Prospect Trade Report: Wilson Betemit Transaction

by John Sickels on Jul 21, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Prospects in the Wilson Betemit Trade

The Kansas City Royals traded Wilson Betemit to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, July 20th. Here is a look at the prospects the Royals received in return.

Antonio Cruz, LHP: Cruz is a 19-year-old pitcher from the Dominican Republic, signed by the Tigers in 2009. Short and stocky at 5-11, 200, he has a 3.11 ERA this year for Low-A West Michigan in the Midwest League, with a 58/28 K/BB in 75 innings, 68 hits allowed, and a 1.25 GO/AO. He works in the low 90s and flashes a promising curveball and changeup, and his control is reasonable, but his K/IP ratio is unimpressive at this point. He's quite young and lefties with potential are valuable commodities.

Julio Rodriguez, C: Rodriguez was signed by the Tigers out of the Dominican Republic in 2006. He was hitting .283/.325/.354 for High-A Lakeland before the trade, with 10 walks and 28 strikeouts in 226 at-bats. Rodriguez has thrown out 34% of runners this year and 36% in his career, but he's mistake-prone and has committed 14 errors in 66 defensive games this year. He has tools and is just 21 years old, but has a serious lack of power at the plate and needs more work with the glove.

SUMMARY: The Royals flipped Wilson Betemit for a Grade C/C+ pitching prospect and an extra catcher. Given that they picked Betemit off the minor league free agent scrapheap, getting an arm with potential in return is a successful outcome.

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Read More: Wilson Betemit (3B - DET), Julio Rodriguez (C - KAN), Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals

Comments

I don't expect either to make it to the big leagues

But this is still a nifty trade for both teams.

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by RoyalsRetro on Jul 21, 2025 12:16 PM EDT reply actions

19 yo is hard to dtermine if he is going to make it

Any task BIG or small, Do it well or not at all

by Rickfansince76 on Jul 25, 2025 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Honestly...

really surprised they got this much. I mean a young lefty with some upside? The White Sox wish they could have gotten that for him instead of just DFAing him or whatever they did to cut the cord.

by polodude017 on Jul 21, 2025 12:31 PM EDT reply actions

I had the opposite reaction....

Betemit hit well last year and respectable this year—he could be useful for a number of teams and I would have thought there would be a team out there willing give a little more for him. As said above, if I had to bet, I doubt either prospect will amount to much of anything in the majors.

by DenverBears on Jul 21, 2025 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

really?

Can you give an example of a comp player who’s been traded in the last few years who’s brought back more value?
And let’s be clear, he’s been barely league average offensively this year and is a total defensive liability.

by realitypolice on Jul 21, 2025 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

cruz

Last fall I saw an article from a Detroit sportswriter highlighting Cruz as one of the promising arms in the Tigers instructional league. He has followed up with a promising year in low A at 19. It is easy to be dismissive, but … the Royals have built a deep farm system, they know what they are doing and could have held out for a better deal if they did not like the potential they were getting back.

by thebroman on Jul 21, 2025 6:23 PM EDT reply actions

I've been hearing Cruz's future is in relief as opposed to starting

In fact, Detroit moved him to the bullpen in West Michigan for that reason. So the upside the Royals are scoring is a guy who might fit into the major league bullpen. It’s certainly not nothing, but given that the Tigers’ depth in relief pitchers is… well, existent, it’s not a bad trade.

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by David Tokarz on Jul 21, 2025 7:05 PM EDT up reply actions