MLB Trade Deadline Deal Brings One of Minor League Baseball’s Top Prospects to Lansing

The Lansing Lugnuts welcomed a huge addition on July 31, acquiring teenage shortstop Leo De Vries from the Oakland Athletics in a trade that sent Mason Miller and J.P. Sears to the San Diego Padres just before the MLB trade deadline.

De Vries, just 18 years old, is rated the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline — the highest-ranked player to ever join the Lugnuts since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2017. The switch-hitter spent most of 2025 with the Fort Wayne TinCaps, hitting .245 with 19 doubles, eight home runs, and 46 RBIs over 82 games. He even hit for the cycle in an April 22 game against Lansing, collecting five hits including two homers and eight RBIs.

Named Midwest League player of the month in April and a recent MLB Futures Game participant, De Vries was in Lansing’s lineup for their home game against Cedar Rapids on July 31, marking a new chapter in his promising career.

Lansing fans now have a front-row seat to watch one of baseball’s brightest young stars develop.