Prospect News: Top 50 for Dynasty Leagues, Post-Draft Update
Here’s where the introductory words for part two would go, if I thought any of us wanted to see those.
And here’s a link to the Top 25, in case you want to see those.
26. RHP Taj Bradley | Rays | 21 | AAA | 2023
27. OF Zac Veen | Rockies | 20 | A+ | 2024
28. LHP Ricky Tiedemann | Blue Jays | 19 | AA | 2023
Taj Bradley is getting knocked around a bit at Triple-A (5.25 ERA in three starts), but this is Tampa we’re talking about. Nobody suppresses their own pitchers’ ratios like the Rays.
Zac Veen has 50 stolen bases in 54 attempts with a 129 wRC+ in 92 games. The Rockies have more good hitting prospects than usual. Can’t wait to see how they screw them up.
Give Ricky Tiedemann another couple dominant starts in Double-A and he’ll have a case for the top ten. He might be there already on some lists. No real argument with that from me. The rankings feel especially fluid right now. It’s a time of putting your money in your mouth and then chewing it up and chasing it down with a shot of tequila.
29. SS Marcelo Mayer | Red Sox | 19 | A+ | 2025
30. SS Masyn Winn | Cardinals | 20 | AA | 2023
31. SS Luisangel Acuña | Rangers | 20 | AA | 2023
No red flags in Marcelo Mayer profile. Not even a yellow. I guess he went 0-for-5 in his High-A debut on Tuesday night.
Masyn Winn’s a tricky prospect because he’s got top-of-the-scale athleticism, but his wRC+ is just 99 this season in a juiced offensive Double-A environment. He also has 30 steals in 35 attempts and plays double-plus defense at shortstop.
Pitch recognition is the name of the game, and mastery of that micro-moment at the decision point is all but impossible to differentiate from prospect to prospect. Luisangel Acuña makes great swing decisions and employs similar expertise on the base paths. He hasn’t typically wowed scouts, but he’s always been young for his level and thriving in key lineup spots for the Rangers.
32. RHP Daniel Espino | Guardians | 21 | AA | 2023
I hate ranking injured players. I don’t really have anything to say except “we’ll see” or something, so that’s where I’m at here. Espino hasn’t pitched since April and remains without a timetable for his return.
33. 3B Curtis Mead | Rays | 21 | AAA | 2023
34. 1B Kyle Manzardo | Rays | 21 | AA | 2023
35. OF Alex Ramirez | Mets | 19 | A+ | 2024
36. SS Marco Luciano | Giants | 20 | A+ | 2024
Pour one out for Mead while he’s on the IL with an elbow injury.
Kyle Manzardo is one of those super fun players who I was skyscraper high on in my Top 50 First-Year-Player-Draft Prospects, which helped push him out of my FYPD price range. He’s already in Double-A after slashing .329/.436/.636 with a 1/1 BB/K rate in 63 High-A games.
Alex Ramirez has a little extraneous noise in his pre-swing set-up, but his hands are so fast it hasn’t held him back yet, though I think you can see it in the strikeout rate even as he’s heating up in High-A.
Marco Luciano missed more than two months with a back injury, but he’s back in action on the complex and should return to High-A for next week’s games, or perhaps even make the jump from the complex league to Double-A. The Giants said they weren’t able to do much at the deadline because their farm was having a tough season, so they might play it safe and slow with Luciano.
37. SS Termarr Johnson | Pirates | 18 | NA | 2025
38. SS Jackson Holliday | Orioles | 18 | NA | 2026
39. RHP Gavin Stone | Dodgers | 23 | AA | 2022
40. C Diego Cartaya | Dodgers | 20 | A+ | 2024
41. OF Kerry Carpenter | Tigers | MLB | 2022
42. SS Adael Amador | Rockies | 19 | A | 2025
43. SS Edwin Arroyo | Mariners | 18 | A | 2025
Just shared some thoughts on Johnson and Holiday in Prospect News: Top 15 for 2023 First-Year-Player Dynasty Drafts.
Diego Cartaya faces a stacked roster in Los Angeles, but he’s got plenty of time and plenty of power.
His command hasn’t been as pinpoint the last few times out, but Gavin Stone has still been mostly untouchable, allowing just five runs despite 23 walks in his last 42.1 innings across eight games.
The Tigers promoted Kerry Carpenter to make his major league debut today. I’m happy to see it. His swing decisions have been on point all season long but ascended to a new level in Triple-A. He’s the type of prospect who could put himself on the long term map with a strong stretch or fall back into the dreaded Quad-A pool if he craters.
Adael Amador and Edwin Arroyo are outstanding prospects. I’m just a little worried about the Jackson Chourio phenomenon and prevalence of model-based rankings in general creating some false positives along the way among skilled young players with elite hand-eye coordination but perhaps not enough physicality to thrive at the highest level. The right approach is still to run these players up your lists and let the stars sort themselves out a little down the road. It’s important to be playing this kind of high-stakes blackjack on the waiver wire. Amador should be in High-A.
44. LHP Nick Lodolo | Reds | 24 | MLB | 2022
45. OF George Valera | Guardians | 21 | AAA | 2023
46. 2B Michael Massey | Royals | 24 | MLB | 2022
47. IF/OF Cedanne Rafaela | Red Sox | 21 | AA | 2023
48. OF Robert Hassell III | Nationals | 20 | A+ | 2023
49. C Gabriel Moreno | Blue Jays | 22 | AAA | 2022
50. SS Brayan Rocchio | Guardians | 21 | AA | 2023
Typical rookie pitcher stuff from Nick Lodolo so far: flashes of dominance but mostly the opposite. Long term, I really like his combination of command, stuff and approach angle.
George Valera was flagging a bit at Double-A, slashing .195/.295/.329 in 23 games since July 1, so I’m curious to see how he reacts to being promoted to Triple-A this week anyway. Gotta say I don’t love it as a developmental strategy. He’s striking out 29.5 percent of the time in that stretch and 25.8 percent in 90 games at the level. Not bat at all for a 21-year-old against older players, but you’d prefer to see him going the right direction in that area.
The next time Michael Massey struggles to hit will be the first.
The Ninja Turtle, Cedanne Rafaela, is less likely to become a major league regular than the three guys after him, given the free-swinging nature of his game, but he’ll be impactful for our game if he can get on the field enough.
If you’ve been around awhile, you probably already know I think Robert Hassell III is a likely big leaguer who’s going to be solid. You also might know I don’t think he’s worth the trouble to acquire or hold him in most dynasty leagues where he brings enough perceived value to be swapped for high-end veterans.
I’m starting to worry that Gabriel Moreno won’t make enough impact with the bat to force his way into the Blue Jays lineup.
Brayan Rocchio feels a little like Moreno in the sense that he’s a good player but might struggle to find his first extended opportunity and might not impact our fantasy squads much even when he does.
Thanks for reading!
I’m @theprospectitch on Twitter.
