Today, we’re heading back to the 2018 draft to unearth some hidden gems. You’ve all likely heard about Casey Mize, and Alec Bohm, and Nolan Gorman… but who are some of the other prospects who will soon become dynasty darlings?

Shane McClanahan, LHP, Rays
Baseball America (org ranking): 11
MLB Pipeline: 10
Marc Hulet: 4

McClanahan deserves more love. As you can see above, most publications have him around the fringe of the Rays’ Top 10 prospects list. And I get it. He was a top college player — selected 31st overall — but opened his first full season in Low-A ball, which is not the most challenging level given his past pedigree. However, there were big concerns over his ability to throw consistent strikes and, well, this is the Rays — an organization that is always on the conservative side of developing prospects not named Wander Franco.

And the concern was warranted, as seen by McClanahan’s walk rate of 5.26 BB/9 in 11 appearances. After showing improvements, he was promoted to High-A ball where he was outstanding at working the strike zone. He walked just eight batters in 49.1 innings, which works out to a sparkling 1.46 BB/9 rate. The hard-throwing lefty didn’t miss quite as many bats with his new approach but it was still far better than average (from 12.57 to 10.76 K/9). McClanahan was so impressive in those nine games that he earned another promotion — this time to Double-A. In his one start to date, he posted a K-BB of 8-1 with just two hits allows in five innings. With a blazing fastball, excellent curveball, strong frame, and a tendency to induce ground-ball outs, McClanahan has all but shaken off the concerns that he may eventually end up in the bullpen.

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Hey y’all! With the trade deadline in the major leagues and minor league season ending soon, this is a great time to look at some interesting prospects to take a flyer on. This week, I’m bringing you an outfielder that should be manning the outfield for St. Louis this September, another Royal outfield who is stealing bases like crazy and two pitchers in organizations that know how to develop pitchers.

Randy Arozarena – OF (STL AAA) Age: 24 ETA: 2019

The Cardinals signed Randy Arozarena in 2016 after he defected from Cuba in 2014. He was assigned to High A and hit 0.275 with a 0.333 OBP and eight home runs. After 70 games, the Cardinals moved him up to AA, where he struggled a bit with the more difficult competition. He repeated the level in 2018 and after hitting 0.396 in 24 games, he made his way to AAA, where again, he struggled. In a surprising move, the Cardinals again assigned him to AA to start the season but promoted him to AAA at the beginning of June.

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Today, we’re dropping in unannounced on some of the 2019 draft picks to see how they’re acclimatizing to pro baseball. In the process, we’ll have some thoughts on when they should be targeted in your dynasty or keeper fantasy leagues based on their MLB ETA. Keep in mind that a strong start to pro ball is encouraging but does not always guarantee future success (the opposite is also true). So this is just the first step in a long journey.

*Prior to the 2019 amateur draft, I published a mock draft based on where I thought the prospects should go based on a review of video, statistical information, and other scouting reports (as opposed to most mock drafts that attempt to accurately predict where players are going). I’m including a link to that piece as it’s referenced below on a number of occasions).

Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles:
2020 LEVEL: High-A
MLB ETA: 2022

The first overall pick of the draft took some time before making his pro debut so he’s only played in 11 games so far, split between Rookie ball and Short-Season A-ball. It’s been a slow start for the switch-hitting catcher as he’s hitting just .158 through 38 at-bats. The good news is that he’s had some bad luck on balls in play at the higher level. He also has a decent strikeout rate (13.5% K-rate) while also showing patience (12% BB-rate). Rutschman is looking good defensively and has thrown out 57% of base runners in seven attempts.

Andrew Vaughn, 1B, White Sox:
2020 LEVEL: Double-A
MLB ETA: 2021

I personally advocated for Vaughn first overall but he instead went third overall to Chicago. And the White Sox have done what the White Sox tend to do far too often. They’ve pushed a prospect extremely aggressively – for reasons that remain unclear. Now, Vaughn has done OK. He has an .898 OPS overall and a BB-K rate of 16-24 in 30 games over three levels. But his .798 OPS in 23 Low-A games was OK-not-great but he was recently pushed up to High-A ball nonetheless. My guess is that the front office wants to get the young core together as quickly as possible since the AL Central is hardly the AL East so you can conceivably rebuild and win the division at the same time.

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The dust has settled after the trade deadline storm. Or was it more of a tropical depression?

As we survey the altered landscape, we can see that a number of prospects have benefited from change? At the same time, a few prospects that changed hands saw their values hurt by their respective deals.

Let’s take a moment to review in more depth.

The Good

Joey Wentz, LHP (From Braves to Tigers): I’m a Wentz fan and this move gets him out of the logjam of pitchers in Atlanta and puts him into an organization that is trending upwards — especially in the pitching category. Detroit has amassed an impressive group of upper-level arms in its own right now and we could see a rotation in a year or two of Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal and Wentz. If Matthew Boyd sticks around, who’s still only 28, it’s even better.

Joshua Rojas, UTIL (From Astros to Diamondbacks): Rojas is a name you may not be overly familiar with but he was a great late-round draft selection by the Astros, an organization that has a history of finding value in strange places. The 25-year-old can play all over the diamond so his versatility is a huge plus. And the bat is not so bad, either. He has 20 home runs in 97 Triple-A games. If you’re in a league that rewards walks, like Ottoneu, well, he has a BB-K of 55-64. And how about some steals? He’s not fast but he’s a smart baserunner and has 32 steals in 42 attempts this year. Arizona is also a pretty nice place to hit so this guy should be on your radar.

