This year's installment is the sixth edition, and although the 2043 list wasn’t published, last year’s rankings will be listed for those who made it into this year’s Top 50 (and Honorable Mention.) This is an attempt to figure out which players have the most value in the league heading into the upcoming 2044 trade deadline. Essentially, the best way to look at a player’s placement on this list is to ask “Would you be able to trade him, straight up, for any of the guys listed ahead of him?”
In 2042, I rolled out an honorable mention list, a group of fifty players who didn’t quite make the Top 50 but that could certainly help contribute to a championship contender and rebuilding club alike. This year we’re doing it again, so here is, in alphabetical order, those that earned Honorable Mention honors.
A few notes about what you'll see below:
- Ratings (OVERALL/POTENTIAL) and age are as of July 21, 2044
- Players selected in the 2044 First Year Draft were not considered for the list due to lack of professional experience
NAME | TEAM | POS | AGE | OVERALL | POTENTIAL | '43 RANK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wilson Alomar | Rockville | LF | 23 | 65 | 65 | |
Kidane Ata | Nashville | CF | 27 | 65 | 65 | |
Yasir bin Lutfi | Seattle | SP | 24 | 60 | 70 | |
Frank Boland | Calgary | SP | 26 | 55 | 55 | |
Jason Bowen | Wichita | C | 26 | 65 | 65 | |
Aarnoud Budding | Chicago | 1B | 24 | 65 | 65 | |
Mike Campbell | Hawaii | RF | 27 | 65 | 70 | |
Carlton Casson | Montreal | CL | 24 | 60 | 70 | |
Fernando Castillo | Vancouver | LF | 27 | 80 | 80 | |
Juan Cerda | Twin Cities | CL | 23 | 80 | 80 | |
Manny Collazo | Mexico City | 3B | 23 | 60 | 60 | |
Timo Dooley | Omaha | SP | 24 | 60 | 70 | |
Wilson Estrada | Omaha | 1B | 23 | 65 | 65 | |
Armando Feliciano | Louisville | SP | 24 | 65 | 80 | 30 |
Raúl Fernández | New Orleans | 1B | 26 | 65 | 75 | 24 |
Carlos Flores | Atlantic City | CL | 23 | 80 | 80 | |
Mal Fountain | New Orleans | 3B | 23 | 55 | 70 | 47 |
Francisco Franco | Portland | SP | 25 | 60 | 70 | |
Andrew Gallagher | Charlotte (AAA) | 1B | 23 | 45 | 70 | |
Ángel González | Vancouver | CF | 24 | 65 | 65 | 44 |
Eduardo González | Montreal | 3B | 23 | 70 | 80 | |
Felipe Guevara | San Fernando | SP | 21 | 55 | 55 | |
Chandler Hall | Edmonton | SP | 25 | 70 | 70 | |
Ronnie Hubbard | Hawaii | CF | 25 | 60 | 60 | 23 |
Shawn Huber | Las Vegas | CL | 32 | 70 | 70 | |
Pedro Huerta | Edmonton | RF | 24 | 65 | 65 | 34 |
Marvin Isworth | Mexico City | 2B | 23 | 65 | 65 | |
Don Jaramillo | Montreal | SP | 23 | 50 | 65 | |
Renato Lacerda | New Orleans | CL | 26 | 70 | 70 | |
Quinton Lara | Charm City | C | 26 | 70 | 70 | 40 |
Dave Lee | Yellow Springs | SP | 23 | 50 | 75 | |
Cornelio Lozano | Long Beach | RP | 29 | 75 | 75 | |
Luis Mendoza | Louisville | 2B | 21 | 60 | 80 | |
Robert Menzies | Portland | SS | 23 | 75 | 75 | 13 |
Amayas Moelling | Chicago | SP | 25 | 65 | 80 | 48 |
Octávio Moreno | San Antonio | C | 23 | 80 | 80 | |
Tiernan O'Macken | Yellow Springs | RP | 26 | 75 | 80 | 26 |
Joël Ottoboni | Calgary | CL | 24 | 80 | 80 | |
Jarred Perkins | Seattle | CL | 25 | 70 | 70 | |
Carlos Pineda | Yellow Springs | SP | 24 | 80 | 80 | |
Gusby Pinkerton | Portland | SP | 21 | 50 | 55 | |
Mitchell Purssell | Chicago | CL | 24 | 80 | 80 | |
Keijo Reini | Charlotte | CL | 26 | 80 | 80 | |
Alberto Rodríguez | Nashville | C | 24 | 75 | 75 | |
Luis Rojas | Charm City | SP | 29 | 65 | 70 | |
Ron Shiplack | Hawaii | C | 23 | 65 | 80 | |
Gilberto Sosa | Chicago | CL | 25 | 80 | 80 | |
Reggie Vargas | San Fernando | LF | 24 | 70 | 70 | |
Jim Wilkinson | Charm City | SP | 24 | 60 | 70 | |
Yun Zhang | Rockville | SP | 25 | 55 | 60 |
Before we sign off, I did want to highlight two players who did not make the Top 50, nor did they get Honorable Mention recognition. Both are incredibly valuable to their teams, but their value likely doesn't translate well when it comes to the trade market: San Antonio’s pitcher Francisco Cardona and Charm City’s outfielder Dax Norris.
Here are their numbers through press time (7/28/44):
Cardona: 11-5, 2.86 ERA, 1.10 WHIP; on pace for 4.2 WAR
Norris: .288/.340/.568; on pace for 3.5 WAR
Nice production. But what about their salaries?
Cardona: making $650k in 2044, two more years of team control arbitration
Norris: making $800k in 2044, two more years of team control arbitration
Affordable! Good production! What gives?
Cardona: 45 POTENTIAL
Norris: 50 POTENTIAL
You gotta love the unexpected results from middle-of-the-road ratings by scouts. While their very solid seasons and affordable salaries are attractive, their ratings likely hold them back to get equal value of return. And so goes determining what "value" means. It's likely different when you poll every GM. These ratings are just my feelings, but I hope they spur on discussions about rankings, specific players, comparison of multiple players, and just overall general fodder as we approach the trade deadline.
Anyways, here's the remaining schedule for this year's edition:
Friday (10/16) evening - #50-41
Sunday (10/18) morning - #40-21
Monday (10/19) evening - #20-1
Sunday (10/25) evening - Trade Deadline sim
* * * * * * For the uninitiated (or the woefully bored), here is the top lists for all previously published editions:
2042 BBA Trade Value Series: #20-#1
2041 BBA Trade Value Series: #20-#1
2040 BBA Trade Value Series: #20-#1
2039 BBA Trade Value Series: #10-#1