Dynasty Podcast Episode _83 - Mailbag Episode

Join Lucas (@theprospectprof), Tom (@tagates99) and Greg (@greghoogkamp) as they react to the AFL roster announcement and tour around the league discussing Roki's electric outing, injury news, players rehabbing and promotions.

The boys also answer mailbag questions about the upcoming FYPD crop including giving out their top ten lists, the rise of Red Sox pitching and Marlins hitting development and suggest a DSL name each who you should be grabbing the end of your minor league system.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the prospect Spots. Welcome to the Prospects Live
Dynasty Podcast episode number eighty three. It is Wednesday, September tenth,
twenty twenty five. I am your host, Greg kok Camp.
I am the director of Dynasty content for Prospects Live.

(00:28):
I am joined by two of my Dynasty team members.
Author of the three Up, Three Down article series, Tom Gates.
How you doing?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Tom My twenty month year old son has been calling
me Tom recently, so that's pretty hilarious.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Oh boy, I had there the phase where my kids
did that too, So welcome, Welcome to that phase. And
the author of the Diamond Diploma series Lucas morel Lucas,
how you doing doing?

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Great?

Speaker 4 (00:57):
Glad to be here, Excited to talk about whyvariety of
stuff today.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yes, on this episode of Lucas mentions. Tom, Lucas and
myself will endeavor to answer your questions on this mail
bag episode. It's been a little bit since we've had
a mail big episode, so we wanted to reach out
and get your questions in here. But before we do that,
we're going to talk about the AFL rosters. They were
released today on Wednesday the tenth, and some interesting names

(01:25):
in there, wet. We have some top prospects, but we've
got some guys coming back from injuries. We'll just talk
about what the AFL is for a second here, because
it has changed over the years. The purpose of this league.
In the past, it's kind of been, as people have
termed it, finishing school, right guys, where guys that were

(01:45):
heading to the Upper Miners or in the Upper Miners
already just needed that top competition at the end of
the year to be able to be ready for their
next season in the major leagues or their their chance
to play in the major leagues anyway. And things have
changed the little bit because of the way teams manage
their players and their top players specifically. Now teams are

(02:08):
using this to get reps in kind of like they
use the complex and things like that, but injured players
that didn't play for a lot of the season the
need innings or need at bats tend to play in
this league. There is an aspect of finishing school a
little bit as well, but mainly it's for getting reps
in and just getting on the field in a competition setting.

(02:30):
So you're going to see it's a little bit different.
Teams don't send their top guys all the time, especially pitching.
That's the one thing as we see, we don't see
a lot of top arms in the AFL. So any
thoughts on just the purpose of the AFL before we
get rolling on some of the players Lucas Atom.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
Yeah, I think for especially thinking about it for fantasy purposes,
the AFL was really fun because it's kind of a
coming out party for some guys who are going to
get some more mainstream attention just in playing these kind
of ensemble casts. Like I'm thinking about last year, even
though that your hope only hit in the two twenties,
he was putting up crazy exit velocities, hit five home
runs in the twenty three games he had at the

(03:12):
Fall League, and so it felt like his Fall League
performance last year was really what kind of put him
on the map for a lot of people. And so
I think that's what's most fun for me is to
just kind of see who's putting up these highlight reel plays,
who's really standing out in these kinds of crowded rosters.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Honestly, we were looking.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
At one of them earlier and there's futures game level
talent in this league this fall, so really just seeing
who stands out and really moves up boards going into
twenty twenty six.

Speaker 5 (03:35):
Any thoughts on the NFL, Tom, Yeah, I agree with Lucas.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
We really saw hoswe Bersanio stick out last year, you know,
and it's kind of the only minor league action going on.
The spotlight is on these guys, and it also gives
these guys who had like a rough season, you know,
with injuries to keep it going, actually get the reps in.

Speaker 5 (04:01):
So I think that's important for some of them.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
And we mentioned the pitching being a little light in
most years, it's going to be a very offensive league.
You're going to see a lot of great offensive performances.
So just take that with a grain of salt a
little bit, knowing that that is the atmosphere that they're playing.
And it's also in Arizona as well, so it's going
to be an offensive atmosphere anyway. But it's just great

(04:26):
to see these guys on the field together. A lot
of the top players from the minor leagues on different
teams playing together. So here are some of the names.
There was ten ten prospects by my count in our
top one hundred fantasy list, So Kevin McGonagall, Sebastian Walcott,
Jos way To, Paula Brayden, Montgomery, Aiden Miller, Johnny Farmelo,

(04:48):
Chase de Latter, Charlie Condon, Cam Collier, and Alfred o'duno.
So beyond that, I just I mean, it's good to
see these guys, especially like mcgonag a little Walcott to
the top top five, probably prospects in the all the
minor leagues. But I wanted to get your thoughts, guys
on maybe some interesting names that maybe you don't fall

(05:08):
into the top one hundred, maybe some guys a little
further down that you're interested in seeing. So Tom will
start with you.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Well, I was gonna talk about Collier, but you then
you just told me I couldn't.

Speaker 5 (05:25):
I'm going to talk about.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Collier while I scrolled down and find another day to
talk about efforts. But selfishly, I kind of hope he
doesn't have a good AFL because he has two home
runs this season, and like for a guy with his
kind of power, like that's kind of crazy, but I
think it's due to the wrist injury he had earlier.

(05:48):
So I'm hoping that like he doesn't stick out because
he's like somebody I'm really targeting this offseason. If you
look at his numbers, if the current owner looks at it,
at the numbers this year, I think there are willing
to sell because the hype isn't on him.

Speaker 5 (06:02):
But if he is a.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Good AFL, I can see his kind of stock Skywright
skyrocketing here.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
He's almost in sort of post hype territory, even though
he's still super young. He's always been young for the level,
always like he was a young draftee. He was seventeen
when he was drafted. So that's a good good shout,
I think, And he really hasn't shown the power that
he's capable of. He is a very powerful hitter and
a lot of people think he can hit thirty home
runs at the highest level. While you look at a

(06:30):
Tom will go over to Lucas. If you have any
names you're interested in seeing.

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, two names, and I mean selfishly, these are both
my guys at their respective position. So I'm just kind
of excited to get an extended look at some of
these players who are looking for either a bounce back
or extended reps after injury, like we talked about. So
the first one is Aiden Smith for the Ray's organization.
We've talked a lot on this podcast about his strikeout
issues this year, his whiffs, bad swing decisions, turned to

(06:57):
the corner a little bit after the All Star break,
showed a little more pwer, sort of a little more
discernment at the plate. But he was just also named
Defensive Player of the Year for Bowling Green at high A,
So I think that defensive floor is going to keep
him moving up the ladder, and I still think he
will make double A at a minimum next year, but
really hoping that this is kind of a relaxed, looser
environment for him to kind of refine his approach and

(07:18):
show off the better swing decisions and the better contact
skills that we thought he was going to come into
the year with. And then the second name is Marco
Dingis for the Brewers organization, the catcher. We've talked a
lot also about how his Florida State sickness when he
was there kind of derailed his college career and kind
of put him under the radar coming into the season. Well,
he had another injury mid season this year that kind

(07:39):
of took him out of commission, but in and around
that injury he was great. He finished the year across
two levels Low A and Hi A, hitting three hundred
with an ops of nine to thirty, thirteen home runs,
chipping in five steals. The Brewers still have Jefferson Cuero
kind of ahead of him on their minor league catching
pecking order, but I think Dingis is really coming on
as a potential top one hundred prosps back then. I'm

(08:00):
expecting him to stay hot in the Fall League and
really solidify that status going in the next year.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Awesome. I had a couple of arms I was interested
in seeing coming off of injury, both of them Luis
Parles coming off of Tommy john As on the Salt
River squad. Boston Red Sox right hander just electric stuff.
This kid's like high nineties touching triple digits, whiteboat slider.
So I'm really excited to see him, especially what what

(08:26):
Boston can do with their arms. They've really proven the
last couple of seasons that they know how to develop
pitching and then trust the old Daniel Lspino is going
to be appearing in the in the Fall League. We
have not seen him in a long time. I think
it's been three years since we've seen him professionally. His
injury is a little bit more severe. It's a shoulder

(08:47):
injury and he's had multiple surgeries. He was one of,
if not the top pitching prospects three years ago. I
was just super excited about I rostered him on several teams.
I mean, we just he just hasn't been able to
stay healthy. So I'm not sure what he's going to
look like at this point. But to be on a

(09:07):
field in a competitive in a competitive window, I just
think is great for him and hopefully he can just
stay healthy and be some some small semblance of what
he can be. Tom, did you end up coming up
with another name there?

