The first trade of the summer appears to have been made with the Chicago Bulls sending guard Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for guard Josh Giddey, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Since Spencer Horwitz established himself as a noteworthy prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system, significant caveats have been attached to his minor-league success.
Horwitz has raked wherever he’s gone, but his prospect stock has been limited by two primary factors: his relatively advanced age for the levels he’s played at, and his perceived lack of defensive value.
While the first limitation is immutable, it gets less and less relevant the more time he spends in the major leagues. There is a difference between a 22-year-old and a 26-year-old crushing opposition at Triple-A — and the way you’d project future outcomes based on that — but once a player is producing at the MLB level their age isn’t particularly relevant until it comes time to sign an extension or make a trade.
The position issue can be a little trickier. The value a player brings to the table is heavily dependent on the position they play, and how well they play it. In recent seasons much of the discourse around Horwitz has centred around the idea that he could likely hit MLB pitching, but he might not do so enough to make an impact at an offence-first spot like first base.