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The Itch

Author: The Itch

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The Itch

Prospect News: Dynasty Buys Between Now And Next Season

September 3, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 12 Comments

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Nationals C Keibert Ruiz: I tried to trade for Ruiz in a two-catcher, 15-teamer where I’m in a tight race for the top, but I sort of didn’t try real hard because I’m solid at catcher, where I have Willson Contreras and Elias Diaz. Solid. Old. Streaky. Probably on the way down. Would’ve probably been smart to try harder. 

Royals C Freddy Fermin: The Royals have made gestures toward trading Sal Perez this off-season to make room for Fermin, who’s been in the lineup most nights anyway with Perez covering first in lieu of Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto. The exposure and the grind have chipped away at his once-pristine stat line, but he’s still hitting .284 with a 112 wRC+. That’s a starter in most fantasy leagues. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: Hold A Candle For Wicks or Vidal Back So Soon

August 30, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 13 Comments

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Cubs LHP Jordan Wicks got himself into great shape heading into this season because he was up for a role in the John Wick spinoff series, and while he didn’t get the part, the extra strength paid off in his big league debut, when he earned a win with nine strikeouts in five, one-run innings. I’ve become a broken record about this, but wins are tough to find right now. Wicks makes an interesting option in even the shallowest leagues. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: Drinking The Jett Fuel Or Hindsight Is 20/20

August 27, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 9 Comments

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The first week of school is in the rearview, and the baseball landscape looks different than when it started. I’m sad about Shohei and wondering whether we’ll ever hear another word about Wander. I’m happy to see Seattle surge back into the division lead. The game would benefit from having a young star like Julio Rodriguez in the playoffs. Baltimore has young stars, too, but it’s hard to root for the bank account of a guy like John Angelos, who’s using his team’s season in the spotlight to call attention to himself, relishing his nepo-baby summer. 

With nine home runs in 15 Triple-A games, Rockies C Hunter Goodman has pushed his season total up to 34 bombs in 106 games across two levels. He’ll be a popular sleeper pick in draft and hold leagues this winter and could quickly assert himself as a top ten fantasy option if he’s given enough time to get acclimated to the major league level. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: Masyn Paving His Path Or Wilyer Team Winn?

August 23, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 12 Comments

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We saw promotions aplenty this week across baseball, and most should be relevant even in shallow mixed leagues. 

Cardinals SS Masyn Winn is hitting .214 through four games, but it’s just nice to see him with the big club. Even with every sign pointing to him as the opening day shortstop next season, I’d been worried about the team looking for veteran options over the offseason. They still might, I guess, if Winn struggles, but if he holds his own, he’ll rubber stamp that job. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: Stash List Vol. 10: Rafaela Sculpts A New Profile

August 20, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 25 Comments

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Graduated from Prospect News: Stash List Volume 9: Hero In A Half Shell: Masyn Winn, Jacob Lopez.

 

1. Red Sox SS Ceddanne Rafaela | 23 | AAA 

We’re entering the time of year when a player can debut, play most of the remaining season, including the playoffs, and retain rookie eligibility entering 2024. Given the new incentives for breaking camp with rookies, we might see a floodgate rush the next couple weeks. Guys who should’ve been up a month ago, like Rafaela, might’ve been held back for precisely this 45-day barrier. With 13 home runs in just 39 Triple-A games, he’s reaching new heights in terms of actualizing all that athleticism in the batter’s box.

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The Itch

Prospect News: Osleivis To Detail or Rice Behind The Plate

August 16, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 23 Comments

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The Giants swapped Luis Matos out for OF Wade Meckler, a mustachioed lefty with a great approach who’s been hot all season across several stops, slashing .379/.463/.522 with five home runs in 69 games across three levels. Well, four, now that he’s gone from High-A to the majors in a matter of months. 