Speaker 5 (09:27):
Yeah, Max Anderson for the Tigers.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
He's finishing the season in Triple A, and he really came.

Speaker 5 (09:33):
Out of nowhere.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
I'd be surprised if any of us had him ranked
for the season. But he's putting together some Max numbers
this year, hitting almost three hundred with eighteen home runs.
Doesn't steal much, but just like a solid approach in
good contact.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, I think he'll he'll be a good player, good
role player on a good team. On that Tiger's team,
which they have some of those top prospects right up there,
He'll be a good seven or eight hitter on that team.
So a good shout there. Moving on to what's going
on with major league baseball and minor league baseball, guys,
we gotta talk about rookie Sasaki. He looked like a

(10:12):
different pitcher the other night. He I think he touched
one hundred a handful of times, averaged over ninety eight
with the fastball. We haven't seen him like that since
he's been in a Dodgers' uniform. We know the shape
of the fastball has not been great for a couple
of years now, and he's really relied on his velocity

(10:33):
and then that nasty split finger that he throws to
tunnel tunnel those things together, but this was a different picture.
It looked like to me. I don't know what you guys,
if he's stained sustainable, I don't know if anybody knows
if it's sustainable. But what can Roki be if he's
throwing in a higher velocity. Lucas will start with you.

Speaker 4 (10:56):
I think Roki can maybe not reach the kind of
side young ceiling that some people were throwing around before
he had even posted coming over, But I think he
certainly can be at a minimum and sp three for
fantasy purposes. The splitter is still one of the more
dominant pitches I've ever seen when it's playing off the
fastball well, and he really needs that velocity for it
to work, given how kind of limited the movement profile is.

(11:16):
But one interesting thing I saw about looking at his
start yesterday or his start earlier this week compared to
some of his more lackluster performances is Timothy Chen on
Twitter actually posted side by side comparisons of how quickly
he was getting through his motions his performance yesterday or
a couple days ago when he was hitting one hundred.
He's getting through his whole mechanical sequence like almost a

(11:40):
half second to a full second faster than he was
in his previous start. So he's pitching with a little
more urgency, trying to get through his mechanics a little quicker,
and I think sometimes maybe that's all it takes for
him to dial it up to triple digits, which is
where he needs to be in order for his stuff
to be effective. So hopefully this is a lasting mechanical
change he's made, I know.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
I think.

Speaker 4 (11:57):
Dave Roberts also said that they're hoping to get him
to LA soon. To actually perform for the Dodgers in
some sense. So I think fantasy managers might need to
keep an eye on the waiver wire even in redraft playoffs,
if he's going to either get some starts or some
high leverageable pen looks downstretch.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
Tom, would you be looking to target Rokie at this.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Point, I've been burned by so many pitchers. I feel
like we all have right.

Speaker 5 (12:21):
To am.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
I am I buying back in. It's tough because he
was interested. He it seems like he was intered for
so long, right, like he's had this arm injury for
like a year, at least a year. I'd hesitate, And
I don't think you're getting like a cheap price tag,
especially after like the news here that he's been hitting

(12:43):
one hundred.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, I think I think the lowest the floor part
is over now now that he's hitting one hundred. I
think you had your chance to get him at the
lowest price, and it might only go up from here.
But I'm at trusted see if you can keep it up,
because it was quite a jump. He was averaging ninety
six and now he's averaging ninety eight or ninety nine,
So we'll see we'll see what happens here. One other

(13:09):
interesting note that the LUM Draft, so that's the Dominican
Winter League Draft happens. And what they do here is
they draft essentially like prospects to their respective clubs. So
that that happened today, and I'll just give you theirs
six teams in this league. So I'll give you the
top six picks because kind of interesting names that were

(13:31):
that were kind of hyped on as far as prospects go.
For Dominican prospects. Felton Selliston went first overall. Second overall
well was a Neil Morales, and then Rainio Rodriguez was third,
Jeses made was fourth, Edward Florentino was fifth, and Louise
Panney was sixth. So we got some top top prospects
in that list. They're all top one hundred guys, I mean,

(13:53):
top fifty guys. Probably do you, guys watch any any
Dominican Winner League Lucas? Do you We're talking about this
before the podcast. There's a lot of huge Dominican population
in New York City. Do you get to watch any
of that?

Speaker 4 (14:07):
I'm going to try two more this year, I think,
aren't they coming to City Field? I think either the
finals or one of the playoffs series, there's going to
be a series played in New York, So I really
am going to try to get out and see that
over in Queens. I think that would be awesome, not
just to get live looks, but also just the environment.
I feel like it's going to be super intense to
have some winter baseball in New York.

Speaker 3 (14:25):
So really excited for that.

Speaker 4 (14:26):
I haven't watched a ton of it historically, in part
because continually not in tire this year where to find it.
But I think the fact that they are prioritizing really
fantasy relevant names in the first round of this draft
is going to make it a more interesting watch for
everybody this offseason. Like Casus made, continuing to play, there's
going to be fun. I'm surprised Ronielle Rodriguez is going
to keep playing. I would have thought the Cardinals maybe
would have told him to take it easy after it's

(14:48):
kind of really big first Bull season.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
But excited to see what these big names are able
to do.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yeah, I'm not sure if these guys leave him play
in that league is just to get their rights. I
think that they do this. Some of these guys will
play like Florentino is in the in the Fall League.
So he's gonna be playing in the Fall League, and
I don't know whether he'll carry on in the War League.
But these Dominican guys are they're baseball hungry. They will
play all year round. So Tom many thoughts on the

(15:15):
Dominican Winter League before we move on.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
I mean, watching the highlights on Twitter is nice, but yeah,
I can't tune into a game.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
It's it's very passionate baseball. I mean it's I was
listening to Pedro Martinez talk about it the other day
and it's just like a different world. It's incredibly loud
and chaotic, and you just have to kind of zone
in and focus on the game, and anything else that
you're playing is just like easy compared to what it

(15:45):
is in the Dominican Republic because they're so passionate about it.
We're moving on to some injury news guys. Boba Schett
is on the il. He has a left knees brain.
I'm not sure if it's going to be just the
ten days or longer, but the Jay has just picked
up Isaiah Connor Fileffa to kind of fill that spot,
to hold it until the check gets back. Kyle Tucker

(16:07):
also down with the left calf sprain. Those are the
two most notable injuries. We've got some other names here,
Sean Murphy, Tyler Locklear, Connor Norby, Dalton Rushing. So I
think the Dodgers are without their top two catchers at
this point, Seth Lugo, Spencer Righeti, a couple of starting
pitchers that have went down on teams that are in

(16:28):
the playoff hunt, and a couple of closers, Daniel Palencia
and Kyle Finnegan, Tom who is the closer right now
in cuppy Land.

Speaker 5 (16:39):
I think we're.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
I thought we were running against the Braves tonight, but
I didn't see if it was going to be a
safe situation. I'm worried about Valencia because he was struggling,
and then the shoulders. The shoulder injuries never good. Hodge
has been up, he's been doing okay. Andrew Ridge got
to save tonight. I wonder if who's coming up for

(17:04):
the Braves.

Speaker 5 (17:05):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
I think we just mixed, maybe mix and match. I
don't know if anybody really stands out right now.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
They brought Hodgen in the sixth inning tonight.

Speaker 5 (17:16):
Yeah, that's really so.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
Uh, Lucas, what do you think about the tigers closing
situation at this point with Finnegan out?

