Both small and large market teams love to cash in on their players early on in their careers, helping keep the costs low and the player control fruitful. But for MLB teams across the board, the move of extending their best prospects – even before they play a single inning on the MLB level – is changing the tide of how money is being distributed across the many levels of professional baseball.
With the ongoing labor struggles between the MLB and the MiLB in terms of player contracts and compensation, many MLB franchises are opening their pocketbooks early to their minor-league studs, securing these players late in their minor league careers but before their major league careers even begin.
The most recent prospect to earn a contract extension profiles to become the starting center fielder for the Chicago White Sox in 2020 and beyond, Luis Robert. Robert joins already-extended youngster Eloy Jimenez to form a long-term core for the White Sox, as they make a bunch of expensive additions through free agency in what looks to be a step forward towards competing again.
With the fact that teams are becoming more open to extending their players early on, here are five minor leaguers who could be next up in line for long-term contract extensions from their respective franchises.
Alex Kirilloff
Outfielder / First Baseman, Minnesota Twins
Highest level of MiLB reached: AA (Pensacola Blue Wahoos)
Expected MLB arrival date: 2020
With both Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis setting the table as the next generation for the Minnesota Twins, the team’s future – as well as that of both of these players – looks to be very, very bright. Lewis represents the best prospect in the Twins system and figures to get called up to the big leagues very soon, but Kirilloff has just as much promise as his shortstop teammate.
Offense is the name of the game for Kirilloff, as he was predicted to be up near the levels that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was producing at during his time in the minor leagues. The 6-foot-2 15th overall draft selection in 2016 has been flying up through the minor leagues, and even though Tommy John surgery completely ended his 2017 season, he is knocking on the door of the major leagues, forcing the hand of the Twins.
Positional flexibility will help him get to the majors, especially with how his bat has played at each and every level of the minors so far. With the outfield for the Twins looking to be pretty solid, with Max Kepler, Byron Buxton, and Eddie Rosario, Kirilloff may be called upon to play some innings at first base, especially since Marwin Gonzalez and Willians Astudillo make up the two-deep depth chart at that position.
Buxton is still recovering from a torn surgery that he underwent surgery for, and his four to six-month timeframe will most likely place him right on the doorstep of the start of the season with his health still in question, something that could help get Kirilloff at least a lot of run in the outfield during Spring Training to showcase his talents.
The talent for Kirilloff is obviously there, it more falls on the team to be able to maneuver their roster to get him up when they deem him to be ready. A little bit of run at the Triple-A level would only help him in his long-term development, but Kirilloff should see some playing time at the major league level before the All-Star break in July.
Mackenzie Gore
Left-handed pitcher, San Diego Padres
Highest level of MiLB reached: AA (Amarillo Sod Poodles)
Expected MLB arrival date: Late 2020 / Early 2021
Currently ranked as the San Diego Padres’ best prospect in their system, as well as the best left-handed pitcher in all of minor-league baseball, Mackenzie Gore has obviously done a lot since being drafted back in 2017. The third overall selection has had to deal with some injury concerns, some that have shut down parts of his season and also made him less effective when on the bump, but he has all the makings of being a rotation leader once he reaches the major leagues.
Holding down the top spot in what is one of the league’s best farm systems is quite impressive for Gore, who is followed by outfielder Taylor Trammell and right-hander Luis Patino, among others. But for Gore, his high draft slot is justified every single time he steps on the bump for the Padres MiLB.
With as good as the Padres figure to be in 2020 and moving forward, getting Gore up to the majors is yet another step in this team finally figuring how to put it all together. By adding Gore to this team’s pitching staff, which may be its weakest link in an otherwise above-average squad, would be like adding a player at the trade deadline, except for San Diego, they would not have to give anything up to get him.
Gore’s injury history focuses on blister issues that he has dealt with, specifically in 2018, and his stuff has taken a bit of a fall in terms of speed and movement, but the Padres are hopeful that getting back to basics and helping him find his stuff again is all that Gore needs to be special.
