A Look Ahead: Top Ten Prospects for 2021 Fantasy Baseball

Who doesn’t love reading something that starts with a disclaimer? Nobody, that’s who. Unless you do, in which case I’m sorry, but here goes: this list is built around players I don’t think will debut before 2021, in part because those were the parameters malamoney gave me in the comments section a few posts ago, in part because the AB and IP math won’t be settled for a while yet.  

1. Tampa Bay SS Wander Franco remains the crowned king of the minor league circuit, if such a circuit exists in any recognizable form when next it assembles. He’s a thick dude already, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s Trout thick or, well, mortal. Today I’d be betting that he’s that unicorn kind of thick that maintains its athleticism with age. 

2. Seattle OF Julio Rodriguez employs an all-fields approach that should help him adapt early in his career when pitchers are trying everything but strikes. 

3. Seattle OF Jarred Kelenic joins Rodriguez and Kyle Lewis to form Voltron in 2021. 

4. San Diego SS CJ Abrams is my personal favorite among dynasty league buys, especially in a rebuild. His 80 grade speed with plus hit and power is the stuff that dreams are made of. 

5. Like Rodriguez, Detroit 3B Spencer Torkelson uses the opposite field and can access power to that side, which buys him an extra beat to see the ball. 

6. San Francisco’s offense got a boost this off-season when they moved the fences in, then got another when they employed a humidor to keep the balls dry and add a little bounce. This roundabout intro is brought to you by SS Marco Luciano, who’s arguably too low at the six spot here. 

7. New York (AL) OF Jasson Dominguez has caught a little shade of late for looking like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, as opposed to the Terminator Arnold look he had when he signed. But like I said above, Wander is huge through the chest, Trout is huge through the chest, so maybe huge can work. I do think there’s something to the value of a lithe physicality when it comes to staying healthy across a baseball season. I suppose I do think bulk is probably generally bad for baseball. Lotta qualifiers there, I know. Unique talents tend to break molds, so I’m reticent to paint Dominguez with a “probably generally” brush. 

8. Chicago (AL) 1B Andrew Vaughn probably shouldn’t be on this list because he should probably get promoted, but the White Sox are smashing everything in sight right now, which could keep Vaughn down. 

9. I’m wary about putting a Pirate in my top ten, but I would really like to know how Pittsburgh SS Oneil Cruz looks at the training site. Yarrr. He’s a giant but he could be a mold breaker. If it all comes together for everyone on this list, Cruz might have the biggest rotisserie impact after Wander because 80 power with 60 speed is loud. Chances are he shaves a bit off each in the quest to actualize. Or he grows into his frame and brings an NBA wing style athleticism to the diamond. 

10. Tampa Bay 2B Vidal Brujan is a little like Vaughn in the sense that I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get promoted late this year, but we’d have to see a slew of injuries to make that happen. He’s also nothing like Vaughn in that his carrying tool for fantasy is plus plus speed along with a plus plus hit tool. He’ll be listed as a second baseman for a while yet, but I think he’s in the running to win a share of the center field job in 2021 and will probably play a little all over the diamond the first few years of his career. 

Thanks for reading! I’m @theprospectitch on Twitter.