Speaker 3 (17:25):
That's a great question. I haven't seen much of the Tigers,
so I don't really have a name for you there.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
I think they're going to really be helping that Trek
School throws nine inning games throughout the entirety of the playoffs.
But I think the other tricky part with Detroit is
they don't compare to some of these other teams like
the Red Sox, like the Yankees, like even the Blue
Jays in the Ale.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
They don't have much pitching depth in the minors.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
A lot of their high end guys are hitting prospects
right for saying, you know McGonagall, Max Clark. They don't
really have like these kind of larger name marquee pitching
guys that they could maybe call up, like a Treya
Savage for Toronto.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
They don't have that equivalent.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
So they are going to have to be looking in
house for a bullpen solution short term and long term.
So hopefully they figure it out, but they're in a
bit of sticky situation compared to some of their competitors.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
In the AL.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
They will definitely patch it together like I did last year,
having the bullpen games in the playoffs and everything. They'll
do whatever they can to throw the opponent off. So
that'll be interesting to see because they're they're looking to
be a top seed in the American League. So guys
on the way on their way back. A couple of
Cardinals Nolan Aronado and Renmond Donovan are close, they're on

(18:31):
rehab assignments. Former Cardinal Tyler O'Neill and al and oriole
also on his way back. And then a couple of
Marlin's outfielders. We have a question I think about some
Marlin's hitting development and we've seen them really take a
step forward this year. Kyle Stowers and Griffin Conine really,
I mean tours, does they have thirty home runs or

(18:52):
close to it? And Conine was really really good to
start the season. He's been hurt for the most of
the summer. We'll get into that answer that question. I'm
not gonna ask you about it now. And then a
couple of starting pitchers on the way back. Cool Reagan's
that's an exciting one. If he's somehow on your waiver wire,
please snatch him up, and then Jamis and Tyne for

(19:12):
the Cubs as well.

Speaker 5 (19:13):
He pitched today.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
Did he pitch today? Yeah? They won three to two,
so he did. He did fairly decent. And then the
players activated. I wanted to get who you who would
you rather guys on on three pairs of players here?
So who would you take for the rest of the season,
Between Reys, Hoskins and Max Muncy.

Speaker 5 (19:33):
Tom hm hmm, that's tough. Munsey was so hot for
a while, but I really like Hoskins. I'll take Munsi.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
Okay, Lucas, it's gotta be Mony.

Speaker 4 (19:46):
He can see now he has contacts or classes or
whatever it is.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
He can see the baseball, Okay, Lucas, for you this time,
Victor Roblaze or Parker Meadows.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
I think I think Parker Meadows.

Speaker 4 (20:01):
I think I would say Reblays if he had shown
any sort of consistency with base running.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
But I think it's still gonna be Meadows, even in
the short term.

Speaker 5 (20:08):
Tom agreed, I'll go with Meadows and.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
Tom Francisco Alvarez or Tyler Stevenson.

Speaker 5 (20:18):
I like Alvarez. You's just gotta stay healthy. He's got
so much power.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
Okay, Lucas do you.

Speaker 4 (20:23):
Agree agreed with Alvarez even when he's on all these
rehab opportunities. I mean, he's playing with like half a
risk at this point and he's still hitting just like
absolute tanks and triple A on rehab.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
So I'm still going Albarez awesome.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
And then the lone guy Pablo Lopez has been activated
as well, the lone good picture left in Minnesota some
promotions guys. Brandon Sprogue looked very good in his debut
and as did Connolly. Early thoughts on these two pictures
specifically for the rest of the season. Do you see

(20:55):
them making playoff starts? And how do you see their
career shaking out? Who would you rather between the two
of them? Lucas will start with you.

Speaker 4 (21:03):
Sprod in early is a really fun conversation because it's
kind of like two sides of the prospect pitching coin
in terms of rising to major league relevance of the
course of one season.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Like coming into the year, sprote had a lot of hype.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
He looked horrible, velocity was down, mechanics were all out
of whack, and he had to really build back up
to a level where the Mets felt like he could
be majorly helpful for them, and versus Connolly Early, who
really kind of just soared through the system, really came
out of nowhere and what punched out eleven guys the
other day in his debut just like truly truly an
ascendent season for him. So it's fun to see sort

(21:35):
of two different trajectories as they get to the majors.
But if I'm thinking long term, I think actually Allington's
question a different way. I think Connley Early is more
likely to have a meaningful playoff impact this season. I
think he's got the advantage of not anybody having a
whole lot of tape on him. It's going to be
his first look for a lot of teams. We saw
the potential of the strikeout stuff the other day, even

(21:57):
though that was a career high since Watson's high school.
I think you said Greg strikeouts for him since since
he was back in his teens. But I think long term,
or at least over the next three to five seasons,
I'm more confident that Sproke can carve out like an
SP four role for fantasy purposes. I just think the
road might be a little rockier for him in the
short term. Given the mechanical adjustments. He's still trying to solidify.

(22:18):
But I think I think Early is your best bet
for twenty twenty five, and then Sproke going forward.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Okay, Tom, how would you rate these two?

Speaker 2 (22:26):
I'm definitely more familiar with Sprote, and yeah, he didn't
have a velocity, he was missing that, but I think
he's got it back. Both of these organizations have done
so well with their pitching this year. It's tough because
I'm more familiar with with sprot and I feel like
the Mets don't care how young you are anymore. Like

(22:50):
they're going to roll him out there in the playoff
playoffs if he's if he's ready, so I think I
think I'll hitch my wagon to him.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Wouldn't it be quite a statement by the Mets if
they if they gave playoff starts to three rookies. Wouldn't
that be and it's been three rookies that just all
came up recently in the last month or so. That
would be really, really something, But they're kind of in
that circumstance. I know that David Peterson's been decent, Sean
and Iya's back. They sent Senga down, who else do

(23:24):
they have there that that could make a start. They've
had so many injuries as well, Right, So.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
Is montas heart is he's still out for for me? Yeah? Yeah,
he's out.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (23:36):
So did you say Clay Holmes.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
I didn't say Clay Holmes. But he pitched four innings
today and gave up four or five runs, So he's
he's kind of fading really hard because he's been a
reliever his whole career, right, so he's not used to
pitching this many innings. So it's a They're in a
very unique situation. And I mean, we would love it
as prospect guys if they full steam ahead with those

(24:01):
three guys. But we'll have to see.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
We'll have to just just get through the fifth and
let the bullpen take over.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Yeah, I mean, you put play Homes in the bullpen.
We know how effective he can be in the bullpen.
Right With that bowling ball sinker, a couple other guys
getting second shots or third shots, and Dana's place came
Dana and mos By Steros back up. Probably not significant
fantasy value unless I'm wrong about that? Am I wrong

(24:29):
about that? I don't see much of a role for
Bias Steros honestly, lets it gets super hot, Danam will
get a regular turn in the rotation, but he's not
a big strikeout guy, so I don't see an impact there.
Some emotions we have to the single already. Jacob Melton
also sent down Alex Freeland. As the Dodgers get healthy,
and then some minor league promotions, guys, let's run through these.

(24:50):
You're gonna see a lot of players get bumped up
into the high miners, Double AM, Triple A as the
league's end. Single A and High A starting to end
their leagues in the playoffs, and then Double A is
getting into the playoffs during the last week of their
season right now, So Aidan Miller, Jackson Wiggins, and Nesta
Herman up the Triple A to Double A. Some big

(25:12):
names here, Jesus mani is, Ire Hope, Joe Swaita, Paula
a run Escobar, Liam Doyle, Gage stanniferd Bishop Letson, and
then Christopher Torren and Dante Nori to Hye, Rainio Rodriguez
and to Single A from the Complex Gage Wood and
Levi Sterling. Give me thoughts on one player of this list.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Tom I wrote about Staniford.

Speaker 5 (25:40):
I'm pretty sure I wrote about Standifer recently.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
If he can figure out what his third pitch against
righty's is going to be, I think I think he'll
be a complete pitcher.

