by: Jakkers
The Major League Baseball season is still going as we are in the middle of the playoffs and barreling toward the World Series. But when it it comes to fantasy baseball and dynasty leagues, the season is over. But while there are no lineups to to worry about, that doesn’t mean the this is the […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
Welcome back to the final 2024 edition of Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players series.
With the regular season winding down, most fantasy leagues seasons are done outside of the few still determining their champion this weekend. While fantasy seasons are basically done, that does not mean you are finished with your dynasty league. In fact, now is the start of the 2025 season!
Just like real MLB teams, the offseason doesn’t mean you get to put your feet on the table and not think about your team until February or March. The offseason is the time for you to make your plans for next season.
Who should you target in free agency or draft. What prospects should you go after? Which players should I target in a trade?
And if you really want to be prepared, now is the time to start putting together your rankings. (NOTE: If that is a daunting task for you, don’t fret! After a few weeks off, I will be back with the position-by-position dynasty rankings throughout the offseason. That will then lead into my overall player rankings ahead of spring training.)
Let’s circle back to a player you should target this offseason. My final player to highlight this year is Rhett Lowder of the Cincinatti Reds. This is a player who was pitching at Wake Forest just last year. Now, after only 22 games of minor league experience, he is pitching for the Reds.
So let’s take a look at Lowder
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
The MLB season is nearly at an end and the playoffs are in site. But what is not at an end is this wonderful weekly Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players post!
So welcome back and take a few minutes to read why I think JJ Bleday is an Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player.
Bleday was the SEC Player of the Year in 2019 and was a Golden Spikes finalist for the best college player of the year. Drafted by the Marlins as the fourth overall pick of the 2019 draft, Bleday never really found his footing in the organization and was traded to Oakland ahead of the 2023 season for A.J. Puk.
With a resume of ups-and-downs in the minors and now being 26 years old, I can understand if you think I am crazy to think that Bleday is an up-and-coming dynasty player. I understand that argument. I mean he is 26! That is usually past the point for a player selected 4th overall to still be trying to establish himself.
But for some players, the adjustment from college to the minors to the majors can take longer than expected. I believe that Bleday is one of those players.
So let’s take a dive into his performance and why he has turned his career around with the Athletics this season.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
Welcome back to Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players and welcome to The Show, Kumar Rocker.
The right-handed pitcher made his MLB debut Thursday night for the Texas Rangers, and while it is only one start, he showed why he has always been considered a top pitching prospect and why he is an up-and-coming dynasty star.
Rocker would have likely been a first-round draft choice out of high school in 2018, but he was dead set on attending Vanderbilt and instead was drafted in the 38th round by Colorado in case he changed his mind. He didn’t and tt was a good move on his part as he was outstanding on the mound for the Commodores. During his time there he won the College World Series Most Outstanding Player award as a freshman in 2019. Against Duke in the Super Regionals that season he threw a no-hitter with 19 strikeouts against Duke.
In 2021, he led NCAA Division pitchers in wins with 14 and in strikeouts with 179.
Getting Sidetracked
After the 2021 college season, the Mets drafted Rocker with the 10th overall pick in July and a deal was in place that included a $6 million bonus. But before the deal was finalized, the post-draft physical showed Rocker to have shoulder and elbow issues and the Mets pulled their offer.
Rocker underwent shoulder surgery in September of that year and returned in 2022 to pitch in the Frontier League and he appeared to be fully healthy. In 20 innings of work, he allowed only 11 hits and four walks while striking out 32 for a 1.25 ERA and 0.750 WHIP with a 14.4 K/9 rate.
Eligible to be drafted again, the Rangers pounced on the chance to take Rocker, selecting him third overall. After making some appearances in the Arizona Fall League, Rocker started his 2023 campaign at Class A and was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.000 WHIP with a 13.5 K/9 rate through his first six starts when he blew out his elbow and undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
Welcome back everyone! And if you are a first-time reader of this masterpiece of literature, welcome to the Lawrence Butler edition of Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players.
