As the dust settled from all of the activity from Monday’s 4:00 p.m. ET trade deadline, 11 total former Perfect Game All-Americans ended up changing locations. All but one of these players came in the form of prospects, valuable chips used by contending teams in an effort to improve their respective ballclubs with lofty playoff aspirations.
Outfielder Clint Frazier, the fifth overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft and the recipient of the Jackie Robinson Award as part of the 2012 PG All-American Classic, was the headliner of all of these deals. Frazier, who was promoted to the Triple-A level within the past week after hitting .276-13-48 for the Cleveland Indians Double-A affiliate, was the key piece used in a four-player prospect package used to pry lefthanded pitcher Andrew Miller away from the New York Yankees.
One of the other three pieces that were packaged for Miller was lefthanded pitcher Justus Sheffield, the Indians first-round pick (31st overall) from the 2014 MLB Draft. Sheffield was 7-5 with a 3.59 ERA in 19 games started at the Indians advanced A affiliate.
Two PG All-Americans traded locations as part of the same deal as former Milwaukee Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress was packaged in a deal with the Texas Rangers along with catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Returning to the Brewers was former PG All-American righthander Luis Ortiz, who was taken one spot ahead of Sheffield in the 2014 draft. Ortiz was 4-6 on the year with a 3.48 combined ERA between two levels of the Rangers farm system.
Jeffress, who had recorded 27 saves in 47 relief appearances this season, was a member of the third PG All-American Classic in 2005 in Aberdeen, Md., and was the Brewers first-round pick the following June.
The Brewers added another PG All-American in catcher Andrew Susac in a separate trade with the San Francisco Giants that involved two other players. Susac has enjoyed some success in limited trials at the big league level, and was hitting .273/.343/.455 at Triple-A Sacramento at the time of the trade.
Josh Naylor (2014 Classic) was traded by the Marlins to the Padres as part of a package to acquire Andrew Cashner; Travis Demeritte (2013) was traded by the Rangers to the Braves straight up for a pair of pitchers; Billy McKinney (2012) was part of the package used by the Cubs to acquire Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees; Reese McGuire (2012) was sent along with Francisco Liriano to the Blue Jays from the Pirates; Alex Meyer (2007) was part of a 2-for-2 swap between the Twins and Angels; and Grant Holmes (2013) was one of three talented righthanded pitchers the Dodgers used to acquire Rich Hill and Josh Reddick from the A’s.
Of the 11 total PG All-Americans traded in the past week Susac was the only one that wasn't a first-round pick (2nd round, 2011).