Minor League Fantasy Draft- Round Two- O'Neil Cruz

The fantasy draft moved into the second round and there were two players available that I had a great deal of interest with just one team in front of me.

I had one slightly favored over the other on my board, but I would be fine landing either of the pair.
The team in front of me did select the player that I had rated slightly higher as Cincinnati third baseman Jonathan India was snagged.
India was the first round pick by the Reds in 2019 and I was a little surprised that he had dropped that far.
As I've written before, I generally start each round with a few names written down as players I'd be interested in landing with my next pick or even two and at the end of the first two rounds, the names that started the draft had been trimmed to one,so it took very little time to select that player.

Shortstop O'Neil Cruz was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline of 2017 along with Angel German when the Pirates sent reliever Tony Watson to Los Angeles.
At the time of the swap, Cruz was an 18-year old that was having his share of struggles with the Dodgers low A affiliate as a Great Lakes Loon.
Cruz was hitting just .240 in 89 games and had hit eight homers, but had struck out 110 times in 342 at-bats.
A high amount of strikeouts and one that makes you wonder about Cruz making enough contact to become anything more than a toolsy prospect.
Cruz didn't do any better after the trade at the same level at the Pirates then-affiliate West Virginia, hitting only .218 in 55 at-bats with 22 more strikeouts, although Cruz did connect for two more homers.
Cruz finished the season at a combined .237 with ten homers and 132 strikeouts in 397 at-bats and even though he was young for the level, only the ten homers made you give Cruz a second glance.


Entering 2018 as a 19-year-old, the Pirates made a decision to ease Cruz's transition and returned him to his original position of shortstop after playing third base in 2017 at both locations.
At 6'6, it was logical to assume that Cruz wouldn't be able to stay at shortstop and that still could be the case long term, but for now, Cruz will stay at shortstop as his 35 errors at short equaled his error number at third base the previous season.
Cruz improved his fielding percentage at shortstop and he covers a large amount of ground, so I think there is a chance he can be a shortstop at higher levels.

However, it was with the bat that brings Cruz to prospect attention.
Pittsburgh returned Cruz to the SAL last season and he responded with an excellent line of .286/14/59 with an OPS over .800 with eleven steals.
Cruz also cut his strikeouts down to an even 100 in 402 at-bats in an encouraging sign.

Some have compared Cruz's offensive potential to that of Nolan Arenado of the Rockies ( a previous minor draft pick of mine) and if Cruz can approach that level, we have a sure winner.
Still, for all of Cruz's high upside, Cruz still is a bit raw, but from what I saw last season both in person and on the stat sheet, I don't see a red flag other than strikeouts and he took strides in that column last season.

Cruz will start at High A Bradenton in 2019 and will once again be a little young for the level at age 20, but if the Pirates are patient, Cruz has the potential to be an impact player in their lineup in the next two to three years.