Minor League Fantasy Draft-Round Three-Orelvis Martinez

Our minor league fantasy draft moved into the third round and due to an earlier trade, my third-rounder was earlier in the round with my pick, which was the final pick in the third round, going to another team.

The decision was made to go very young with seventeen-year-old shortstop Orelvis Martinez of the Toronto Blue Jays, who spent his season with the complex team for the Blue Jays in the Gulf Coast League.
Martinez didn't turn eighteen until the GCL season had completed and was the choice by Baseball America as the top prospect in the league.

Martinez hit .275 with seven homers in 142 at-bats and five triples.
Martinez is expected to have a chance to stay at shortstop but is likely eventually move to third, which Toronto would hope to avoid with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at third base for a while.
Martinez is expected to fill out at only 175 pounds and could be a high average player with above-average power as a potential middle of the order hitter.


Taking young players that haven't played in a professional game outside of a complex is always a risky proposition, but it can be rewarding when you hit on the right player.
Something to watch here is my decision to take Martinez over Oakland shortstop Robert Puason.
It was very close for me to determine which young shortstop would be my choice and while I doubted that Puason would last the seventeen spots between my picks, I would have taken him there even with the selection of Martinez.
Alas, Puason was chosen two picks after Martinez, it'll be interesting to see which of the two moves faster and which becomes the better player.

Back later with either my choice in round four or maybe some words about the end of the XFL season.

Minor League Fantasy Draft-Round Two- Edward Cabrera

And minutes after I posted last night's news- we move to part two with the NCAA canceling all winter and spring sports, the NHL suspending their season, and Major and Minor league baseball delaying their season for the first two weeks of the year.

I'll have a post soon on the XFL ending their season, but declaring that they aren't closing up shop and plan on playing the 2021 season.
We'll see about that, but with no sports for the next few weeks at least I'll be writing some special posts on Forgotten Superstars and other subjects that time doesn't always permit with different topics in the news, so if you like those types of posts this will be a time that you may enjoy.

Sunday morning, our annual minor league fantasy draft began and I wasn't likely to select anyone.
That's because I had somehow won my first championship in 2019, so my pick was last in the round.
When my pick rolled on Monday, my "Akron Rubber Ducks" were called upon by Corey Cunningham and his "West Virginia Power" and asked if I was interested in moving my first-rounder.
I had a large number of players that I was interested in, but none that stood out above the rest so I was interested in talking deal.
Corey had used his pick at four and he owned another first-rounder at eleven, but he couldn't decide between two players that he wanted badly.
In the end, I traded the final pick in the first round and a fourth-rounder in the 2021 draft (in our league, you cannot trade picks for the next draft until the draft has started) for the Power's first and second-round picks in the 2021 draft.
I wasn't too unhappy as it now sets me up to have five picks in the first three rounds of next year's draft and possibly completing my draft in three rounds.
Corey made a nice pick with his newly acquired choice in Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who was one of the players in my queue but was not the player that I would have selected as I gambled a player from the bunch would tumble to the final pick of the second round.

Four of the dozen had been selected by my pick and it didn't take me long to make my selection with the highest-rated player on the board- Edward Cabrera, a right-handed pitcher in the Miami Marlins system.
Cabrera will turn 22 in a few weeks and was tremendous in his breakout season last year as Cabrera pitched for High A Jupiter and AA Jacksonville in 19 starts.
Cabrera finished with a 2.23 ERA between the two levels, hitters batted only .190 against Cabrera and Cabrera struck out 116 batters in 96 innings.
Cabrera walked only 31, so control isn't a problem for now and he has an excellent curveball to pair with a fastball that can touch 100 mph and sits in the mid-90s.
Cabrera added a changeup to his toolkit last season and when you can change speeds with a player with a fastball such as his, one can imagine the difficulty for hitters against him.


At 6'4 and only 175 pounds, Cabrera has some filling out to do and he's very projectable as a potential front-end starter.
Cabrera made nine starts for AA Jacksonville, so he's likely to start with the Jumbo Shrimp again to start the season, but he might not be there for very long if he performs as well as he did last season.
AAA Wichita should see Cabrera early in the year and the Marlins could bring him to the majors at some time during the second half of the season.

My third-round pick will be earlier than usual as I moved up in round three after an earlier trade.

Fantasy Minor Recap- Pitchers

The second look at the 2019 season from the fantasy baseball aspect and my minor league systems focuses on the eight pitchers in my system.

There were some big seasons with players moving up the prospect charts and others dealt with injury problems as young pitchers often do, but on the overall, "the Ducks" pitching prospects are looking fairly bright for a team that chose only two pitchers in the 2019 minor league draft.

We'll start with those two draftees, who both soared up the prospect ratings and both pitchers did their work at levels that were usually above players of their age.

Luis Patino  RHP San Diego
High A Lake Elsinore: 87 IP 6-8 2.69 ERA 113 SO 34 BB
AA Amarillo: 7.2 IP 0-0 1.17 ERA 10 SO 4 BB

In almost any organization in the game, Luis Patino would be considered their top pitching prospect, but San Diego has another top pitcher in Mackenzie Gore, so Patino has to settle for the top righthanded thrower for the Padres.
Still, Patino pitched the entire 2019 season at 19 years of age, cruised through the High A California League which is a noted hitters league and finished the season with an over three strikeouts to one walk ratio.
Patino held opponents to an average under .200 and according to the Padres added a strong changeup to a top-notch fastball and curve.
Patino will again be challenged at the age of 20 with an assignment to AA Amarillo and it's possible with a repeat season, Patino could be in San Diego late in the 2020 season.