Speaker 5 (25:55):
He reminds me of Joe Ryan so much when he pitches.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
He's gut kind of like that show Aren't Action, good fastball,
good breaking pitch, and then the slider to lefties. He
just needs a third pitch to the righties. If he
figures that out, yeah, I could see him maybe being
like a top fifty pitcher, top seventy five pitcher.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Awesome Lucas.

Speaker 4 (26:18):
Yeah, the impressive one here is the name we've talked
about recently, but it's Dante Nori. I mean, he was
having a pretty abysmal beginning of the season and then
to be able to climb up now to his third
level this season, get to double a participate in their
playoff push. I think he's making a real case for
himself as kind of like justin Crawford light in that system,
and I think he's going to be a forgotten man
in this offseason and you can probably scoop him up

(26:40):
for a back end FYPD pick if you're really looking
to upgrade.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
Awesome guys what's going on all the prospects live, a
lot of planning for the offseason. Honestly, we had our
staff meeting the other night and got some big things planned.
A lot of but a lot of growth and what
we're going to be offering this offseason and plans for

(27:04):
the future as well. So it's smart as busy building
tools behind the scenes which are really really exciting. And
we've got our off seasons all mapped out and we've
already started working on it. You guys have already started
working on our big project in the off season, so
stay tuned for all that. And we're gonna be a
little more transparent with what we're going to be doing,

(27:25):
and you guys are going to know what's coming up
on a monthly basis as well, so we'll be communicating
that to you guys a little bit better. Do you
guys have one player from your articles this week that
you are recommending that people pick up down here in
the last three weeks of the season in the playoffs
here for Fantasy Tom.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
Sure, so this is probably more of a deeper league play,
but Felix Reyes, outfielder for Philadelphia, really put a nice
season together. Good contact he's eighty five percent zone contact.
He's betting three forty this year with fourteen home runs
and twelve stolen bases.

Speaker 5 (28:06):
When you but when.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
You watch him hit like it's legit power when he
when he gets a hold of it and he lifts
in poles, but he does kind of spray the ball
thirty three percent opposite field better ball event. He reminds
me like his look looks like he looks like Jay
Ram like in there, like he doesn't look like a

(28:28):
baseball player per se, like he's strong.

Speaker 5 (28:32):
So I don't know if his speed will hold up
as we move forward, just because he doesn't look like
he's fast.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
But I think the power definitely and the contact is there,
and I think he can really take off if he
changes his approach and just like lifts some poles. But
I'm not sure he'd be interested in that, just because
he's been so successful this year of just hitting line
drives everywhere.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
I love those guys that are speaky athletic, that don't
look athletic like you think of like mean. Jose Rimiers
is a good example. He doesn't look like he's fast,
but he feels thirty bases every year. Josh Maayler is
another one. He just I think he just stole his
thirtieth base, if I'm not mistaken. I love those guys.
Those are those are friend players to watch and so good.

(29:15):
A good shout there. That's a that's a deep cut, Lucas,
do you have a name from your diamond diploma's article
that you wanted to show?

Speaker 3 (29:21):
Yeah, even deeper cut.

Speaker 4 (29:23):
And I would say this is probably only about a
five percent chance of him coming up in twenty twenty five,
but if he does, he'd be really interesting and fun
to watch. And this is I might butcher the prounciation,
but I think it's Brandon Midoit. He's Australian. He's an
older relief prospect, but he hasn't allowed a hit in
his last sixty four batters. He's just been mowing people
down in triple A. He has an ERA below one

(29:44):
right now. If you look at his like the stuff
grades on his individual pitches, it's a starter's arsenal for sure.
He has like three fringe plus the plus offerings at
a minimum.

Speaker 3 (29:55):
The question mark is the command. I mean, he's.

Speaker 4 (29:56):
Basically bullpen Joe Boyle and he's just kind of been
hidden in the pits system due to age being Australia
and not coming up through the system the traditional way.
So if he does come up, I mean that team
I think always tends to trade their closers at the deadline,
so I feel like he could be a contender for
a high leverage spot at the Sprint Training next year.
But it would be fun to watch regardless. I'm just
excited to see if you can keep this hitlist streak
going awesome.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
If you enjoy our podcast, please rate and review. We
appreciate the support, and if you aren't already, please consider
subscribing to Prospects Live to take advantage of the amazing
tools and informative articles we offer daily. Okay, guys, we're
going to come back on the other side of this
break and answer some mail dig questions, So stay tuned
and come right back, and we are back. I am Greg,

(30:40):
I'm with Lucas and Tom and we're going to answer
some mail by questions this evening. So we're going to
start right here with Matthew Festa. Matthew says, because it
sounded like this FYPD class was considered less desirable than usual,
and that's I think that's what we all heard two
months ago raedypdck FYPD picks number four number eight for

(31:04):
Jackson Holiday after his owner lost faith since he didn't
hit the ground running after being a top prospect. General
thoughts on that trade in an OBP league and thoughts
on Holiday from the start of his career until now
where he has an outside chance of going twenty twenty
at the age of twenty one. So we'll start with you, Tom,

(31:25):
what are your thoughts on this deal? FYPD picks number
four and number eight for Jackson Holiday.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (31:31):
I think it's a good deal. You kind of know
what you're getting here.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
Holiday is still so young, and he's already at the
big league level and he's kind of figuring it out.
We saw his strikeout rate drop eleven percent this year
and his barrel rate was up a touch and he's
actually slugging more against breaking pitches, which is nice to
see that he's not getting burned by those. And I
think if he adds, you know, some man muscle here

(31:59):
gets the bad speed up and starts hammering the fastballs
and puts that together, he's going to be the stud
we kind of thought he was going to be.

Speaker 5 (32:07):
So if you look at it.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Like I just they're kind of two top eight names
like Jojo Parker and Jamie Arnold for Holiday. Like, I
love that deal, right, Like, you know what you're getting.
You're getting a young player for a good organization that
has a lot of pedigree. If you're the Holiday owner
and you're looking to deal them, I think you'd like

(32:29):
wait a year or two.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
Good shout there, Lucas. What are your thoughts on this deal?

Speaker 4 (32:35):
I also like the deal for the Holiday side. I
think I'm probably higher on the value of those picks
than most people, but I think I don't know. I
think picks are always more valuable until they're selected, right,
Like the thought of the mystery box is always going
to be really appealing to people. So I think if
you can leverage the picks four an eight for a
player like Holiday, I think that's a great deal, especially
because what I find most impressive is that he's still

(32:57):
just twenty one years old. Like, this is a guy
who's younger than a lot of the names we talk
about at tripaa ANDAA who are still pushing for a promotion.
So for him to be flashing twenty twenty while also
showing upper twentieth percentile sprint speed. I mean, I think
he really is going to be a twenty twenty guy
pretty much annually going forward. He's only going to get
smarter as a baseball player. He's only going to get
more experienced. He's only going to make better swing decisions.

(33:20):
We've talked about sort of his brother Ethan having the
benefit of like in house counsel for hitting purposes, with
his dad being able to give him coaching advice. I
think Jackson's the beneficiary of this system too. He's going
to put in more worker in the offseason than just
about anybody else. So I think I would be pretty
confident that Holiday is going to take a leap forward
into maybe top six, top seven, second basement status for

(33:41):
Fantasy next year.

Speaker 3 (33:42):
I think he's a pretty good bet for that. So
I like this trade a lot.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Yeah, I agree with you guys. I think the Holiday
side is the side you want to be on. I
want to comment on what he said about hearing that
THEYPD class was considered less desirable. We heard that same
message last season because ree was was an excellent draft.
We know that, but look what the look what last
year's draft has turned into We've got so much talent

(34:07):
coming out of that. Nick Kurtz obviously being one of
the best hitters in all of baseball already from that draft,
and then so many other pop up guys coming up,
pitchers and hitters. So I just think we have to
be careful when we think about that. We hear it
over and over and over again, and people people don't know.
People do not know honestly what it's going to turn

(34:28):
out to be, because these players have to develop, they
have to adjust and develop and and work their way
through the professional ranks, and we just don't know.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
Who's our number one prospect, Who's who's the number one prospect,
who's our number one prospect right now? Kind of birth, Yeah,
I think he went like eight nine, he was, he was.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
The number nine overall pick in that draft.

