Top 50 First-Year-Player Draft Prospects for Dynasty Leagues in 2022

Dynasty drafts come in several shapes and sizes. Some leagues break the player groups into veterans and prospects. Some leagues let you draft 34-year-old relievers right alongside 16-year-old little brothers. I don’t really have a favorite way to cut it up. I just love the game. Though I will say the Razz 30 has something special going on with a prospects-only draft and a vets-only auction that becomes, at its core, a bums-only auction. It’s about two weeks of slow-bidding Steven Brault up to $21, and it’s a treat like few others in the fantasy realm. Jose Martinez once sold for $96. Michael Pineda went for $62. Zach Davies for $36. Two of those are purchases of mine! The fun never ends! Well, except when you ask MLB owners if they’d rather make money or take all the different balls and go home.

Anywho, I’ve broken this year’s First-Year-Player Draft rankings down into tiers and included some snippets about where my head would be during those spots on the draft board.

You can find most of these guys in the 2022 Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Minor League Preview Index. 

If not, feel free to drop a question in the comments so we can talk some baseball, pass the time.

Format: Position Player | Team | Age on 4/1/2022 

1. SS Kahlil Watson | Marlins | 19

2. SS Marcelo Mayer | Red Sox | 19

3. SS Brady House | Nationals | 19

Get yourself one of the named guys if you can. I’d probably shop Mayer around the league if I landed him. Would probably hold House and/or Watson long term. 

4. SS Jordan Lawlar | Diamondbacks | 19 

5. OF Seiya Suzuki | ? | 27

6. RHP Jack Leiter | Rangers | 22

7. OF Jay Allen II | Reds | 19

Suzuki would be tier one if we knew he’d be playing. Leiter would be lower if the class had more big-time bats. Allen is my favorite player in the class in terms of topside versus cost. Have to jump in around the early teens to make it happen, I think. 

8. OF Colton Cowser | Orioles | 22

9. C Henry Davis | Pirates | 22 

10. 3B James Triantos | Cubs | 19

11. OF James Wood | Padres | 19

12. RHP Jackson Jobe | Tigers | 19

Rich soil here. I like all these guys at the spots they’re going. Have really warmed up to Jobe. He’s got an inside lane on being the number one pitching prospect in the near future. That’s as much curse as blessing, but it carries with it a ton of trade value if the planets align. Can make a case to take him over Cowser in a pitching-heavy league, but it’s not just trade value that appeals to me about Jobe. They’ve revamped pitching development in Detroit, and I think he’s as safe as high school righties get. (So, as safe a zombie apocalypse? Yeah. Something like that.)

13. OF Sal Frelick | Brewers | 22

14. C Harry Ford | Mariners | 19

15. SS Roderick Arias | Yankees | 17

16. OF Cristian Vaquero | Nationals | 17

17. OF Oscar Colas | White Sox | 23

Could flip the first four around in any order. Can also make a case against Colas being in the group, given his age and lack of recent professional experience, but he played at the highest levels in Cuba and Japan (albeit briefly) when he was a chubby teenager and held his own. Word is he’s no longer the shape he was then. Luis Robert refers to him as his little brother. The White Sox have as much success as anyone in signing Cuban players as far back as Alexei Ramirez and beyond. The current crew of Abreu, Grandal, Moncada, and Robert provide a transitional safety net for Colas, and Yolbert Sanchez joins him in the minors. All this is to say, I think people are picturing a pot-bellied oldster, and when they see an athletic-looking Colas, he’ll gain some ground. 

18. SS Matt McLain | Reds | 22

19. 3B Zack Gelof | Athletics | 22

20. 3B Colson Montgomery | White Sox | 20

21. RHP Gavin Williams | Guardians | 22

22. SS Trey Sweeney | Yankees | 22

23. RHP Will Bednar | Giants | 22

24. OF Benny Montgomery | Rockies | 19

25. 1B Kyle Manzardo | Rays | 21

26. 1B/OF Lazaro Montes | Mariners | 17 

27. RHP Robert Suarez | Padres | 31

Tiers start getting crowded here. You could cut it finer if you like, maybe drop it after Montgomery then again after Montgomery (what?), but you don’t want to be trading up to pick an apple over an orange here. Everyone in the group would be a good pick. Still, I’m checking to make sure someone like Vaughn Grissom or Dustin Harris isn’t available before I draft any of these dudes. 

I didn’t know what to do with Suarez, whose value varies from format to format and contention cycle to contention cycle. I do know I want him on my rosters.  I’d bump him up quite a bit in saves-only formats.

28. SS Ricardo Cabrera | Reds | 17

29. RHP Ty Madden | Tigers | 22

30. 2B Connor Norby | Orioles | 22

31. SS Carson Williams | Rays | 19 

32. 2B Cooper Kinney | Rays | 19 

33. RHP Gunnar Hoglund | Blue Jays | 22

34. LHP Jordan Wicks | Cubs | 22

I keep wanting to drop Wicks and Hoglund down a tier, but their value seems fairly well protected. I’d be much more likely to take Hoglund and watch his value creep as his return from Tommy John surgery nears. Wicks could have a string of meltdowns and become borderline droppable. Being a Cub cushions his value, but that only goes so far, especially considering their struggles to develop pitching. They’ve made big strides in that area; however, and that’s part of the reason I’ll leave Wicks here even if I’d be unlikely to draft him.

The full truth is I’m probably not drafting any of these guys, preferring to scour my league’s free agent pool for the Brendon Davis and Richie Palacios types. 

35. RHP Bubba Chandler | Pirates | 19

36. OF Lonnie White Jr. | Pirates | 19 

37. OF Jordan Viars | Phillies | 18

38. RHP Ryan Cusick | Atlanta | 22 

39. RHP Sam Bachman | Angels | 22

40. 3B Alex Binelas | Red Sox | 22

41. SS Bryan Acuña | Twins | 16 

42. SS Ryan Reckley | Giants | 17 

43. SS Diego Benitez | Atlanta | 17

Big upside in this tier with some college-pitching life rafts for the risk/time averse. 

The three teeny boppers at the back are all targets for me. Might be tough to fit any onto a contender though, as I’m likely to be drafting relievers around this range. Guys like RJ Dabovich and Dylan Coleman start to jump out around now for contending teams. 

44. SS William Bergolla Jr. | Phillies | 17

45. 3B Samuel Muñoz | Dodgers | 17

46. LHP Matt Mikulski | Giants | 23

47. SS Dyan Jorge | Rockies | 18

48. OF Joshua Baez | Cardinals | 19

49. C Joe Mack | Marlins | 19 

50. SS Jackson Merrill | Padres | 19

As we try to tell my daughter, you get what you get and you don’t get upset. Some big-time upside way back here with Bergolla, Baez, Jorge, and Muñoz. Every podcast I heard and article I read couldn’t stop talking about how awful this class was for dynasty baseball, and I couldn’t stop disagreeing with them. Good luck out there!

Thanks for reading!

I’m @theprospectitch on Twitter.