Sherten Apostel, Joshua Javier named as PTBNLs in deadline deals

The Texas Rangers announced today that they had received third baseman Sherten Apostel from the Pittsburgh Pirates as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Keone Kela to Pittsburgh, and lefthanded pitcher Joshua Javier as the player to named later in the trade that sent Jake Diekman to Arizona.

Apostel, 19, is a big guy, listed at 6’4”, 213 lbs., and is currently playing third base, though you’d expect for someone his size to likely have to move to first base or a corner outfield spot. The only prospect list I saw him on was Fangraphs’ offseason rankings for the Pirates, where he checked in at #16, where he was projected to have plus power and arm grades but just a 40 hit tool. He put up an impressive .258/.422/.495 slash line in the DSL last summer, with more walks than strikeouts, and has a similar .259/.406/.460 slash line with 32 walks and 42 Ks in 175 plate appearances in the Appalachian League this summer. He will be assigned to Spokane, and appears to be a bat first guy who, if he can get the hit tool figured out, has an impressive ceiling, but who could also bust in A ball.

Javier, also 19, is listed at 6’3”, 185 lbs., and didn’t show up on any lists that I saw. Like Apostel, he spent the previous two seasons in the DSL before coming stateside this year, where he has been pitching in the Arizona Rookie League. He’s put up very solid numbers the last couple of seasons, and the Rangers will be assigning him to their AZL team.

UPDATED — Fangraphs has Apostel at #13 on the Rangers’ prospect list, between Joe Palumbo and Owen White, and ahead of some notable names, including Jonathan Hernandez, Chris Seise and Tyler Phillips.