Speaker 5 (34:51):
Right in the like in the FYPD, I think he
was going like eight you know.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
Yep, exactly three point. Look look how fast that happened too,
less than a year or just over the year, I guess, right,
Just crazy, crazy how things change, and we just don't
know what this draft is going to be. So interesting
conversation anyways, all right, guys, Trey Meek I'm a recent

(35:18):
follower and I planned to some purchase access to your site,
so I figured i'd throw in some questions. I'm in
a salary dynasty keeper league that includes minor league players.
I have a ton of questions, and I respect your
opinion and expertise. Well, thank you so much. What do
I do with these players? All right? So he's got
to kind of these players are all, I would say,
fall into a bucket of being guys that have had

(35:39):
a little bit of taste major leagues, played a little bit,
had a little bit of success, struggled a little bit.
So let's go through these names here. This is a
sixteen team league. Six teams make the playoffs, and it's
a salary league where salaries escalate and you can offer
contracts and like up to five years basically. So these

(36:01):
are the names Dalen Lyle, Curtis, Mead, Tyler, Locklear, Thomas,
the Jay z Luis Garcia. That's the Washington infielder. I'm
guessing Hunter Barco, Jake Bennett, Peyton Martin. And then he
has a secondary question. He has two really bad contracts
for Zach Geloff and JP France. He can only buy

(36:23):
over one of them. We'll get your thoughts on that too,
So Lucas, we'll start with you. Of these names, who
would you keep on your roster and who would you cut?

Speaker 4 (36:33):
Yeah, the locklear injury makes this one pretty annoying because
I think I would have liked to have seen a
couple more weeks just to see what he could have
done in Arizona with the full leash at the first
basement's job and really kind of solidify a spot because
he hasn't looked amazing.

Speaker 3 (36:46):
The easy one here, I think is Daily Lyle.

Speaker 4 (36:48):
I think he's come on stronger than just about any
other National's outfielder over the last month or two. He's
got an expected batting average of three oh nine right now.
He's really really barreling ballwell, well not his barrel rate,
get a good launch angle, and then I think his
sprintsbeed being in the top ten percent of all of baseball.

Speaker 3 (37:05):
I mean, this is a guy.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
Who I think is probably going to only be about
a fifteen and fifteen contributor going forward when we think
homers and steals. But he plays such good defense that
he's really solidifying a spot in what is a pretty
crowded Washington Nationals outfield for next year, So I think
Lyle's a really safe bet, especially if he's on one
of these cheaper contracts I'm assuming compared to some of
these other guys. Mead, I think his hit or miss,

(37:28):
you could cut him or keep him. I wouldn't be
pressed either way. Really kind of same with Locklear at
this point. The one pitcher here that I think I
would try to hold on to is Barco. They've been
really kind of limiting his innings down the stretch, but
I think he's really really interesting as a rotation candidate
for them next year. We said that about Chandler coming
into twenty twenty five, so who knows. Maybe they keep
him down in Indianapolis until he turns thirty. But if

(37:51):
they don't do that, I think Barco is probably the
best pitcher to keep out of his pot.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
Tom many any different thoughts of this group of players.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
No Lucas said, did a good job. Maybe we should
co manage a team together.

Speaker 5 (38:03):
Yeah. I like Lyle.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
Nice safe floor there with the average and speed cutting. Mead,
I think you could you could probably get meat if
you really wanted meat, you could probably throw him back
and then get him in the free agent probably for
what he's worth right now, or maybe even cheaper. The
nice thing is he'll probably get playing time in Chicago,
But I don't know what he's going to give you
because he has no power and he doesn't and he's

(38:25):
not walking either, agreed to Unlockleyar. I think he was
more of like a safe floor guy. I don't I
don't see him hitting twenty five home runs, but I
see him at like a two sixty two seventy average
and he could run into fifteen home runs, so he'd
be more of like a corner infielder for me in
like a deep league. Luis Garcia of the Nationals. I

(38:49):
like kind of the blend of stats he gives you,
and he's still kind of young, so it could be
he could.

Speaker 5 (38:54):
You know, move up a level.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
And then yeah, Barco, he started out the year on fire.
He had thirty nine strikeouts and thirty innings, only giving
up one earned run, and then he ran into like
shoulder injury, and who knows if he's been one hundred
percent since then.

Speaker 5 (39:09):
But I like him.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
I like kind of what Pittsburgh's been doing with their arms,
Jack Bennett and Peyton Martin.

Speaker 5 (39:15):
I'm cutting, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
My thought on this, I agree with mostly what you
guys said. I would probably keep Locklear and I probably
keep the jay Z. I would just rather have a
young a young guy with a little bit of upside
than like a veteran that maybe doesn't have an upside.
So that's where I would lean. In the sixteen weegue,
I think you're fine having those couple of guys on
your bench. And then for the two terrible contracts guys,

(39:43):
who would you keep between Galloff in France, Tom.

Speaker 2 (39:48):
I think this is an easy one. I'm keeping gall Off.
I think that there is some upside there. I want
him on my bench, though I don't want him getting
regular at bats until he's kind of proven it, so
that high strikeout rate will probably always be there. But
he has good power speed numbers. Plus he hasn't really
gotten a good run in the new ballpark with the

(40:09):
deeper lineup because he was he missed that time with injury,
so he kind of he kind of makes for goodbye
this offseason. I think you get him cheap even if
he's well. He might not even be rostered in your league,
but I like the idea of him. I'm kind of
a sucker for the power speed like low batting average guy.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
Lucas degree with Geloff over France or do you differ?

Speaker 3 (40:31):
No, totally with Tom's logic on that one, we should
go on the team. No, I think I think gell
Off is the.

Speaker 4 (40:35):
Better move here, especially because I'm assuming trades for FYPD
picks are allowed in this kind of league, despite the
kind of contract setup, because he mentioned there's the salary
structure for when guys are drafted in the off season
as well. But I think that's the kind of move
I'd be looking to make. Is just like the who
has the most value for me, period, And so even
if I don't necessarily want get Off to be my

(40:57):
first second baseman in my starting lineup, I think I
think you can get something else for him, and I'm
not entirely sure that you'd be able to do that
with JP Frantz, who projects is just kind of like
a fringe SB five six border guy from here on out.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
Basically all right.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Moving on, Sam Wilson asks, talk to me about Joshua
Bias' season and his long term outlook. What does the
ceiling look like his median outcome? Is he a right
handed hitting slugging outfielder that the Cardinals thought Jordan Walker
would be catches stray as Jordan Walker, Lucas talked to

(41:34):
me about Joshua Bias.

Speaker 4 (41:37):
Yeah, we've had a lot of recent Joshua Bias chatter,
both on the pod and off the pod. Just as
a staff, I think he's somebody that we're really all
kind of paying a little more attention to, and I'm
really excited about moving forward. The really big thing for
me is just the improvements across the board he's shown
in both approach, in swing decisions, in back to ball skills,
everything that he was disappointingly abysmal at after he was

(41:59):
originally taken and drafted by the Cardinals a few years ago.
He's really made strides this season. In particular, his overall
contact rate is up ten percent from last year, from
sixty five percent to seventy five point four. He's walking
at an elite clip at almost fourteen percent, and we
know the exit velocities are there, Like we know he
has light tower power. We know he has the potential
to steal twenty plus bases as a pro, I think

(42:21):
there is a thirty twenty talent in here. As a professional,
and I don't think the Cardinals really have that kind
of upside on the hitting end of things outside of
maybe weather Hold, maybe Nielle Rodriguez.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
So yeah, I think Bias is really really good.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
Tom. Would you take Joshua Bias straight up over Jordan
Walker right now? Yes? Oh boy?