I was thinking about highlighting Butler a month ago, but at the time I was not completely sold on what he was doing. He had an incredible month of July, slashing .363/.408/.802 with 10 homers and 27 RBI. But that month came out of nowhere and there was no way he was going to maintain an .802 SLG and 1.210 OPS.
Before buying stock in Butler, I wanted to make sure the return on investment was going to pay off.
In August, Butler not unexpectedly cooled down somewhat at the plate with a .266/.301/.585 slash line. But he hit eight more homers and drove in 18 runs. Over the course of a full season that would be 48 homers and 108 RBI with a stellar .886 OPS.
While the power is great, there has been a massive decline in his strikeout percentage since July 1. After posting rates of 29.2%, 31.3% and 34.5% the first three months of the season, his strikeout rate fell to 19.4% in July, then to 17.5% in August. So far in September it is at 9.5%. That decline plus the consistent power display is enough for me to want to invest in Butler as he is certainly an Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
Good morning, afternoon or evening depending on when you are reading this or where you are reading this. Welcome back for another chapter of Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players.
This week the spotlight turns to the Great White North and shines on Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis. In case you haven’t been paying attention to the world of baseball lately, Francis is coming off a start in which he carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels.
As an encore on Thursday against Boston, his first start since facing the Angels, Francis took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished the night with on runs allowed on one hit and no walks and five strikeouts in seven innings of work.
A Little Background
Francis was first drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 2016 draft out of Chipola College in Marianna, FL. Francis did not sign with the D-Backs and the moved paid off as he was drafted in the seventh round one year later by the Milwaukee Brewers.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander pitched two full seasons in the Brewers’ system before being traded to the Blue Jays on July 6, 2021, along with Trevor Richards for Rowdy Tellez.
The trade was one that did not send shockwaves through baseball, and it didn’t look for Toronto at the outset as Tellez had a massive season for the Brewers in 2022 when he slugged 35 homers and drove in 85 runs. However, it is a trade that appears to be paying off for Toronto now. Tellez is now in Pittsburgh where he is a having an average season at best. Meanwhile, Francis is establishing himself as a solid major league starter.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
Gavin Lux is not really an up-and-coming player in the sense that he first made his Major League debut in 2019 at the age of 21. But Lux, a former top prospect, is an example of a player needing time to figure out how to succeed. It took a lot longer than expected, but he is finally playing up to his potential and is an Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player.
Drafted out of high school in 2016 as the 20th overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Gavin Lux quickly rose through the Dodgers’ system and soon entered the watchful eye of dynasty baseball owners.
In 2019 he was ranked as the 40th overall prospect by Baseball America and MLB ranked him at No. 70. In 2020, he shot to the top of the pre-season prospects rankings as he was ranked 4th by Baseball America, 2nd by MLB and 3rd by Baseball Prospectus.
The success he had in the minors did not carry over to the majors as he struggled on the field each and every season. Then last season, with the starting shortstop job all but handed to him, he didn’t play at all after tearing an ACL running the bases during a spring training game.
Entering the season the expectations for Lux were not great, and the start of the season showed why expectations were low as he got off to a very slow start for Los Angeles. But since the All-Star break, Lux has been the player everyone was expecting to see since his debut in 2019. After years of struggling, Lux has finally turned things around.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
Since the retirement of David Wright, the search for finding the next third baseman of the future for the New York Mets has been seemingly going on for years. The search may finally be coming to an end.
For the last several years, the third baseman of the future was supposed to be Brett Baty. Starting in 2020, he was the Mets’ third baseman ranked in the top 100, coming in at #92 by MLB. By 2022, he was a top 40 prospect by Baseball America, MLB and Baseball Prospectus.
Baty saw 11 games of action with the Mets in 2022 before playing in 108 games last season and 50 games this season. But he has never quite adjusted to the MLB level and has a career slash line of .215/.282/.325 with 15 homes and 55 RBI in 169 career games.
