You’re probably on your third straight day of eating turkey-based meals, dealing with annoying relatives, staying out of a cold drizzle, and/or shopping in full body armor. Let’s brighten up your Sunday by flying south to the Dominican Republic, where baseball is being played as we speak. LIDOM (which is what cool kids call the Dominican League) is actually pretty entertaining if you can find a stream somewhere. It’s a mix of non-MLBers, prospects of yesteryear, and legit current MLB prospects that you’ll find on the Top 100 lists. There’s also cheerleaders and exciting announcers! They make cans of corn to left field sound like Game 7 of the World Series. The AFL is as dried up as that turkey in your mom’s fridge, so let’s look in on some of the prospects in the DR.
Francisco Mejia, C – Mejia is the best fantasy catcher going, and I wish he was still in Cleveland. He’s currently prosblocked by Hedges as Grey pointed out here, but once he’s up I think his bat will carry him to more playing time (even if it’s at another position). It’s been ho-hum so far in the DR, with no homers and a .259 average.
Victor Robles, OF – Spoiler alert…after Vlad and Eloy, Robles is my number three fantasy prospect. Not that it’s any kind of wild gamble, but I could see reasons to put Tatis or Tucker in that slot. Robles is hitting .265 with a homer and four steals this winter. He’s another redraft darling, so you can get more info on him from Grey here.
Fernando Tatis Jr., SS – Tatis is one of the best prospects in general but also one of the names on the radar for 2019 redraft leagues. You can get Grey’s take on that here. So far in the Dominican, Tatis is hitting .240 with a pair of homers and steals. Outside of the average, it’s the offensive package you’d expect with both power and speed.
Sean Murphy, C – If you were around a few weeks ago when I did up the Oakland specs top ten you know I put him fifth in the system and announced that I liked him as the best fantasy catching prospect after Mejia. I know, that’s like ranking my favorite instant oatmeals (clearly Quaker number one BTW) but Murphy gets cred for his defense and not so much his bat. His average sucks this winter (.185), but he does have a pair of homers and a steal. After some polish in Triple-A, we should see him in Oakland this year.
Rogelio Armenteros, RHP – I try really hard to pretend like I care about pitching prospects. I hope you all know this. But it’s usually as genuine as me saying, “yeah, no…that video isn’t creepy at all”. I just can’t fake it. Pitchers make me feel the way that video does – uncomfortable. So when I actually like one (like Armenteros) it’s a big leap for me. So far this winter he hasn’t disappointed – striking out 22 batters in 23 innings with a 1.17 ERA and 0.70 WHIP. He’s built to start and could see some in Houston this summer.
Leody Taveras, OF – Taveras ranked numero uno in my Rangers report so it only makes sense to check in with the 20-year-old this winter. What’s that? Hitting .229 with a steal? Ugh. Remind me not to check back in next week.
