Prospects Casey Kelly, Reymond Fuentes, Anthony Rizzo, Brett Lawrie on Move

The Padres and Blue Jays have undeniable depth issues in their farm systems, but both brought pure impact players into their systems on the eve of the Winter Meetings.

For the Padres, the package was more significant, as they received Casey Kelly (pictured above), Anthony Rizzo and Reymond Fuentes in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez. In a smaller deal, Toronto may have stolen prospect Brett Lawrie from the Brewers in exchange for Shaun Marcum.

In both cases, despite giving up big parts of their big-league rosters, the sellers have to be extremely pleased with their respective prospect hauls.

Padres Pull Correct Names From Boston System

If you were going to speak of the Boston Red Sox farm system in the last year, you couldn't discuss it without bringing up Kelly, Rizzo or Fuentes. While that's certainly no scientific way of analyzing a deal, you have to applaud San Diego for not surrendering a player like Gonzalez without getting the best names Boston's system has to offer.

First things first, and that's that the Red Sox got their man. They needed a move of this magnitude to keep pace in the American League, and they did what they had to do. Not to mention, the young talent on their big-league roster, particularly in their starting staff, takes some of the sting out of losing an arm like Kelly.

But from the Padres' point of view, all that matters is that they got one heck of a haul. They got the tools and upside in Fuentes, the potent left-handed bat in Rizzo, and the top-of-the-rotation arm in Kelly. If you're a Padres fan you can be nothing but pleased with that group.

As far as Fuentes goes, he's the wild card of the deal. There's a lot of speed and athleticism in his game, but a great deal of refining needs to be done. From what I've seen from the speedy center fielder, he's a 70 runner (on the 20-80 scouting scale) who knows what he's doing on the bases and in the field. But at the plate there just isn't a lot of strength or lift in his swing. He's likely going to have to rely heavily on his speed and ability to put the ball in play if he's going to be a big league regular. Keep in mind, though, that the lefty-swinging Fuentes is still only 19 years old. There is some room for him to add some strength and adjust his offensive approach. But right now he looks like a top-of-the-order type center fielder with limited power. He's years away but just the type of talent San Diego's system can afford to infuse.

Obviously organizations can always use depth, but any shot at Rizzo being the future at first base for Boston likely would have gone away anyway with the acquisition of Gonzalez. But that doesn't make San Diego any less pleased to land the slugging lefty. With his solid approach, athletic frame, plus defensive skills and 30-home run type power, the 21-year-old has everything you look for in a major league first baseman.

Last, and certainly not least, there is Kelly. Considering his limited mound experience, Boston was pretty aggressive with its prized righty arm in 2010. And the results were rather pedestrian in Double-A for Kelly. That doesn't change his top-of-the-rotation potential, however. His velocity was up a couple ticks in 2010, as he lived around 91-93 mph and reached 95-96 mph when he needed it. What's always stood out is the 21-year-old's advanced feel for pitching and outstanding changeup, and that will continue to serve him well as he moves up the ladder. His curveball will need to be more consistent and his fastball command will have to come along, but the skills are in place for him to become a No. 2-type starter at the next level.

Toronto Gets Premium Prospect For Less-Than-Premium Arm

Shaun Marcum has shown a lot of talent and a certain degree of success in his big-league career. But is he a premium level pitcher at this moment? The answer is no. He's a potentially very good pitcher over a full season, when healthy, who could thrive in the National League for Milwaukee. And it appears as of now that it didn't take a lot of quantity for the Brewers to acquire him. It did, however, take a quality chunk out of their farm system.

There may not be a long list of young talent heading to Toronto in exchange for Marcum, but Lawrie, the reported price for Marcum, comes equipped with a tremendous amount of upside. Still just 20 years old, Lawrie already has a solid minor-league track record, though the real value is in his power potential.

A strongly built righty hitter, Lawrie puts on a show in batting practice and in time will begin to bring that into game action. He uses his hands exceptionally well in his swing and shows advanced power to right-center field. Now at second base, the natural comparison to come up among scouts is Dan Uggla. While it's lofty, and Lawrie has a ways to go in refining his approach -- and particularly his defense -- that's the type of ceiling he has as an offensive player.

In time, Lawrie will consistently show 25-plus-home run power if things break right for him. As with most 20-year-old players there is some risk involved. His plate discipline and swings and misses will need to be dealt with, but this is the type of offensive upside you take a shot on any day of the week.

The Brewers have to be very certain Marcum can be an above-average producer as a second or third starter if they are to justify giving up a player like Lawrie. You could make the argument that there are highly comparable pitchers available on the free-agent market that may have cost significantly more money, but wouldn't cost them a player like Lawrie.

Frankie Piliere spent the last three seasons working as a scout, most recently in the professional scouting department for the Texas Rangers in 2009. He now serves as the National Baseball Analyst here at FanHouse.