It’s the marvelous Mesa Brothers! Witness these Cuban compadres crush all comers with their colossal clout! Where do these sensational siblings get their serious swagger? By smoking Chesterfields of course. Chesterfields – on the war front AND the home front. Whoa…so sorry. I had the 1940 newsreel plugin enabled. Okay, we should be good now. The Marlins recently signed a living Doublemint gum commercial for a cool $6 million, and since it’s my job to make things up about prospects so Grey will think I’m useful, let’s see if either Victor Mesa Jr. or Victor Victor Mesa are going to be worth our time in 2019 fantasy baseball. Pass the inter-dimensional clicker. It’s two brothers. Old women are coming, but these brothers have a strong bond. You better bet your bottom dollar that these two brothers know how to handle business. It’s two brothers. It’s just two brothers!
Victor Victor Mesa | Age: 22 | ETA: 2019
Mesa profiles as a better reality player than a fantasy one, but he’ll still land near the top of the Marlins’ minor league system. That should explain something about the state of the Marlins and why over five of the six million spent on these guys went to Victor2. He’s a defense-first, plus-speed outfielder with an average hit tool and below-average/average power. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it caps his ceiling at somewhere around an OF3/OF4 in standard leagues. He’ll likely be more useful in deeper formats or as an NL-only play. At 22, he won’t need much seasoning in the minors and should be in the mix in 2019. If I were ranking the Marlins today, he’d be in their top three, but that’s a system that doesn’t really have any Grade A prospects, so he’d still be in that B/B+ range. In fact, I’d still take Monte Harrison over him in a Marlins-only prospect draft.
Victor Mesa Jr. | Age: 17 | ETA: 202?
Junior is obviously much harder to project. At 17, he’ll have a bunch of development left ahead of him before he’s even in the conversation for fantasy leagues. Right now, he’s a play for the deeper dynos that hold first year player drafts and roster loads of specs. Junior’s profile is basically the same as his brother’s, with a bit less speed and a bit more upside with the bat – in particular his pure hit tool. I doubt Junior cracks the Miami top ten in the minor league preview for 2019, but could make an appearance on next year’s list with a solid showing in his first year of pro ball in the States.
Meanwhile, at the Arizona Fall League…
Keston Hiura (MIL) continues to destroy everything – hitting .326 through eleven games with three homers and three steals. Peter Alonso (NYM) leads the league in homers (4), and first baseman Tyler Nevin (COL) is your current OPS champ. On the pitching side, Forrest Whitley (HOU) is the strikeout king with 19 punch-outs in 12 innings.
Keston Hiura update, he went 2/4 Saturday with a home run and five RBIs. He now is hitting .340, leads the AFL with 24 RBIs and is tied for the HR lead with four. Can you say future Wonder Boy? I’m starting to believe Hiura might be a special talent. But, it is early.
I’m liking Hiura too, hopefully he actually gets MLB playing time
Nice!