Mets LHP Zac Thornton (24) has authored a bright chapter during a dreary season for New York. A fifth-round pick in 2023, he’s got a 1.91 ERA and 0.86 WHIP through four outings covering 23.1 innings. He also recorded a 1.98 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in 72.2 innings across High-A and Double-A last season, so this kind of dominance isn’t entirely new to Thornton, who may not have many innings left in the chamber considering he’s at 86 already and that 72.2 is the highest single-season number he’s hit as a professional. The Mets will likely spend some money to fill out their rotation heading into 2027, but Thornton is already sneaking into that picture.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Athletics 3B Tommy White hit four singles during this third night in Sacramento, which could be the start of a 1980’s movie but actually describes the efficacy of his contact-heavy approach during his first week in the majors. He’s 7-for-17 with zero strikeouts through four games. Third base is not deep. Through 76 Triple-A games, White slashed .303/.353/.465 with 10 home runs and two stolen bases. It looks nice but was actually three percent worse than league average according to wRC+. He’s not the kind of guy I’d trade for in a dynasty league, but I’d try to make room if he’s floating around in free agency.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Graduated from Stash List #6: Cauley Circles The Field: Luis Lara, Cameron Cauley
1. Yankees SS George Lombard Jr. (21, AAA)
Jose Caballero has been cromulent as a short-term option at the six replacing Anthony Volpe, but Fangraphs lists him as a WAR negative on both offense and defense. His best position on a first-division roster is as a utility player. You could say the same about Ryan McMahon and his .278 on base percentage, although I might argue you could find a more versatile bench player with that roster spot. Lombard Jr. has adapted to Triple-A after a slow start at the level, slashing .308/.429/.617 with seven home runs, five stolen bases and a 23.3 percent strikeout rate over his last 30 games.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Prospect News: Top 50 Dynasty Rankings Midseason Update
July 15, 2026 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 57 Commentsby: The Itch
Team Position Player | Age on 4/1/2026 | Level | ETA
1. Brewers SS Jesus Made | 18 | AA | 2027
2. Mariners LHP Kade Anderson | 21 | AA | 2026
3. Athletics SS Leo De Vries | 19 | AA | 2027
4. Dodgers OF Josue De Paula | 20 | AA | 2027
5. Red Sox SS Franklin Arias | 20 | AA | 2027
De Paula is the big riser here. Holy goodness what a season he’s having, slashing .322/.417/.547 with 15 home runs, 25 stolen bases and a 13.8-to-13.3 percent walk-to-strikeout ratio. He’s got a solid case for the top spot.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The MLB Draft is mere minutes away from starting as I begin this weekend’s missive, and I find myself pondering the unknowable magic of the thing itself. No other sport can boast the breadth and depth of this draft, even as they’ve shrunk it down to 20 rounds. Some years are fairly bereft of big league impact players, leaving precious few right answers atop the first round. The early returns on the 2025 class look less than inspiring, for instance. Washington’s number one overall pick SS Eli Willits looks good, and Pirates RHP Seth Hernandez looks like a potential star, but it’s hard to imagine anyone but Mariners LHP Kade Anderson making next year’s midsummer classic. And that’s fine. Totally normal.
Please, blog, may I have some more?This time of year, I tend to comb the org charts for teams who are likely to sell, seeking anyone with a pulse who might inherit some playing time. I’m not sure I can do that this season because it’s a unique landscape. I mean, how many sellers exist today? There’s only five teams with fewer than 40 wins: Los Angeles of Anaheim (36), Colorado (38), Kansas City (38), New York (38) and San Francisco (38).
That’s a good thing for the health of the game, of course, and it’s interesting given the league office’s increasingly public push for a salary cap.