With Baty struggling to maintain a hold of the Mets’ third base job, Mark Vientos is not. Like Baty, Vientos debuted in 2022. Like Baty, he struggled in his brief time with the club that season and struggled again in 2023. But unlike Baty, Vientos has made the adjustments needed to succeed at this level and is proving to be an up-and-coming dynasty player.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
For most of the season, my look into Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players has obviously tended to feature young players who have upside. That said, I have mostly shied away from Top 100 prospects who are now in the majors.
Why? Well, if you are a veteran dynasty player or even new to this level of fantasy baseball, you should know about those players. There is a reason why they are listed as Top 100 prospects – they are expected to be very good.
This week I continue to avoid a top prospect who is now in the majors. But I am taking a left turn when it comes to highlighting a young player. That is because Tyler Fitzgerald is not a young player. Fitzgerald is 26 years old and turns 27 in September.
Fitzgerald has also never been a Top 100 prospect nor a Top 10 prospect in the San Francisco organization.
So why do I think Fitzgerald is an Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player? Because sometimes players are late bloomers. And sometimes it is imperative to have depth on your team. Fitzgerald fits both of those categories.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
Good day, everyone. It’s time for some more Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player talk.
This week I am going to focus on a player who is not an under-the-radar player in Colton Cowser. When you are the fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft, it is hard to fly under the radar.
A Houston native, Colton had a standout career at Sam Houston State in Huntsville, TX, which is located just north of Houston. In three years, he slashed .354/.460/.608 with 24 homers and 112 RBI in 125 games with only 70 strikeouts (12%) to go with 76 walks (13.1%).
Cowser has been a Top 100 Prospect since 2022, when he entered the season ranked 98th by Baseball America, 66th by MLB and 46th by Baseball Prospectus. In 2023 those rankings were #41, #40 and #38 and this season he entered the campaign at #34, #19 and #51.
His minor league career backs up those rankings. In three minor league seasons he has a .298/.420/.489 slash line along with 38 homers, 162 RBI and 34 steals in 258 games. He has maintained his high walk rate at 15.6%, but unlike at Sam Houston State, his strikeouts have greatly increased to 25.9%.
Colton is now establishing himself as a cornerstone player. Let’s take a look at why he is an Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Hey everybody, welcome back to another edition of Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players.
The player I want to focus on this week is not the prototypical player that I highlight. That is because Michael Toglia of the Colorado Rockies is basically a one-tool player.
But that tool – his power – is pretty solid. And when you are looking to add players with upside to your team at this point of the season, you are not going to find too many multi-tool players sitting on the free agent wire or even the trade block unless a team is trading a star for a big haul of prospects/young players.
That is not the case with Toglia. Right now he is owned in only 27% of Yahoo leagues and 9% of ESPN leagues. I think the time is right to jump on Toglia and enjoy the power he is going to add to your team.
Let’s look into Toglia a bit more to see why I consider him an Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Jakkers
If you have Colt Keith on your team and you held onto him after his first month as an MLB player, congratulations! You are one of the smart people who could see the potential in Keith and not hit the panic button.
Keith entered the season as one of the top prospects in baseball, ranking 28th, 22nd and 22nd by Baseball America, MLB and Baseball Prospectus, respectively.
Keith intended to play at Arizona State University of high school but opted to sign with the Tigers after being drafted in the fifth round in the 2020 draft. With no minor league games being played that season, he made his professional debut in 2021 and played at three different levels, starting at Rookie ball and finishing at High-A.
In 62 games overall he slashed .270/.381/.367 with two homers and 27 RBI. In 2022, Keith was playing for High-A West Michigan and slashing .301/.370/.544 with nine homers and 31 RBI in 48 games before suffering a season-ending injury in June when diving back to the base on a pickoff attempt. Last year he split time between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo and slashed .306/.380/.552 with 27 homers and 101 RBI in 126 games combined.
The Tigers knew they had a gem in Keith and rewarded him with a six-year deal that pays him more than $28.5 million. With club options and escalators, the deal could be as much as $82 million over nine years.
Let’s see why the Tigers and people like me believe Keith is a top Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player.
Please, blog, may I have some more?