Four names have left this list since its last iteration: Twins OF Alex Kirilloff, Cubs 2B Nico Hoerner, Pirates RHP Miguel Yajure, and today, Rays RHP Luis Patiño.
With a pang of goodbye riding astride the hope of new beginnings in our hearts, we turn the page to a new edition of the 2021 Stash List.
Click here for a look back at 2021 Prospect Stash List Week 1.
1. Boston OF Jarren Duran
I’m betting on Boston and against Franchy Cordero here. The Sawx are contenders, and Duran is one of their top three outfielders. Pretty simple. His skill set is ideal for fantasy. He’s aggressive with his double-plus speed on the bases, patient in the batter’s box, and has recently been tapping into solid power thanks to a swing change that hasn’t harmed his plus hit tool.
2. Seattle OF Jarred Kelenic
Look, we all expected to see Kelenic in the top spot, but that’s just not the simulation we’re living. GM Jerry DiPoto said Friday that Kelenic’s timeline can be measured in “weeks not days” and that lines up pretty well with my read on this situation from the beginning of draft season. Been thinking mid-June on Kelenic for a long time.
Is Kelenic a better player than Duran? Probably, yeah. Is there any profit in acknowledging that? No. No, there’s not. Will Duran steal more bases than Kelenic while offering solid production across the board? Yeah I think he will, which gives him a chance to outperform Kelenic for our game if he beats him to the show by a few scoring periods.
3. San Francisco OF Heliot Ramos
Major tea leaf reading here—drunken Trelawny scrolling Twitter type stuff—but Heliot has been burning up the alt site after a strong spring while the Giants are rolling through the league and showing no hesitation to promote players from A ball. RHPs Camilo Doval and Gregory Santos have both looked great, boosting a bullpen that was already cruising. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, front man Farhan Zaidi is good at this game. If you want to get more hyped on Ramos, compare his minor league stats at age to Kelenic’s. Ramos had a growth year as an 18-year-old in A ball when he was 3.4 years younger than the average player, but other than that, these two look pretty similar from draft capital to track record to baseline toolset. Same as with Duran, I do think Kelenic is the better player, but there’s no profit in acknowledging that and plenty of profit in wondering how wide that gap will be.
4. Tampa Bay SS Wander Franco
Hell I dunno. He’s gotta be on here somewhere. Afraid he might drop down the list week to week as he remains in the minors and hope of seeing him this decade dwindles.
5. Kansas City SS Bobby Witt Jr.
The Royals are playing well, and their infield continues to have more questions than answers: two things that auger well for Witt’s redraft buyers. The key for him will be making enough contact to let the speed, power and defense shine, and that’s the kind of thing we can’t know until he gets a whole lot of plate appearances against the world’s best pitchers.
6. Seattle RHP Logan Gilbert
Takes a lot of work for me to avoid calling every man named Logan “Weapon X” in these pages. Kevin Smith may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Mallrats is a singular viewing experience. If you’re going to hold one pitching prospect hoping he might come up and help your club, Gilbert should be that gottfried. He’s got a big league starter’s pitch mix and command, and he’ll be coming up to a hot club with pretty strong defense in a nice pitcher’s park.
7. Miami OF JJ Bleday
I’d nominate Bleday for most likely to wind up looking too low on this list. “So move him up,” you might be thinking. Fair point, you, but it’s complicated. I’d be moving him based more on a guess he’ll be up soon than any real belief in his ability to impact our game as a rookie. Thing is, Miami was reportedly making eyes at him when Starling Marte went on the IL and might’ve moved that direction if it looked like a long term issue. Turns out Marte only needs a week’s rest for a broken rib. What the what? We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.
8. Boston SS Jeter Downs
This guy was ready for his next challenge two years ago. Boston did its best to block him this winter, signing Marwin Gonzalez and Enrique Hernandez and even Danny Santana to go along w Christian Arroyo. Big leaguers, all, maybe, but none a long term play of any kind for one the league’s wealthiest clubs. If they stay in the hunt, it’ll be because these guys played well, so kind of a multi-edged blade there. Downs makes the list because he’ll be an impact option early, even if we have to wait for an injury or two to clear his path.
9. Seattle OF Julio Rodriguez
Every win for Seattle feels like a point in Julio’s favor, as his only chance at a 2021 promotion is probably tied to his team’s success on the field. I think he’ll be loud for fantasy from day one.
10. Tampa Bay 2B Vidal Brujan
I probably should’ve called him Tampa Bay OF Vidal Brujan. I’m not confident he’ll come up soon, but I’m certain you’ll want him in your lineup for steals when that day comes.
Here’s the next 15, in case you’re curious.
11. Los Angeles (AL) OF Jo Adell
12. San Diego LHP MacKenzie Gore
13. Texas RHP DeMarcus Evans
14. Oakland RHP Daulton Jefferies
15. Minnesota OF Trevor Larnach
16. NewYork RHP Deivi Garcia
17. Kansas City LHP Daniel Lynch
18. Toronto RHP Alek Manoah
19. Detroit RHP Matt Manning
20. Los Angeles (AL) Brandon Marsh
21. Chicago (NL) RHP Cory Abbott
22. Chicago (NL) LHP Brailyn Marquez
23. Pittsburgh RHP Roansy Contreras
24. Baltimore OF Yusniel Diaz
25. San Diego SS CJ Abrams
Thanks for reading!
I’m @theprospectitch on Twitter.
