TRADE: Guardians acquire C Kody Huff from Rockies for RHP Cal Quantrill

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Joe Doyle

November 17, 2023

On Friday, the Rockies and Guardians announced a deal that would send recently DFA’d right-hander Cal Quantrill to Colorado in exchange for minor league catcher Kody Huff. The move should provide Colorado some much-needed innings during the 2024 season.

The Guardians Return

Kody Huff was a seventh round selection out of Stanford during the 2022 MLB Draft. He was the 147th-ranked prospect in his respective draft according to Future Stars Series PLUS. Huff slotted in as the 39th-best prospect in the Rockies system in FSS PLUS’s midseason rankings. He features a well-rounded profile as a guy who should stick behind the plate long-term.

Huff had a strong 2023 campaign at A-Ball Fresno last season posting a .262/.357/.374 slash with five homers. His 21.4 percent strikeout rate is representative of the type of player he’s been offensively going back to his days in Palo Alto. Huff does a nice job of putting the ball in play and he draws his walks. There’s some platoon concern here as Huff has shown to be far more comfortable against left-handed pitchers than the alternative. Velocity in on his hands from right-handed arms can lock him up. Huff’s quiet setup and fast hands should help him develop up the ladder offensively, though he does feature a higher leg kick and some drift through the zone that seems to contribute to his inability to consistently get into his raw power, as well as occasionally being late on velocity. Huff doesn’t have a large frame, just 5-foot-11, 204 pounds, but he does have quick hips and if the operation at the plate quiets down, he has the ability to get into double-digit homers as a pro.

Huff is revered by his pitchers and does a nice job selling out for balls in the dirt. He also gets above average grades for pitch framing. He has an average throwing arm, but it’s a high IQ that allows Huff to anticipate and control the running game. He threw out 29 percent of base-stealers in 2023, down a tick from the 37 percent he threw out his final year at Stanford. Still, scouts think he’ll be adaquete in that department as he moves up the chain.

Huff’s dad, Tim, has been a pro scout for the last 24 years and currently works for the Oakland Athletics. He’s revered in the industry and has held supervisory roles with the Blue Jays, Rays, Angels and Red Sox over his greater-than two decades of work in the industry.

 

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