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Hey y’all! Today’s trade deadline was very exciting with a bunch of prospects changing teams. In today’s list, I’m bringing you four interesting prospects who you should look into picking up in your dynasty leagues.

There is one outfielder who is an OBP machine, another outfielder with all the power, another super speedy outfielder that might be an interesting speed option, and an infielder who should be in the big leagues next year.

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The Prospect Stock Watch has been taking a tour around the minor leagues while reviewing rising prospects. These are prospects that likely won’t be on Top 100 lists or on your fantasy rosters just yet but they could become targets in dynasty leagues over the next year or two. We finish up the series today with a look at the American League West.

Previous Articles:
NL East
NL Central
NL West
AL East
AL Central

Seattle Mariners

Jake Fraley, OF (AAA): Fraley was an astute pick-up by the Marines in a trade last year with the Rays. Injuries kept the 2016 draft pick to 96 games combined between 2017 and 2018 so he didn’t get a full opportunity to show what was capable of with consistent playing time. Fraley’s breakout began in Double-A ball this year and he was recently promoted to Triple-A. Between the two levels, he has 16 home runs and 20 steals, making him a legit threat to become a 20-20 (HR-SB) player. He’s a left-handed pitcher who hangs in well against southpaws and can play all three outfield positions; he looks like a future regular at the big league level. ETA: 2020

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Hey y’all! Another week of baseball in the books. With July coming to a close, this week’s Stash List is filled with guys most likely on your waiver wire. It includes an outfielder in the Braves system that is not getting much love, a defensive minded catcher that has found his hitting stroke, and two pitchers that are performing well to little to no attention.

Trey Harris (ATL AA) OF Age: 23 ETA 2021

While Cristian Pache and Drew Waters are killing it in AA this year, there is another outfielder having a breakout season. Trey Harris put together an excellent college career at Missouri before the Braves selected him in the 32nd round of last years draft. The 5’10” outfielder is a great athlete and has a projectable body. After being drafted, the Braves assigned him to rookie ball. In 31 games, he struck out less than he walked, 9.8 K% to a 15.9 BB%. The Braves promoted him to A ball to finish out the season, where he had a 0.286 AVG. To start out this year, the Braves assigned him to A ball.

In his first 56 games, Harris hit 0.366 with a 0.437 OBP and smacked eight ball out of the park to go with his fourteen doubles. A+ ball was no match for Harris. He had a 0.303 AVG with 0.388 OBP and picked up another four home runs. He swiped three bags to call along with four in A ball. Going forward, I would not expect many steals from Harris. In Rookie ball, he was four for seven and then in A ball this year he was four for eight. It is great to see an advanced college bat like Harris killing the lower minors. He was recently promoted to AA and this will be a big test for Harris. In deeper leagues, I would keep him on my watch list.

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The Prospect Stock Watch is taking a tour around the minor leagues reviewing rising prospects. These are prospects that likely won’t be on Top 100 lists or on your fantasy rosters just yet but they will likely become targets in dynasty leagues over the next year or two. We began with the National League but switched over to the American League late last week with the east division. Today, we have a look at the central division.

Minnesota Twins

Jhoan Duran, RHP (A+): The Twins traded Eduardo Escobar to the Diamondbacks during last year’s trade deadline and came away with a very interesting prize in Duran. The 21-year-old hurler has always shown good stuff but he’s spending more time in the upper reaches of his velocity range (93-98 mph) and is displaying improved secondaries. He has an impressive K-BB of 90-28 through 74 innings this year. Duran has also shown the ability to induce ground balls at a well-above-average rate. Jordan Balazovic has been a breakout pitcher for the Twins in 2019 and is earning much more press recently but Duran deserves a lot of attention, too. ETA: 2021

Griffin Jax, RHP (AA): Jax hasn’t been on many radars as a prospect despite being a third-round pick back in 2016 because of his previous commitment to the Air Force. That requirement kept him to just 40 innings over his first two pro seasons but he can now focus on baseball full time. Jax has moved swiftly through the minors despite his lack of innings and could soon find himself knocking on the big league door within a year. He might be best suited to relief with a solid fastball-changeup combo but lack of a reliable breaking ball. Jax is also said to have a bulldog mentality, which would suit him well in a shorter, high-leverage role. ETA: 2020

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It feels like the season is winding down, but there are still two-plus months left so we will still see plenty of minor leaguers come up and get a shot. Today I want to look at a group of K-BB% leaders who haven’t appeared in the majors yet (min. 70 IP at Double- and Triple-A).

Nabil Crismatt, SEA – 24% K-BB

The 24-year old started his big season in Double-A and has definitely slowed down in Triple-A, despite still striking out 34% of the batters he’s faced in 22 innings there. I’ll defer to Alex Chamberlain for more info on him as he recently featured Crismatt in a Peripheral Prospects piece.

Alex Faedo, DET – 23%

Faedo has improved in a repeat of Double-A, jumping in K-BB% from 15% to 23%. He was ranked 15th in the Detroit prospect list this spring, but these 99 innings have helped his outlook. While he hasn’t hit Triple-A, he might not need much time there before getting a look in the majors. He and the next guy on the list both appeared in Peripheral Prospect 1.13.

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Hey y’all!  This week’s stash list should be a good one for all of you deep fantasy league players. I’ll be reviewing two pitchers with excellent K-BB percentages, that could help your ratios in a few years. I also bring to you a Houston hitter, that is not Kyle Tucker, unable to crack the Houston lineup. I also profile a very young San Francisco Giant killing low A and begging for a call-up.

I hope you got a chance to read my Top 100 prospects list. If you hadn’t, what are you waiting for?

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