Please, blog, may I have some more?I’ve been happy to see Giants 1B OF Victor Bericoto (24) make the most of his scant opportunities while Harrison Bader rests a sore heel, especially over the past week or so as Bericoto has three home runs over his last seven games playing as a lineup regular for the first time. San Francisco should be looking to sell at the deadline, leaving Victor’s path to playing time wide open for the foreseeable future. Granted, they’ll probably shuffle the deck this off-season, but he’s got a potent enough bat to secure a long-term roster spot at the least.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Rangers SS OF Cameron Cauley (23) had a nice debut Monday night, starting at second base and drawing a walk before tripling in the seventh inning to help tilt the game for Texas. He didn’t draw a start on Tuesday, but Corey Seager was removed from the game before his first at bat with a back injury, so it stands to reason that Cauley will be in the lineup quite a bit moving forward. Get him where you can fit him. 20 stolen bases in half a season is a definite maybe.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Prospect News: Stash List #6: Cauley Circles The Field
June 28, 2026 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 23 Commentsby: The Itch
Graduated from Stash List #5: Christian Moore
1. Cardinals OF Joshua Baez (22, AAA)
If St. Louis leaves Baez in the minors all season, we might see some records fall. Joe Hauser hit 63 International League home runs in 1930. Hauser played 168 games to reach that number. Baez has 26 home runs through 70 games. The season lasts 150 games these days, but Baez has hit 15 over the last month (26 games). I’m hoping this all becomes irrelevant. Baez is also hitting .327 with a 24.6 percent strikeout rate over that stretch (slugging .827!), so there’s little reason to leave him in Memphis unless I guess they want to see him walking there a little more.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Prospect News: Primera Things Primera, Find Your Keys
June 24, 2026 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 21 Commentsby: The Itch
Even though I like to organize and sequence the news from the top league to the bottom in this space, I feel compelled to begin with Red Sox C Franklin Primera (18, CPX) this week, partly because I like puns more than I probably should but also because he’s early birding complex league pitching to the extent that he got traded in one of my 15-team dynasty leagues this week (shoutout to the 23 Jump Street crew). The team who traded him has been in first place most of the season and paired him with Marlins LHP Robby Snelling to get Nationals 2B Nasim Nunez and his 31 stolen bases. Well–not those 31 specifically but the possibility that he can approximate that number over the season’s second half. It’s a good trade for both sides, I think. Nunez is slashing a preposterous .426/.471/.553 with seven stolen bases over his last 14 games, hinting at a fantasy breakout in his age 25 season. We haven’t seen this type of a player for quite some time in this age of bat speed and exit velocity, so Nunez kind of snuck onto the scene with his plus defense and 70-steal upside. There’s no big surprise that he might make a jump in his second big league season while the weather heats up in a kind ballpark. I wish I’d chosen him while mapping out trade plans in Prospect News: Three Dynasty Trade Targets At Every Position while I was fumbling around for second base options.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Building a dynasty trade plan of any kind can be tricky because most of the players are already on rosters, which means there is no objective context. Some dynasty teams just won’t make trades, so the players they have are pretty much off limits to everyone else in the league for the duration of their career. Other teams will avoid trading with specifically you/me for any number of reasons: response time, evaluations on specific players, evaluations in general, approach to trading vis a vis Everyone Can Be a Winner versus more of an Optimus Prime approach: One shall stand; one shall fall, kind of thing. I think you’re much better off seeking an everyone-can-win kind of deal. It leads to future trade opportunities and faster trades in general when people in the league know they can bring an idea to you and more often than not walk away with a trade they feel good about.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Prospect News: Stash List #5: Condon Covers The Plate
June 14, 2026 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 22 Commentsby: The Itch
Graduated From Stash List #4: Lara At The Top Of His Craft: Edwin Arroyo, Cole Carrigg, Braden Montgomery
1. Rockies 1B/OF Charlie Condon (23, AAA)
With seven home runs in his last 15 games, Condon is angling for a big league lineup spot despite a season-long batting average of .251. His strikeout rate over this hot streak is 19.7 percent against a 16.9 percent walk rate. Edouard Julien has played 58 games with a 69 wRC+ alongside negative defensive value. The organization picked up some found money over the off-season by trawling the depths of other clubs, but whatever they’ve found in Julien is messing with their invested wealth.
Please, blog, may I have some more?