain intel. Ramirez, part of the Jazz Chisholm trade, is a well-rounded offensive backstop with thump and a feel for contact and the zone alike. He’s still a work in progress behind the plate, and the Yankees had him splitting time at first base — a nod that his future home might fall lower on the defensive spectrum. The Marlins aren’t looking to compete anytime soon, suggesting that Ramirez should receive ample opportunity to catch before Miami moves him elsewhere.
6. St. Louis Cardinals: MIF JJ Wetherholt
There’s a legitimate possibility that Wetherholt emerges as the most talented player in this draft class. Why was he available to the Cardinals at No. 7? Because he’s a smaller player who missed half the season on account of a hamstring injury. Provided he’s fine physically moving forward, he has a well-rounded game (think Bazzana-like) that could include a 70-grade hit tool at maturation. Expect him to move through the organization quickly.
7. Toronto Blue Jays: RHP Trey Yesavage
Toronto’s prospect group has had a tough few weeks. Left-handed pitcher Ricky Tiedemann recently underwent Tommy John surgery, wiping out the rest of this season and perhaps all of next; infielder Orelvis Martinez remains suspended after failing a performance-enhancing drug test; and shortstop Arjun Nimmala, as much as we believe in his upside, remains a long-term play. That leaves a new face at the top. We went with Yesavage, the Blue Jays’ first-round pick, but it’s fine if you prefer fellow righty Jake Bloss, who was obtained in the Yusei Kikuchi trade. The hope for both is that they can become mid-rotation starters rather than falling into the back-end bucket.
