Determining what truly constitutes as a sleeper is an age-old debate. Take Duke’s Bryce Jarvis from the 2020 MLB Draft class. About two months ago, I ranked him 15th in my top 25 college fantasy baseball prospects while other ‘perts’ were tabbing him with third round status at best. Was he a sleeper then? Maybe. Is he now? No, because he’s risen all the way to No. 25 on MLB.com’s top 200 rankings. How about Pete Crow-Armstrong in this year’s class? Is he a sleeper if he indeed falls to the latter half of the first round? Maybe he goes in the twenties and we spend the next 20 years comping the prep schooler’s draft fall to that of Trout’s in 2009 (unlikely, but you get the point). And what about your 57-year-old Uncle Ed who just passed out on his La-Z-Boy after pounding five Millers and ghosting a Juul hit? Now that is a true sleeper my friends.
For this segment, what qualifies as a sleeper is this: a player sitting outside the top 50 2020 MLB Draft prospects according to both MLB.com and Baseball America who is considered a long shot to be drafted in the first round by the industry consensus (with bonus pool tomfoolery, we can never ensure who won’t be a first rounder with 100% accuracy). Out of this group of players, I have selected several which I believe will outperform their draft position as a future professional. I then separated these players based on where I anticipate they will be selected in this year’s five round draft: early, middle and late.
But wait! It gets better. I’ve even expanded into the high school prospect pool by including one, yes you heard that right — one — prep prospect in this post. Although the college circuit is my specialty, I feel confident enough in my knowledge of the high school crop to dig into a name here and there. If you’re playing in a dynasty league and looking for some high-upside deep finds in this year’s draft to target moving forward, look no further. And wake up Uncle Ed while you’re at it. That guy needs all the help he can get.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