Speaker 5 (42:42):
Okay, Why that's a hot take.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
I don't know, it's it's funny we're talking about Dan
Joshua Bias because Luca and I we have ranked one
apart in our new rankings. Here he is at thirty second,
a third, thirty third. I think I'll one up Lucas
and say, like, the upside here could be like forty

(43:08):
forty he has forty. Last time I wrote about him,
he had forty eight soul bases. I don't know what
he's stolen since. And like you said, he has light
tower power like if he if the contact increases and
he holds that as he moves up the level, and
that power is real and that speed is there, Like
that's crazy, Like I see so much ceiling with him

(43:31):
right now. I know it's tough to obviously hit it all,
but he definitely has the capability of doing so. Hopefully
he doesn't fall into that Cardinals outfield, you know, bad
ju ju here, but Walker's kind of like, you know,

(43:51):
he had more it was the ground ball issue, right,
Like Bias doesn't have that. Bias is batting profile is great,
so yeah, give me the guy that's already doing it.

Speaker 4 (44:04):
The other thing that I would add for Bias here
and Thomas totally right is like, think about the Spencer
Jones hype that materialized when he was the hottest player
on the planet for about three weeks in the middle
of June into July. Bias has all of those physical tools,
like the power in the speed I would put as
level with Jones and pretty much all all capacities. He

(44:24):
just isn't going to strike out forty percent of the
time anymore. Like if you could eliminate that aspect of
Spencer Jones's game, everybody would say he's a consensus top
twenty five prospect. And that's essentially what Bias has done
to give you the official like counting stat number for him,
seventeen home runs and fifty three steals this season, getting
to double a who and by the way, he's just
twenty two years old and he just turned twenty two

(44:44):
at the end of June, Like, this is a guy
who's as old as some of the older college draftees
from last year, so he's really not behind the curve
in terms of his development. I think he's spot on
for where he should be and I'm really excited for
his twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (44:57):
All right, Sam, you've got going reviews from these two
guys about Joshua Bayaz Mike Nakagawell, one of our eight
tier members. The Marlins have done something to solve their
chronically anemic hitting reputation. All Marlins fans were excited about
this turnaround in the franchise's fortunes. That said, give me
your most optimistic projection of their first round pick. I

(45:20):
have an arquette and show some love to the eighth
eight boys. Lucas will start with you on this one.

Speaker 3 (45:29):
Our Kat's fun. We're gonna mention his name again.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
I think when we talk about FYPD top tens in
a year for a future question that we're going to
get to in a second. But I don't have as
many concerns about the body type staying at shortstop as
some other people. I think we're really seeing our prototypical
definition of what a shortstop is get expanded, not just
at the pro level, but even with guys like Connor Griffin,
kind of proving that you can play the position despite
being a little taller, because like our Kenna six five

(45:53):
to twenty. What really impressed me though about the very
small sample size we've gotten from him at HIGA this year,
is the swing decisions. Like he's chase rate is down
to seventeen percent and high as a relatively aggressive assignment
for somebody who's really fresh out of college, and so
I'm hopeful that this walk rate could be something that
he sustains as he moves through the system. I think
that will really give him a much higher floor in

(46:14):
he'll bep leagues because the batting average may really.

Speaker 3 (46:17):
Never be higher than sixty two seventy.

Speaker 4 (46:20):
We were asked, sorry, we were asked for the most
optimistic projection, though, so putting on my most optimistic hat,
I see him as a.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
Two eighty three forty guy.

Speaker 4 (46:30):
It's going to hit around twenty five home runs a
year and chip in five to seven steals.

Speaker 3 (46:34):
That's probably what I think is reasonable.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
Okay, Tom, are you as optimistic as Lucas is about
at Barquette?

Speaker 2 (46:42):
I think so, I was thinking, like Corey Seeker comp.
You know, good power ten steals in a good year
with like a decent average.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
Hopefully better joints and ligaments.

Speaker 1 (46:58):
Right right. I mean the thing the thing about our chat,
he's got a runway there, like there's no one stopping
him from just charging up the minor leagues into that
into that spot. That's his spot to take. That's why
they drafted in there. They think that much of him,
and I think he can move very quickly if he

(47:20):
if he was successful at each level. So, okay, good question,
Mike Bobby Batts. After seeing the debuts of the recent
FYPD class, who are your biggest risers and followers so far?
What does your current top ten look like? Thanks? As always?
All right, Tom will start with.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
You, all right, thank you for starting with me. I'm
going to talk about my guy, Charles Davilon. I don't
know if you ever heard of him, Lucas. I think
I've been influenced by Lucas's Twitter because I just kept
moving him up the ranks.

Speaker 5 (47:53):
No, but what he's been doing is incredible. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
I think Lucas has the stance in front of him
like he doesn't swing in He's with the Dodgers, so
you know they're going to get the best out of him.
I moved him up. I just wrote about him this week,
I think, or last week. One of the weeks I
wrote about him, i'd have been today. Kane Kelpley is

(48:17):
someone that I'm obviously interested in being.

Speaker 5 (48:20):
With the Cubs. His power.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
He's hit two home runs and like I think I
think he was getting like a thirty on the power,
so like it's not a zero. He is somebody that
if he does, if like reports are that he's hitting
the ball harder, I might be moving him up because
he's got tremendous speed. And then a real fun name
is not only a real fun name, but actually a

(48:42):
real fun player.

Speaker 5 (48:43):
Cruse Schoolcraft lefty for the Podres.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
He had ten swings and misses in one and two
thirds inning there to day, did walk like.

Speaker 5 (48:51):
Four, but good stuff.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
And he like before he delivers so like his wind
up just for some reason, like look like Randy Johnson,
like the same way Randy Johnson like picked up his
front leg and moved his back arm. I saw it
and then then I didn't see it anymore.

Speaker 1 (49:12):
Yeah, that's hard to not many players of like Randy Johnson. Obviously,
we'll got to your top ten in a second, Tom Lucas,
give me some players that are rising on your list,
and we'll do followers right after this.

Speaker 4 (49:26):
Sure, so three risers first would be We'll start with Dablon,
who I won't spend too much time on, but I
totally agree with Tom, and then after him is Andrew
Fisher in the Brewers system, and then Dax Kilby for
the Yankees. These are all names that I think we're
floating for most people kind of in the fifteen to
thirty five range when they were doing FIPD sort of
set up and rankings after the draft initially ended, but

(49:48):
they're all pushing for close to top ten status now.
Kilby destroyed baseballs for the Low A Yankees to close
out the season. He had a ninety five percent zone
contact rate. His average exit was ninety one point six
miles an hour. Is hitting the ball really hard. He
only whift eight point two percent of the time, so
he looked really, really comfortable for them. Obviously, it's just

(50:08):
Low A. The level of competition at Low A is
not as great at the end of the season as
it is at the beginning, but I think Kilby showed
everything that you'd want to see from a prep youngster
getting their first taste of pro ball devil on similar
story college bats, so we kind of expect this from him.
But the zone contact of ninety three point three percent
of only twelve point.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
One, it doesn't chase hardly.

Speaker 4 (50:28):
Ever, Like I think he's just going to cruise all
the way to Double A basically and start there next year.
I know, the end of the season with a foot injury,
so he didn't really get the chance to finish, but
hopefully he starts in Double A and moves quickly for
the Dodgers next year. And then lastly Andrew Fisher. I mean,
I think this is an organization that we really trust
with hitting prospects. The Brewers have done a great job
getting power out of guys. We know Fisher has that

(50:49):
in spades. So even though he only hit one home
run and his first pro sample, I'm not really worried
about that. But he had an ops of eight forty
eight at High A as a twenty one year old
who was just drafted a few months ago. So I
think all three of these guys are really improving their stock.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
Any followers, guys, I know it's early, we just were
just kind of building up our fypds, but anybody falling
from your initial thoughts on it.

Speaker 2 (51:12):
Tom, Yeah, he hasn't played, so he hasn't really done anything.
But I just remember reading the report on Jace Lava
La Letty let Yep, thank you, and just that hit
tool concerns is and has problems picking up spin and
off speed. So that's kind of a red flag for me,
so I bumped him down just a little bit. But

(51:33):
he's got a chance, obviously to prove it when he
actually plays a game here.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
Yeah, Lucas, Yeah, I want to believe in Guardians hitting development.