The Cardinals recalled 1B Luken Baker, who was hitting .334 with 33 home runs in 84 Triple-A games and should play a lot from here on out or at least earn himself more than a dozen starts. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: Stash List Volume 9: Hero In A Half Shell

August 13, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 24 Comments

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Graduated from Prospect News: Stash List Volume 8: Winn At All Costs: Sal Frelick

1. Orioles OF Heston Kjerstad | 24 | AAA 

Tough time of year for the stash list. I run out of things to say about the guys who’ve been left on the farm. Feel pretty negative in most of the blurbs, but it doesn’t make sense to me that guys like Heston Kjerstad are still in the minors, but here he is, and I’m not even sure I can recommend him as a redraft stash. You might be better off picking up a mediocre hitter who’s hot in the majors now. And while that’s always the proposition of a stash list to a certain extent, the board tilts significantly late in the season as the 2024 incentives of suppressing a player’s timeline grow closer. If roster spots aren’t a key concern, then by all means scoop these top two.

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The Itch

Prospect News: Mauricio Gets A Corner Office or Weapon X Sharpens His Claws

August 9, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 19 Comments

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Mets 3B Ronny Mauricio is listed here as a third baseman today because that’s what he is today, apparently, according to a report that Buck Showalter told him as much during a meeting this week. Brett Baty is reportedly a man without a position for the near term. Seems like they have a great plan over there. Real shared mental map of the organizational outlook from top to bottom. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: Mead Up For A Cup or Caissie Cooking With Gas

August 6, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 30 Comments

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I finally saw the Mario movie last night, which my family could do because I subscribed to Peacock to watch seven innings of the Futures Game, so . . . good work on that one, MLB. 

In other good-move news: Rays 1B Curtis Mead is in the majors today. We’d be short-sighted to assume he’s going to play regularly going forward, but the team needs a spark, and Mead’s all-fields approach and excellent plate skills (12.8-to-14.7 percent walk-to-strikeout rate) give the club another tough out in a solid lineup. 

Mead went for $6 in the CBS AL-Only Analysts League. I have zero dollars and could’ve really used him but feel pretty good about landing a $0 Davis Schneider. I’m in first place and trying to win a second-straight championship there but have been dealt a series of body blows these past few weeks. Josh Bell and Jake Burger got traded out from under me. I also have Tyler Wells and Taj Bradley on that team. Not a recipe for success in an Only: losing four key pieces in the same week. With the two free roster spots, I added Red Sox 3B Luis Urias and Royals LHP Cole Ragans for zero dollars. I was a bit surprised they were free, but it’s late, and there were a ton of guys to bid on in that run. I really like Ragans, though. Great get for the Royals in the Aroldis Chapman trade. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: A Whole New World or Trade Deadline Review

August 2, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 14 Comments

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The New York Mets are the weirdest team in recent memory for me. It’s tough to disagree with much of what they’ve done in a general kind of way, and it’s good for the game whenever one of these billionaires decides to invest in their team, but my brain still struggles to enfold the idea of paying someone else 36 million dollars to take a player you just signed last year then 54 million dollars to take a player you signed this year. I realize they acquired Luisangel Acuña, Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford in the process of jettisoning Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, which complicates the issue a little, but my question would have been which prospects can I have for free. I’d almost certainly prefer the free options to paying 36 mill for young Acuña, assuming I could allocate that 36 million however I pleased. Same goes for Verlander. My next question would be when will the money-flow stall. There’s just no way I can believe this guy is willing to spend half a billion dollars annually simply because we’ve never seen that. 

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The Itch

Prospect News: Here’s To You, Mr. Robinson or Sightler Sore Eyes

July 30, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 25 Comments

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A 15th round pick in 2022, Pirates 1B Josiash Sightler checks in at 6’3” 234 lbs and faces some uphill battles to carve out a major league role. He’s a corner-only bat who lost a key season to the pandemic and is pretty old for his current level, but he’s also hit eight home runs in 27 professional games across three levels. This week, he earned a promotion to High-A after slashing .500/.563/.891 with nine strikeouts and nine walks in 18 games at Low-A. The plate skills will be the key to his climb, and he’s already got twice as many walks (4) as strikeouts (2) in three High-A games. If he keeps this up, he should close the season in Double-A and open next year at spring training with the big club. Pittsburgh will probably bring in another veteran first baseman on the cheap, but Sightler is already the most interesting 1B in the organization. 

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