I’ll set the stage. Jeff Luhnow is on Let’s Make A Deal, dressed as Raggedy Andy. George Springer is injured. Will he take what’s behind door number one? That’s Kyle Tucker – the prospect extraordinaire who is hitting .364 with nine homers and four steals in May and is already on the 40-man roster. Hard pass. Okey-dokey. Let’s go for door number two! That’s Yordan Alvarez. *crowd goes crazy* Alvarez is hitting .374 with 19 home runs this season. Luhnow thinks hard. Nope. He wants to see what’s behind door number three!! It’s Derek Fisher! Not what we were expecting folks. Fisher’s been fine, hitting .314 with eight homers, but man we came oh so close to a really sexy call up. Here’s what else is happening around the minor leagues…
Colton Welker, CI | COL – 3-for-4 with a homer, his fourth of the year. Welker is hitting .309 this season for Double-A Hartford, and he’s one of the better corner infield prospects once you get beyond the studs. The Rockies are weird with their development and promotions, so I’d look at Welker as a deep league/NL-only piece for now.
Alex Jackson, C | ATL – 2-for-4 with two homers. Jackson has been around forever, and was always a risky prospect, but if you’ve held onto him this long, things seem to be settling with Atlanta. For one, he’s behind the plate again. Two, he’s showing some decent power with ten homers on the year. Strikeouts and average will be a liability. But in fantasy, especially at this position, we can stomach that for homers.
Blake Rutherford, OF | CWS – 2-for-4 with a double. Blake (pronounced buh-la-kay) still hasn’t lived up to his draft hype and is now hitting a cool .187 with three homers this season for Double-A Birmingham. Full disclosure, I bought low hoping to see him figure it out – and there’s still time – but he’s off to a poor start, with a strikeout rate that has spiked 6% to go along with the crappy counting stats.
Bobby Bradley, 1B | CLE – Three homers in his last three games, hitting .277 on the year for Triple-A Columbus. At this point I’m genuinely perplexed why Bradley hasn’t been added to the offense-starved Tribe roster, other than for the fact that he isn’t currently on their 40-man. If/when he gets the call, he could be a cheap source of power, so I’d stash in AL-only formats at this point.
Gavin Lux, SS | LAD – 0-for-4, snapping a ten-game hit streak in which he hit .444 with three homers. Lux is now hitting .321 on the season with 11 homers, and could force his way to Triple-A by the end of this season and LA by the end of next. I often get questions on who to stash for next year. Lux seems like a good candidate for that.
So who is the next fantasy impact call up Mike?
Probably Tucker
Maybe Bichette if he comes back quickly
Urias too
Hi Mike,
I’m in a 10 team, roto, keeper and I’m loaded with prospects this year. A. Riley, Biggio, Lopez, Z. Gallen, Tatis and Eloy are ALL on my squad. We’re allowed to keep 4 players per year. Which of this group would you recommend that I keep? Please note that I also have Acuña, whom I know is no longer a prospect. Please advise.
Eloy, Tatis, Riley, and Biggio
Mike,
Who is the better stash? Yordan Alvarez or Tucker
Thanks again
Tucker
Great work Mike!
Who is going to be relevant from now on? Josh James, Duplantier, Ponce De Leon
Thanks,
Thanks! I’d say Duplantier
Thanks for the write-up Mike. Regarding your lede, I’m thinking that with the 1st place Astro’s calling up Fisher instead of Tucker or Alvarez (which wasn’t going to happen as he’s not on the 40-man), neither are going to get called up until September. That is, if you already have a 7-game lead in a crappy division why start the arbitration clocks on your prospects. What do you think of this logic?
Also, what are your thoughts on Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Newman of the Pirates. Both have been hot as of late. I have no room for Newman, but thinking of dropping Mazara in favor of Reynolds and was just wondering what you thought of him.
Happy Sunday!
Thanks!
Makes sense.
I’d stick with Mazara.
In a h2h dynasty do I make this trade? I already have albies as my? 2b for future and also have other stud prospects in my NA spots like: Bichette, Mize, Bart. Anyway my team has ?been struggling out of the gate, but don’t want to give up on the year. I could definitely use another sp.?
Not sure what the exact trade is that you refer to, but if you can get an ace for Albies, sure go for it.
Oops my bad the trade would be Brujan for Lester
If your window is now I’d say go for it
This is my team btw. I definitely have a squad that can win now, but my team has been scuffling over the last month. I think I have a decent shot to creep back into the playoff picture. What do you think?
C Danny Jansen
1B Pete Alonso
2b Ozzie albies
Ss Trevor Story
3b Rafael Devers
Rf Bryce Harper
Cf Ronald Acuna
Lf Juan Soto
Util Jonathan Villar
Bn Kevin Cron
Bn Jesus Aguilar
Na Bo Bichette
Na Vidal Brujan
Na Joey Bart
Sp Julio Urias
Sp Miles Mikolas
Sp Brandon woodruff
Rp John brebbia
Rp Ryan Pressly
Rp Hansel Robles
P Marcus Walden
P Nick Anderson
P Jose Alvarado
Bn Martin Perez
Bn John Means
Bn Zach Efflin
Na Deivi Garcia
Na Casey Mize
Oops forgot to mention I also have Sixto Sanchez
Yeah that’s a contending team but you do need SP.
Is Luis Urias an add before the Super 2 deadline? Nate Lowe is another that could be speculation add if the Rays are insuring their future with service time manipulation.
I’d go with Urias
Is Jarren Duran this good? Leading MILB in ba.
No but he’s a solid table setter with speed and contact skills.
Mike –
[~ catcher question, prospect style ~]
Which Braves catcher do you like more, Alex Jackson or William Contreras?
Also, I need some guidance on the MLB level …
Do you think it’s time to move on from Ronny Rodriguez? I thought I might of had something with him, but he’s cooled off and didn’t get the start yesterday, and is only 2/20 in the last 7 days … in my 16 team dynasty league Shed Long is out there and I’m temped to snap up Long and drop Ronny — what do you think?
Thanks, Mike!
Jackson
Yeah I’d make he Ronny/Long swap
Very deep NL only
Need to keep two of these K Newman, P Sandoval K Cron Raja Davis
Which 2?
Hmm, Newman and Cron
Mike good morning from Sweden,
Gonna be rude and ask a trade q, but first thanks for advice a few months ago on how to navigate my first dynasty team. My team is two years away, but my roster is caked with 22-26 year old upside. Thanks for the guidance.
6X6 roto, 10 team, 5 bench and 3 dl spots, I was offered Snell for Soto,
Of is Trout, Hoskins, Soto, Judge, Haninger, Jimenez, and currently Canha (5 active)
Starters are Syndergaard, Flaherty, Marquez, Smith, Boyd, Fried, Woodruff.
I figure I could lose Soto, but may not need to. Pull the trigger? If anything I need pitching ratios.
Thanks braddah. Have a nice weekend man.
Keep Soto. Trade Haniger for a SP 2-3 type. Easier to find pitching especially in a 10 teamer.
Thank you man, I was just thinkin that. Much appreciate your time and for helping me off the fence.
I love trading. M’the kinda guy who sees some dice and’s gotta throw em.
Slave to the juice.
Have a nice weekend Mike and Pack.
No problem…I’d hold Soto and trade a lesser bat for a lesser arm.
Cheers Mike, have a great Sunday.
You too!