Cowles, Five Former Patriots Moved At MLB Trade Deadline

After a relatively quiet few days leading up to Tuesday’s 6 PM ET MLB trade deadline, the league exploded with blockbuster deals in the final hours and minutes before the buzzer, including six former Patriots donning new uniforms.

While no players on Somerset’s active roster were dealt, one player from the team’s injured list and two players who were with the club during the early part of the 2024 season were shipped off.

In the Bronx Bombers' first move ahead of the deadline, the Yankees sent former Patriots C Agustin Ramirez (23’-24’) to the Miami Marlins on Saturday for INF/OF Jazz Chisholm, in a package that included Yankees minor league INF Jared Serna and INF Abrahan Ramirez. Agustin played 89 career games in Somerset, including 58 to begin the 2024 season before a promotion to Triple-A on June 19. Ranked as the Yankees' No. 20 prospect at the time of the move, he slashed .289/.372/.570 this season for Somerset and still ranks among Eastern League leaders with 16 HR (1st), 49 RBI (9th), and 31 XBH (8th), despite his departure over a month ago. Chisholm was the starting second baseman for the National League in the 2022 MLB All-Star game and the cover athlete on MLB The Show 23.

A THREE-HOMER GAME FOR AGUSTIN RAMIREZ!

3 HR and 6 RBI for the #Yankees No. 20 prospect. GENERATIONAL. pic.twitter.com/FQrFeaIqXY

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) June 8, 2024

On Tuesday afternoon, the Yankees sent INF Ben Cowles (‘24) and RHP Jack Neely (‘23-’24) to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for RHP Mark Leiter Jr.

Cowles starred for the Patriots in 2024, making his Double-A debut and playing 88 games as Somerset’s primary shortstop before being added to the 7-day injured list after he was hit by a pitch on July 25 against Portland. At the time of being placed on the injured list, Cowles led the Eastern League in H (96), XBH (37), and TB (154), while leading qualified Yankees minor leaguers batting .294 with 25 2B. Cowles, ranked as the Yankees' No. 29 prospect at the time of his departure, was initially drafted in the 10th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Yankees out of the University of Maryland.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS🤑

Ben Cowles clubs his seventh homer of the season, a three-run blast in the 3rd inning to make it 4-0 Somerset! pic.twitter.com/uI4r8DYLb6

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) July 4, 2024

Neely pitched 33 career games out of the bullpen for Somerset between the past two seasons, posting a 2.59 ERA with 7 SV and 77 K in 48.2 IP. Neely was promoted to Somerset from High-A Hudson Valley on August 8, 2023, and was a staple of the Patriots bullpen until his Triple-A call-up on June 19, 2024. The towering 6-foot-8, 245 lb flamethrower was initially selected by the Yankees in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Ohio State University.

Leiter, who had pitched to a 4.21 ERA for the southsiders this season with 53 K in 36.1 IP and opponents batting .186, also has a Patriots connection. The 33-year-old fifth-year big leaguer pitched for Somerset during the team-run COVID season, one of the only professional baseball leagues playing throughout the entire country. He finished 1-1 with a 1.55 ERA and 31 K in 29 IP for the Patriots.

After spending parts of the past three seasons with Somerset, OF Brandon Lockridge (‘21-’23) was dealt to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday in exchange for RHP Enyel De Los Santos and RHP Thomas Balboni Jr.

Lockridge, who hit .266 over 184 career games in Somerset, ranks among Patriots Double-A franchise leaders with 183 H (3rd), 89 RBI (4th), 35 2B (4th), 65 XBH (3rd), 304 TB (3rd), 114 R (3rd), and 48 SB. Lockridge went 6-for-22 (.273) with 3 RBI over five games in Somerset’s 2022 Eastern League Championship run.

After splitting last season between Somerset and Triple-A SWB, Lockridge was batting .295 with 32 RBI and a .787 OPS in 72 games this season for the RailRiders, while his 34 SB were tops in the Yankees organization. He was originally selected by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Troy University.

Brandon Lockridge blasts his first homer of the season to dead center for a 6-2 lead in the 7th. pic.twitter.com/LyfAudfnrr

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) May 7, 2023

Two former Patriots who began their seasons with other farm systems were also dealt on Tuesday.

INF Andres Chaparro (‘22) was sent from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Washington Nationals for RHP Dylan Floro. Chaparro joined Arizona’s system this season after spending his first six professional seasons in the Yankees system, including all of 2022 with Somerset aside from rehab games. In 64 games for the Patriots, Chaparro hit .289/.369/.594 with 19 HR and 52 RBI. He was named an Eastern League All-Star and Yankees Organization All-Star. Chaparro added a .300 average, a home run, and three RBIs in the postseason, where Somerset brought home their first Eastern League crown. A native of El Viga, Venezuela, Chaparro was initially signed by the New York Yankees as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2015.

𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧, your 2022 Somerset Patriots Home Run 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠, with 19 home runs, Andres Chaparro.👑 pic.twitter.com/IX41RXN7yB

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) September 19, 2022

Yankees 2021 first-round pick INF Trey Sweeney (‘22-’23), who was a member of the Patriots' 2022 Eastern League Championship-winning team and spent the entirety of 2023 with Somerset, was traded this past offseason to the Dodgers for a package that included LHP Victor González. Only months after being traded this past offseason, Sweeney was dealt from the Dodgers to the Tigers in perhaps the biggest trade of the 2024 deadline, which sent Detroit's ace Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles. Sweeney played 111 games in Somerset between 2022-23, where he was a career .250 hitter with 15 HR and 54 RBI.