Prospects to Look at in Ottoneu

We’re still a month from the Ottoneu trade deadline, but trades aren’t the only way for rebuilders to, well, rebuild. There are hundreds of prospects across baseball and only a small handful are regularly rostered in Ottoneu leagues, which means you can often find interesting names sitting out there as free agents. Today I am going to look at some prospects I like who are available in at least half of Ottoneu leagues.

The Bats

Luisangel Acuña – 29.1% Rostered – Acuña had skipped my notice for most of the year because he looks like a speed-only guy at first glance. And that is kind of true, but he draws walks, limits strikeouts, and has decent grades on his power from scouts. He’s on pace for 10-15 HR at Double-A in his age-21 season and should be in Triple-A to start 2024, if not sooner. If you are in 5×5, he is a must-roster. If you are in other formats, he is still pretty interesting.

Jonatan Clase – 35.26% Rostered – Clase absolutely dominated High-A and has looked pretty human in Double-A, so far. He’s another 80-grade speed who should be rostered more often in 5×5, but he doesn’t appear to be as close to a debut as Acuña, so I would stop short of calling him a “must-roster” in that format. In other formats, however, he is arguably more interesting, as he has flashed more power in the minors. He still has some work to do, so he is also riskier.

Ethan Salas – 33.65% Rostered – Salas is a hot topic because 17-year-old catchers should be struggling in rookie ball not dominating A-ball, but here we are. Salas is a special prospect with elite upside. However, he’s also a catcher and has a very limited track record. Catchers tend to be slow to move up the ladder, as learning the intricacies of the defensive side of the position is a more complex process than it is for other positions. And he is young. His advanced feel for the game might mitigate this, but there is some risk he spends the rest of this year in A and is moved slowly through Double-A and Triple-A before debuting in 2026 – and that is assuming things go well. For now, I am open to rostering him to see if the Padres move him more quickly (or if the helium allows me to cash him in this off-season).

Adael Amador – 27.88% Rostered – Amador is showing terrific plate discipline and I love prospects who walk and don’t strike out. Add in a premium defensive position and a future home in Coors Field and this is a fun player. I typically don’t love prospects who haven’t reached Double-A, but this time of year I am fine taking on a few for rebuilding teams, especially if I think they are likely in Double-A early next year. In addition, while the Rockies don’t have the best track record developing talent, they did just move Ezequiel Tovar quickly and Amador could follow suit.

Gabriel Gonzalez – 2.88% Rostered – Gonzalez is reported to be pretty fully developed for a 19-year-old, at least physically, and that might be a reason to take his power with a grain of salt. Typically you look at a kid that age and think, “wow, just wait until he grows into his power!” Gonzalez might have less of that growth coming than others. But the big concern I see from scouts is around his plate discipline and plate coverage and that hasn’t really been exposed yet. He doesn’t walk a ton but he doesn’t strike out much either. We’ll see how he handles the high-minors when he gets there, but I am intrigued enough to try to buy in early.

Chase DeLauter – 1.6% Rostered – DeLauter has had injury issues already, which both hurt his draft stock and delayed his debut, but he has been terrific (in just 81 pro PA) since getting going. Scouts have been mixed on him, but by the numbers he looks like he has a shot to be special and if he finishes this season strong, I think he could rocket up prospect lists in the off-season.

Colson Montgomery – 35.58% Rostered – Montgomery got an ever-so-brief taste of Double-A last year and it didn’t go particularly well. Then he suffered a back injury that delayed his start to the 2023 season. At one point last year he looked like a lock to join the White Sox in 2024, but the weak start in Double-A and the injury seemed to slow that down. However, he is now back, healthy, and making a mockery of High-A. Given the Sox gave him a look at Double-A last year, I expect he will eventually get a shot there again this year and, if he does, he is back on track to get an MLB look in 2024, though maybe not as early as we once hoped.

The Arms

Wilmer Flores – 3.53% Rostered – Flores was a favorite of mine last year, when he started by dominating High-A and then looked good as a 21-year-old in Double-A. This year got off to a rough start and his overall line (4.91 P/IP) isn’t all that enticing. But over his last ten starts, he is over 5.7 P/IP and over his last eight starts he is over a 30% K-rate. He’s still walking more than I would like (10.6% over that stretch and 10.1% on the year), but he has been trending the right direction recently. And there is nothing blocking him from joining the Tigers rotation as soon as he is ready.

Tink Hence – 43.59% Rostered – First of all, he apparently is called Tink because his mom called him Stinker when he was a kid, and it stuck and evolved, and I kinda love that. His introduction to Double-A hasn’t been great, Hence has an impressive repertoire with great stuff, if he can just command it. In the Cardinals top prospect write up, Tess Taruskin and Eric Longenhagen called out some relief risk, but also mentioned the elite upside, and that is what I am buying here. If he figures things out in Double-A over the next couple of months, the buying window will close fast.

Yu-Min Lin – 1.28% Rostered – A few months back, I was the first Ottoneu manager to roster Lin, but then moved on, in large part because he was still too far away for me. Since then, he made his first two Double-A starts (just days after turning 20. Over those starts, he struck out 14 in 13 IP and issued just one walk and six hits (including one HR). Longenhagen called him, “Lin is a pretty standard soft-tossing lefty with a plus changeup and plus command,” and it is easy to question whether or not he can keep up the strikeouts as he moves up. I like the idea of speculating on him, given the success so far, but if the K’s fall off, he won’t be particularly exciting for Ottoneu.

Hayden Wesneski – 41.67% Rostered – Wesneski was almost universally rostered to start the year, after 33 excellent MLB innings in 2022. He really struggled in 60.2 IP this year, but is back to dominating Triple-A and I don’t think we should be so quick to give up on a guy with his arsenal. Development isn’t always linear and going from brief success in MLB to brief failure in MLB isn’t a death sentence for his career.

Carson Whisenhunt – 12.82% Rostered – Any exciting pitching prospect in the Giants org gets a little boost. It’s a smart organization that has shown they can get the most out of pitchers and they play in a friendly park. Whisenhunt was a 2nd round draft pick last year and has moved quickly this year, going from A to High-A to Double-A and succeeding at every stop. We’ll see if he can keep up the performance and promotion pace, but he started the year way off the radar and now looks like a guy who could debut in 2024.

Jacob Misiorowski – 37.5% Rostered – Back in December, Longenhagen called Misiorowski, “A very exciting high-ceiling/high-variance pitching prospect.” That isn’t a profile I want to gamble on fresh out of the draft. But like Whisenhunt, he has moved quickly through two levels this year and while his first start in Double-A was unimpressive, you can see him moving closer to that ceiling and reducing that variance. He has legit strikeout stuff and has 34.5% of hitters this year, but a 13.1% walk rate is a little concerning and his first Double-A start he walked four of 22 hitters in four innings. Buy now, watch that walk rate.