We now know Tampa Bay Rays’ officials were being honest when they proclaimed the PTBNL in the Chris Archer trade would be a significant prospect coming their way.

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After chatter the PTBNL was a major league player, It has now become official that RHP Shane Baz, the 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft is the player to be named later in the Archer trade.

The trade from July 31 is now official with the Rays receiving Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and Shane Baz.

Will Baz being included in the trade now change the perception of the deal from the Pirates end?

To some extent for sure.

With the team fading in the wildcard race and all the biometrics talk of resting starters, this isn’t a great day for this to come out.

The Pirates were universally praised at the deadline as they should have been. They set themselves up to be competitive the next couple seasons but being competitive doesn’t equal being a playoff team.

What the rest of the season will dictate is whether that 11 game winning streak gave a false sense of security that the Pirates are closer to being a playoff caliber team than they really are.

But, at the end of the day Baz is years away from the Majors and if you believe this current group has a 3-4 year window to compete for a playoff spot, then he’s the type of prospect you put in play for the right player.

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