Speaker 4 (51:43):
But they really haven't been able to translate a lot
of their more and more high end hitters into talent.

Speaker 3 (51:47):
We'll see if Bazan's any good. But the follower for
me is going to be.

Speaker 4 (51:51):
Somebody who I might get kind of booed out of
the room for this, but I really think you can.
Holidays is looking not great to start his pro career,
super super small sample size, so I'm not saying that
he's like falling into the second round or anything like that,
but I think he's just on the fringe of my
top ten because his zone contact so far has been abysmal.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
It's at fifty three point eight percent.

Speaker 4 (52:11):
Again, super small sample, and obviously the delineation of the
zone in low way gets a little weird for these
kinds of stats being tracked.

Speaker 3 (52:18):
But if you're swinging and missing half the time it pitches.

Speaker 4 (52:21):
In the zone, that's really really alarming, especially because he's
not facing a super high level of competition. He's not
seeing as much spin as he will as he goes
up the ladder, So I have a lot more concerns
about it, at least how long it will take Ethan
Holliday to reach maybe his potential or eighty percent of
his potential compared to some of these other guys like Willitts,
for example, who hit the ground running.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
Okay, Lucas, give me your top ten?

Speaker 4 (52:43):
Yeah, Top ten in order, Jojo Parker won, Kate Anderson two,
Eli Willets three, Seth Rnandez four, Liam Doyle five, Jamie
Arnold six, I have Rquette seven, Charles Davalon eight, Gavin
Feen nine, and then Holiday sneaks in at ten.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
Charles Davlona A love It Tom Top ten.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Kate Anderson one, Eli Willitts two. I did move Ethan
Holliday down before the podcast, but he's still number three
for me, Liam Doyle four, Jojo Parker five, Avericette six,
Jamie Arnold seven, Seth Rnandez eight, Kessen Witherspoon nine and

(53:28):
Charles devil On ten cool.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
I'm Willitts, Anderson, Arquette, Holliday, Hernandez, Parker, Doyle. I have
Ethan Conrad number nine. I think I'm the highest on
him and Andrew Fisher ten. So I mean our lists
are going to move around quite a bit, probably with
some things that we see in here as you lead
up to March, but very fluid, I would say, not

(53:54):
not clear cut by any means. All Right, guys, Benjamin Chase,
red Socks, arms have really jumped forward this season. We
mentioned the pitch dev He named some names here, Payton
totally currently early, Brandon, Clark Edwater rivera Yuicker, Fayardo, John Holivett's.
These are some deeper cuts here, Shay Sprague, Hayden Mullins

(54:15):
and Dlan Rodgers. Who are real, who are a mirage
and who do you think can take another step forward
from their development this year so Lucas will start with
you on this one.

Speaker 4 (54:27):
Yeah, this is such an interesting list of names, especially
because I would even as a Yankees fan, add I
think there's four more prominent pitching prospects that we could
include here, being Brady Tiger, former razorback oo Big Kyson Witherspoon,
and Marcus Phillips, who we just mentioned in our top
tens but recent draftees, and then Tyler Ugerstein who's also
been pretty solid and triple A for them. So they

(54:47):
have damn near ten names of players who are potentially
going to be bigly relevant in the next couple of
seasons for them. To answer Benjamin's question though about kind
of who's real and who's the mirage, I think the
walk rates are really important to pay attention to for
some of these guys, Like I know Duado Rivera is
getting a lot of attention for his strikeout rate, which
is near thirty percent, is a twenty nine point seven

(55:08):
this season, but twelve point six percent walk rate, which
was actually even higher as fifteen point six percent double A,
which was sort of his last stop this season.

Speaker 3 (55:17):
I think he's going to need to really rain that
in to prove.

Speaker 4 (55:19):
That This is not a mirage, and he wasn't just
kind of beating up on lower end competition.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
I definitely think Totally and Early are the real deal.

Speaker 4 (55:27):
But I think some of these other names too, like
Sprague and Rogers, might be better suited for long relief
roles long term just.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
Because of the last of strikeout stuff.

Speaker 4 (55:35):
But in general, I think the Red Sox are just
taking a huge step forward in terms of pitching development.
They're up there with the Mets, the Pirates, the Dodgers,
the Rays in terms of being organizations that if I
have a prospect I like, and they end up in
this system as a pitcher, I'm pretty excited about that.

Speaker 1 (55:50):
Tom, Do you have any different thoughts.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
I really want Brandon Clarke to be something, but I'm
worried that the injuries again because I know in college
he also dealt with some injuries and then just a
command with him, I'm afraid he might end up in
the bullpenal long term. Fajardo, it has a really nice slider,

(56:14):
doesn't command it all the time, and fastball has like
been nineties.

Speaker 5 (56:18):
But he's still so.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
Young that he can definitely add some velo to that
and that would give him a nice like one two
punch change ups.

Speaker 5 (56:25):
Okay, but I like his potential.

Speaker 2 (56:29):
Yeah, They've got arms like popping out like everywhere them
the Mets. It seems like every week I'm finding a
new arm.

Speaker 5 (56:39):
In their system. That's exciting.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
Yeah for me, totally. I think can continue to develops.
He's just kind of steamrolled his way through. He's had
a little bit of a struggle in his last two addings.
But I just love the lower lease, high carry, fastball,
huge extension. I'm with you on Clark. I think Clark
has some believer risk, super talented, obviously the big time stuff,

(57:02):
but just sprays it a little bit. So I'll worry
up a little bit about that. But the Red Sox
definitely know what they're doing with these guys. They're putting
it together for sure. Benjamin Mean has another question for us,
in light of Joseph Sullivan seemingly falling on his face
after promotion. Who are some guys who had a bad

(57:22):
introduction to a new minor league level who you could
see having a much better showing in twenty twenty six. Tom,
We'll start with you on this one.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
So I went with Victor Figueroa. Now of the Orioles.
I got bumped up to Hi A. He's been in
for twenty five games. He's hitting under two hundred with
no power, and it's not him at all. He's being
more passive than he was in High A, and he's
hitting close to fifty percent ground balls. So I just
think it's difficult. You go to a new team, new organization,

(57:53):
and then new level. There's so much to adjust to
after being so comfortable. He's a big dude. He hits
the ball, hits the ball on the ground maybe like
forty percent of the time, at least he was doing
that with earlier in this year. But yeah, I don't
this isn't him, So I see, I could totally see
him next year getting back to the powerstroke.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
Awesome. Okay, Lucas, who's your player or players?

Speaker 3 (58:19):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (58:19):
The name I want to highlight here isn't somebody who
moved up or down a level this year, but with
somebody who I think just is going to benefit from
a second look at the level given how young he was,
And that's Cooper. Pratt started the year in Double A
and stayed in Double A the whole time in the
Brewer system, just twenty one years old six' three two o,
six has been playing a lot of shortstop for. Them
still hasn't moved off the position. Yet what people have

(58:41):
really been waiting for is for the power to come.
Around it's kind of The George lombard, situation where you
know it's in there in terms of the frame and
the exit.

Speaker 3 (58:48):
Velocities and you're just hoping he can get to it
in games a bit.

Speaker 4 (58:50):
More still hasn't done as much of that AS i
would like to, See but the approach is borderline big league.
READY i, mean he had almost as nearly the same
walk rated out, rate both of, them pretty great numbers for,
him eighty six point three percent in zone. Contact he's
not looking overmatched by the pitching competition at the level at.
All it's really just a question of can he take
this mature, approach this advanced back to ball, skill solid

(59:13):
defense at short and can he eventually kind of build
the fantasy relevance by really hadding on the power to the.
Profile AND i think The brewers are among the best
organizations in baseball to do. That they've done it With Bryce,
Terrang i've done it With Isaac. Collins like they're really
good at taking these players who don't necessarily look like
they're going to be twenty homer guys and then.

Speaker 3 (59:31):
Turning them Into fantasy.

