Another week, another set of closer rankings. The following ranks are based on accumulating Saves with talent as a secondary consideration. The order is the ranking I would prefer to roster them. In some instances, I wasn’t sure (e.g. Ken Giles), I made a note.

I had a tough time ranking #12 to #30. Each of these pitchers has some questions surrounding them mainly be traded or being replaced by someone the team trades for. It’s a tough balance.
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With the July 4th holiday and All-Star game, the waiver wire activity was down in the 38 NFBC Main Event leagues.

Injured

• Tyler Skaggs (32): Rest in peace.
• Tommy La Stella (30): He might be back for a couple of weeks in September.
• Jose Alvarado (15): On the IL for a month or two with a strained oblique.
• Jesus Luzardo (13): A lat strain has him out at least another month.
• Ji-Man Choi (13): Being borderline rosterable to begin with, an ankle injury put him on the waiver wire.
• Carlos Carrasco (11): Owners aren’t expecting much from him this season.

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The Prospect Stock Watch is taking a tour around the minor leagues while highlighting rising prospect values around baseball. These are prospects that likely won’t be on your fantasy rosters or radars just yet but they will likely become targets in dynasty leagues over the next year or two. Last week, we started off by looking at the National League East. Today, we tackle the prospects in the Central Division.

Chicago Cubs

Brennen Davis, OF (A): The second-round pick of the Cubs in 2018 is coming on even quicker than expected. When selected, there was thought that Davis’ hit tool was one of his least developed tools but he hit .298 in his debut and is hitting .302 this season through 36 A-ball games. He’s making an excellent amount of contact for his experience level (18.5 K%) and he’s also showing outstanding patience (11 BB%). Once he adds some more good weight/muscle to his 6-4 frame, he should have above-average power. Davis also has the speed to steal 20+ bases. ETA: 2022

Oscar De La Cruz, RHP (AA): Signed out of the Dominican way back in 2012, De La Cruz has shown flashes of potential but has struggled with injuries and inconsistencies. He also spent parts of four seasons in short-season ball but is finally holding his own in Double-A. De La Cruz has been a starter in the minors but looks like someone that might really take off if shifted to the bullpen. He has an average fastball but the curveball shows plus potential. Those two pitches — especially if he sees a little more fastball velo with the move — could make him a solid seventh- or eighth-inning reliever. ETA: 2020

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7/7/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to Fangraphs! With a standard $20 membership, you help maintain and improve our database of stats and graphs as well as our staff of 8 full-time employees and over 50 contributors. The premium ad-free membership at $50 year supports site growth and also includes faster load speeds and better site performance. You can also support monthly for just $3.

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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS, INJURIES, RUMORS

• Death of Tyler Skaggs (2:30)
• Liam Hendriks the closer? (6:20)
• Jose Alvarado to the IL? (14:05)
• Brewers promote Mauricio Dubon (19:27)
• A.J. Pollock starts rehab assignment (25:49)

FAAB Pickups

• Nate Lowe (32:34)
• Austin Slater (36:09)
• Dinelson Lamet (39:19)
• Dylan Cease (41:38)
• Chance Sisco (45:49) 
• Dominic Smith (49:17)
• Luis Arraez (54:38)

—

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions.

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Approximately 67 minutes of joyous analysis.

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It’s never a good week for adds when catchers take the top billing. Owners may want to focus on drops from last week and maybe gamble on some bullpen arms.

The projection guidelines:

• The ownership rates are from CBS since they have some quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
• The FAAB estimates are based on the 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used a $1000 FAAB budget. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
• The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
• Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS leagues are examined.
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The Prospect Stock Watch is taking a trip around the Majors Leagues. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be diving into each organization to highlight two or three prospects from each club that are seeing their values spike as we move into the second half of the season. The review begins this week with 13 names to know from the National League East.

Atlanta Braves:

Kyle Muller, LHP (AA): A former second-round draft pick out of high school, Muller saw his value dip with a drop in velocity. He’s rediscovered his lost zip and now has an above-average fastball for a lefty – as well as a very good curveball. At 6-6, he’s still learning to control his long levers and has had issues with walks this season (52 in 85 innings). Muller, 21, has a chance to be a mid-rotation innings-eater but there could also be high-leverage reliever potential here if he can find the strike zone more consistently. ETA: 2020

Patrick Weigel, RHP (AAA): A strong 2016 season had Weigel strongly entrenched on my up-and-comers radar but then his career ascent was derailed by Tommy John surgery. He missed part of 2017 and most of 2018 but is back and looking like he never left. The hard-throwing right-hander opened the year in Double-A but has now made nine appearances (eight starts) in Triple-A. His command and control have both been inconsistent as he returns from the long layoff but it’s nothing to be overly concerned about. Because his secondary stuff is just average, he profiles as a fastball-heavy, high-leverage reliever in The Show. ETA: 2019

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Mark Feinsand did a piece at MLB.com highlighting a player per position who could be dealt later this month, a good look at the early market that I recommend you read. What I’d like to do is look into the aftermath of those potential trades and highlight some guys who could fall into jobs. If you’re light on FAAB like I am in some leagues, you may consider acting early – especially with those who are almost certainly on the move – and scoop some of these guys in the coming weeks instead of waiting until August 1st.

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7/2/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to Fangraphs! With a standard $20 membership, you help maintain and improve our database of stats and graphs as well as our staff of 8 full-time employees and over 50 contributors. The premium ad-free membership at $50 year supports site growth and also includes faster load speeds and better site performance. You can also support monthly for just $3.

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Paul meanders aimlessly discussing the painfully thin pool of pitching.

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I hate pitching.

OK, that’s not true, but it gets so thin so fast. I have Kyle Gibson in the top 50 for cryin’ out loud. I’m sure we’ve got a lot to talk about given that it opens up entirely after like, pitcher 25, so hit me up in the comments!

(Now with more Clev Dog!)

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