The San Diego Padres' Trade of Uber-Prospect Made Baseball History

We haven't seen something like this in nearly a decade.

San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) hits a sacrifice fly during the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Petco Park on July 30. | David Frerker-Imagn Images

On Thursday, the San Diego Padres and Athletics completed an agressive trade deadline deal that sent All-Star closer Mason Miller to the Padres while sending uber-talented prospect Leo De Vries (and others) to the A's.

According to MLB Pipeline, this is just the fourth time in the 21 years of MLB Pipeline rankings that a prospect ranked No. 3 or higher has been traded. De Vries joins Lucas Giolito (No. 3 in 2016), Yoan Moncada (No. 1 in 2016) and Wil Myers (No. 3 in 2012). De Vries is ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the game.

Prospect	Team	Rank
Konnor Griffin	Pirates	1
Chase Burns	Reds	2 (in MLB)
Leo De Vries	Athletics	3
Sebastian Wolcott	Rangers	4
Bubba Chandler	Pirates	5

De Vries, 18, is already playing in High-A ball. In 82 games at High-A, he was hitting .245 with eight home runs and eight stolen bases, despite playing against players that are significantly older than him. A switch-hitter, he could be a star for years to come, though he isn't projected to make his major league debut until 2027.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

A switch-hitter, De Vries already shows an exquisite knowledge of the zone and will take his walks like he's a player many years older. He needed just a little bit more exposure to California League arms before making the adjustment to their quality, and that speaks well to how he'll handle higher levels. He's proven to be a better slugger from the right side early in his career -- seven of his 11 homers came from the right despite getting 162 fewer plate appearances there -- but he has enough bat speed from the left that splits aren't a major concern.