Speaker 4 (59:32):
Contributors SO i Think prade is still a name to
keep pretty high on the, lists even though the numbers
won't jump off the page this.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
Offseason you mentioned one of the guys THAT i was
thinking of WHEN i read this. Question That's George Lombard,
junior aggressively pushed to DOUBLE. A he turned twenty In.
JUNE i believe the numbers don't look, great but he
really impressed me at The Futures, game like he had
a lowed double off the, wall stole a. Base he's

(59:58):
got tools for. DAYS i just think with some time
and a little more development and, MATURITY i think he
can kind of grow into himself a little bit and
become a really solid player because he's got the tools for.
Sure the other GUY i thought of right away for
this Was Argent. Namala he was on fire when he
went To, vancouver but then he's really struggled since. Then he's,

(01:00:18):
young he's still, nineteen maybe just turned, twenty but he's
very young in baseball experience level as, well like he
played a lot of cricket growing up of the similar skill.
Sets BUT i, mean baseball is a different. Sport we know,
that SO i just think he just is. Learning he's
still learning the, game SO i just love the type

(01:00:41):
of player he's going to.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
Become so.

Speaker 1 (01:00:44):
Last, Question Joe, lowry our card, guru WHAT thesl bats
that weren't high on THE fypd radar headed into the.
Season should we be checking to see if they are
still on waiver wires to add in our minor league.
Rosters i've recently grabbed a few shares of One sanchez
of The Blue jays, lately for, Example lucas will start

(01:01:06):
with you on this. One ANY dsl names that people
need to be checking in, On.

Speaker 3 (01:01:12):
Yeah i've got two names that are. INTERESTING i Think.

Speaker 4 (01:01:14):
I'll admit that THE dsl was probably my weakest point
in terms of just like overall knowledge of, prospects AND
i think it's also the hardest to take statistics and
project future success based on the fact that the level
competition is kind of, wonky the pitching's not very. Good
BUT i think the two names that stand out just
from my research ARE. A Lurki rodriguez for The, rangers
and Then Christian argulates for The Colorado, rockies starting with

(01:01:38):
A Lerki. Rodriguez he hit three thirty seven with an
vp at four to seventy, three six, homers nine. Steals
seventeen years, old he's a five to ten. Outfielder The
rangers have a pretty solid track record of their international. Signings,
Again Sebastian walcott obviously the example that jumps off the.
Page so interesting to see maybe where they assign. HIM
i could see maybe him getting an aggressive a ball

(01:01:59):
assignment instead of star at The complex next, year if
they feel like his approach is really. Ready and then
the second, Name Christian argulays for The. Rockies he's a little,
older he's. Eighteen he's actually A dsl. Repeater he played
at the level last, year but took a huge step
forward statistically posted an opso over eleven hundred because he
hit four twenty two with five home runs and six. Deals,

(01:02:19):
obviously the level repeating is something to factor, in But
colorado obviously sounds like a great destination for fantasy purposes for,
everybody for on the hitting side at, Least so interesting
to see if he also makes the state side jump
next year and looks good right. Away SO Looki rodriguez
And Christian argulays would be the, name so THAT i
would look.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
Out for Awesome. Tom do you have a namer?

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
Two, yeah Eline, On.

Speaker 5 (01:02:43):
I'm mis pronounced That Ellon.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
Elly, yeah there we, go Elli on page twenty six percent,
owned so AND i know he had a little bit
of hype coming into the, season so he might be
owned in those deeper.

Speaker 5 (01:02:55):
Leagues SO i had to do some.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
Digging i'm kind of Like lucas here WHERE i rely
On Alex jensen to provide me with the young guys.
Names SO i went to Pee live plus here AND
i stumbled Upon.

Speaker 5 (01:03:09):
Sterling. Brazil so he's a smaller guy five ten listened
at one sixty. Four who knows how accurate that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Is but he's just short stuff For detroit and he's
putting together in forty eight, games six home runs in
nineteen stolen. Bases but Pe live plus had him with
well above average projection for home runs and stolen bases
with some hit tool. Concerned SO i like that he's

(01:03:37):
got the power and speed, already but he's ONE i
guess maybe to keep an eye. On if you see
that the hit tool has been bumped up, recently because
that's the one thing he seems to be.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Missing i'll go with a couple of guys that repeated
as well With. Lucas Luis kova is the first one
That i'll say of The marlins, again we've seen some
hitting development growth with that. Organization sprung a little bit last,
year but really really solid numbers this. Year and then

(01:04:10):
my second, name let me just find him, Here Adolfo
sanchez of The. Reds he's an outfielder again second year
in THE, dsl but raked this. Year he was one
of the, higher higher touted guys last, year AND i
think he had some injuries as, well so some of

(01:04:30):
the guys that are playing that second. Year so we
need to talk about that, too because a lot of
teams are going that route and sending these. Guys if
they're not like the elite of the ELITE dsl, prospects
they're keeping them in THE dsl for a second. Season
and there are many reasons for. That the first of
which is probably because there was a limit on the

(01:04:53):
amount of minor league players you can have In North.
AMERICA i think it's one hundred and sixty for something like,
that so they need to keep their talent in THE
dsl so they don't lose these players or have to release.
Them but also these players are so, young like some
of these guys are, sixteen seventeen years. Old just need more,

(01:05:15):
instruction more, gameplay more, reps and a second season doesn't hurt.
Them So whereas in the, PAST i think it was
looked down upon if a guy was, repeating why are
you still in THE, Dsl you must not make a good.
PROSPECT i don't think that's the case. Anymore AND i
think these guys learning for a second year and really.
Growing we're seeing some of these players really kind of

(01:05:36):
shine a little bit and perform once they get to
the complex. Leagues so, awesome get some good names. There, okay,
guys any closing thoughts before we end it? Here some
good questions this. Week thanks guys for your. Questions, lucas
any any final thoughts or what are you working? On

(01:05:57):
what are you excited?

Speaker 4 (01:05:58):
About it's definitely excited to do a lot of our
off season digging than do we have big. Plans it's
not going to spoil, them but really excited to give
everybody a lot of resources going into next.

Speaker 3 (01:06:08):
Season and THEN i think hopefully going to try to
maybe for one of.

Speaker 4 (01:06:12):
The Last Diamond diploma's articles later this, month give some
people some idea of who to look for out of
spring training next year for some really really early call
ups in twenty twenty, Six so hopefully to hopefully.

Speaker 3 (01:06:22):
You'll be able to dig into that coming.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
Up awesome and you might be even heading to a item.

Speaker 3 (01:06:26):
Game, yeah that's.

Speaker 4 (01:06:27):
True when the when The Dominican Summer league for Not Summer, league,
sorry when The Dominican Winter league comes To New York.

Speaker 1 (01:06:32):
City, great hopefully it's not snowing for.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
You it would be kind of. FUN i don't, know
little snowbloll Baseball.

Speaker 1 (01:06:39):
Tom what's going? On any final? Thoughts what are you working?
On what are you excited? About what AM i excited?

Speaker 2 (01:06:45):
About the regular season to end in The cubs to
make the, playoffs that would be. Exciting life is different
when there's A cubs playoff, game you, know that's like
an excuse to go out and hang out with your
your buddies and watch the. Game So i'm hoping they
can can get. In it's always nerve wracking here down.

Speaker 1 (01:07:05):
The stretch with. Them, yeah they don't make it easy on.
Me all, Right, yeah we obviously we mentioned, already we
have lots of big plans With Prospects live for our
off season content and again some big resources that will
help you kind of build and shape your teams to
be successful next. Season so thank you for supporting our

(01:07:30):
website and our podcast and our. Articles we really really appreciate.
It that's going to do. It for this week's episode
of The Prospects Live dynasty podcast on behalf Of lucas And,
TOM i like to thank Our hall Of Fame chier
Members Danny, cumming run our, Career Dan, Harrison Mike, Lasseter Mike,
Nakagawa Jason, Dyer Kyle, davis And chris chen for the

(01:07:52):
support at the highest. Level we could do this without, you,
guys the. Listeners we thank you for your time and
we hope to see you next.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
Time it's, typical, Tepic it's typic