Boston Red Sox: No minor league season could impact trade returns

The MLB Trade Deadline will be a challenging one for the Boston Red Sox with some possible rewards and opportunity for some mistakes.

Due to the small sample size of MLB games played, it will be almost impossible for the Boston Red Sox to be able to accurately evaluate not only MLB players but minor league prospects.

There has only been around 33 games played by most teams in league, which will make this trade deadline  much different from others, especially for the Red Sox.

The August 31 2020 MLB Trade Deadline is approaching rapidly and this is a very important opportunity for the Red Sox to cash in on their valuable trade chips in order to replenish their depleted farm system.

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This has put a lot of pressure on the Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Operations Officer, Chaim Bloom to make a some big moves during this deadline in order to bring some excitement back to Boston after such a disappointing 2020 season so far.

The team will most likely look to trade a few of their expiring contracts (J.D. Martinez…etc.) for young prospects that could make an impact down the line.  But,  with the unfortunate circumstances of the minor league season being cancelled it could be harder than ever to evaluate players.

Since most minor league prospects have been training at their team’s alternate sites, teams don’t have the ability to scout them on a regular basis or be able to accurately evaluate their talents.

During most seasons, by the time the trade deadline rolls around, most players already have around 90 games under their belt and are able to use each performance to fully show their value.

Since this is not a normal season, it will make it almost impossible for a team like the Boston Red Sox to know the actual value of the prospect they’re interested in since these player’s haven’t played in a non-simulated game in over a year.

The only other way to evaluate these minor league prospects is by looking at their statistics from 2019 and even those don’t paint the full picture.

Since MLB team’s don’t have the ability to accurately evaluate minor league prospects, that means a prospect hungry team like the Boston Red Sox could be vulnerable to making some HUGE mistakes if they aren’t careful in who they trade for.