Expecting him to make the climb from Double-A all the way up to the major leagues may be a bit of a reach for 2020, but if the team experiences rotation inconsistencies, combined with Gore getting back to himself, he could see himself pitching for this team after the All-Star break. What is more likely is that he may become a stud at Triple-A, biding his time, and then the team will give him a huge chance to make the team out of Spring Training in 2021.
Casey Mize
Right-handed pitcher, Detroit Tigers
Highest level of MiLB reached: AA (Erie SeaWolves)
Expected MLB arrival date: Late 2020 / Early 2021
The prized possession in an otherwise dreadful time to be a fan of the Detroit Tigers, starting pitcher Casey Mize has fought through arm tiredness and fatigue to go out and justify his record-setting $7.5 million signing bonus that the Tigers handed him in 2018 as the draft’s first overall selection.
The undisputed and consensus best player in the draft, Mize is currently at the top of the Tigers’ system, helping lead this pitching-heavy system through the motions, eventually culminating in an influx of superior talent at the Tigers major-league level. Fully engulfed in the rebuild, Detroit has put all of their eggs into a basket with Mize, and his performance in the minors has justified it so far – up to a point.
His injury history, both at Auburn University and for the Tigers in the minors, is a hard aspect of the former and current Tiger to gloss over. While his 2018 season showed a look into what kind of pitcher he can be when he is not on the shelf for arm concerns,
For Mize, 2019 produced 21 starts and 109.1 innings pitched between A+ and Double-A ball, culminating in a solid 2.55 combined ERA between the two stops, a very successful result after some injury-plagued time. While the Tigers will be extra cautious with their crown jewel, if he is mowing down the minor leagues, a callup late in the year to get some playing time at the big-league level under his belt is not totally out of the question.
Sixto Sanchez
Right-handed pitcher, Miami Marlins
Highest level of MiLB reached: AA (Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp)
Expected MLB arrival date: Early 2021
The Miami Marlins, who have seemingly been in a rebuild since 2010 it feels like, open up their 2020 season with some developed players already plugging holes at the major-league level, but none with the type of ceiling that pitcher Sixto Sanchez has. While not having pitched above the Double-A level quite yet, the fifth-best right-hander in all of minor league baseball looks to be on the precipice of joining the Marlins in their quest to not be basement dwellers.
Acquired as one of the major pieces in the J.T. Realmuto trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, Sanchez is the top dog in an improved Marlins farm system, one that has taken a beat of flak for not being as developed as it should be, especially with the trades of Realmuto, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich over the past few seasons.
Realmuto projected to be, at the time, the safer player of those three when the trading all began, and while both the Ozuna and Yelich trades netted the Marlins with decent prospects to help fill out the top half of their system, none quite had the impact like the ones acquired from the Phillies, with Sanchez standing out.
Sanchez’s climb to the major leagues will be a slow one, as the franchise understands not to rush their best player, as well as his slight injury history, could rear its ugly head at some point if rushed up the ladder too fast. Look for him to make his debut early on in 2021, with a full-time role in the team’s rotation coming not too far after that.
Joey Bart
Catcher, San Francisco Giants
Highest level of MiLB reached: AA (Richmond Flying Squirrels)
Expected MLB arrival date: Mid-2021
The San Francisco Giants seem to continue to churn out franchise-leading catchers, and Joey Bart looks to be the next one in line, as he projects to become the team’s backstop once Buster Posey rides off into the sunset.
His bat is the best part about him, as it was looked at as the best in the 2018 draft, alongside Phillies’ prospect Alex Bohm. Natural power and aspirations to hit for average, Bart is finding his way through the obstacles to become a full-fledged catcher.
Having thrown out 39 percent of runners in his debut is nothing to scoff at either, but his game-calling abilities and athleticism have both stood out enough to quiet a bunch of the naysayers.
With injuries starting to become a regular thing for Posey, Bart’s climb through the minors may be pushed a bit, but his bat should be able to take him up through it just as quick as he is being asked to rise.
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