Deivi Garcia RHP New York Yankees
High A Tampa: 17.2 IP 0-2 3.06 ERA 33 SO 8 BB
AA Trenton: 53.2 IP 4-4 3.86 ERA 87 SO 26 BB
AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre: 40 IP 1-3 5.40 ERA 45 SO 20 BB

Garcia turned 20 in May, so he was pushed far ahead of his level for his age.
At High A, 33 strikeouts in under 18 innings? That's just short of two an inning and it's no wonder that Garcia was moved quickly to AA Trenton.
The whiffs didn't slack off there and despite the average ERA, Garcia only allowed opposing hitters to bat .213 against him at AA.
Garcia didn't fare as well at AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre, but that was a big step for a 20-year-old and he still averaged over a strikeout an inning.
Garcia has been compared by some to Pedro Martinez and the pitches are there to be dominant, but he's listed at 5'9 and seeing him in person I thought 5'9 was being very generous.
The small size does bring up questions for long-term durability, but Garcia's arm is the real deal.
Garcia should start the season at AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre and could see New York by season's end.

Jesus Luzardo LHP Oakland
High A Stockton: 10 IP 1-0 0.90 ERA 18 SO 0 BB
AAA Las Vegas: 31 IP 1-1 3.19 ERA 34 SO 8 BB
Oakland :   12 IP 0-0 1.50 ERA 16 SO 3 BB

Luzardo missed part of the 2019 season with a shoulder strain, but it wasn't serious and he pitched well at AAA Las Vegas after a few rehab innings in High A.
Luzardo was called up late in the season to Oakland, where he pitched very well out of the bullpen for the Athletics, but his three plus pitches and excellent control gives the 22-year-old Luzardo an excellent chance to be part of the Oakland rotation to start the season.
Luzardo could start at AAA Las Vegas if the Athletics want to hedge their bets against arbitration down the road, but at worst will be in Oakland by midseason.

Justus Sheffield LHP Seattle
AA Arkansas: 78 IP 5-3 2.19 ERA 85 SO 18 BB
AAA Tacoma: 55 IP 2-6 6.87 ERA 48 SO 41 BB
Seattle: 36 IP 0-1 5.50 ERA 37 SO 18 BB

Sheffield, the top pick of Cleveland in 2014 and was sent to the Yankees in a deadline deal before moving to the Mariners last winter, started 2019 at AAA Tacoma.
After 55 innings that saw Sheffield walk almost as many as he struck out (41 BB to 48 SO) and an ERA that only missed an extra point to be considered a touchdown ERA, the desperate Mariners dropped Sheffield to AA Arkansas to try to salvage Sheffield's confidence.
Sheffield was able to recover at AA but was hit hard in seven starts with the big league club late in the season.
Sheffield is expected to be either the 4th or 5th starter for the Mariners entering training camp.

Adrian Morejon LHP San Diego
AA Amarillo 36 IP 0-4 4.25 ERA 44 SO 15 BB
San Diego 8 IP 0-0 10.13 ERA 9 SO 3 BB

An April injury made the Padres very cautious with the 20 year old Cuban and after Morejon missed three weeks, the Padres continued to start Morejon, but he usually pitched only one or two innings, only throwing three innings on one occasion.
It was the limited use that caused the bad win-loss record, but the K-BB ratio was almost three to one and hitters hit only .215 in the Texas League against him.
A late July call-up didn't go well from the bullpen and Morejon was shut down in August with a shoulder injury.
The shoulder injury wasn't serious and Morejon pitched in the Arizona Fall League.
Morejon could contend for a rotation spot, but I think he'll start in the Padres AAA affiliate in San Antonio's rotation.

Triston McKenzie RHP Cleveland
Did Not Pitch

A nagging back injury cost McKenzie his 2019 season and for all McKenzie's impressive numbers for his career, he has yet to complete a full season.
McKenzie is reported to be ready to go for spring training and the Indians could assign him to AAA Columbus to start, but he might spend April with AA Akron after the year away.

Corbin Martin RHP Arizona
AAA Round Rock 37.1 IP 2-1 3.13 ERA 45 SO 18 BB
Houston 19.1 IP 1-1 5.59 ERA 19 SO 12 BB

Martin seemed to be on the fast track to the majors after an impressive start at AAA Round Rock and a May call to Houston.
Martin had one solid start, but was rocked in his other four and was returned to AAA.
Martin would make three June starts and he underwent Tommy John surgery.
Martin is now the property of the Diamondbacks as even with the injury, Martin was included in the trade that saw Zack Greinke move to the Astros.

Logan Allen RHP Cleveland
AAA El Paso 57.2 IP 4-3 5.15 ERA 63 SO 22 BB
AAA Columbus 22.1 IP 1-1 7.66 ERA 18 SO 12 BB
San Diego 25.1 IP 2-3 6.75 ERA 14 SO 13 BB
Cleveland 2.1 IP 0-0 0.00 ERA 3 SO 1 BB

Allen seemed to struggle at AAA El Paso and for some reason, the Padres called him up for 8 appearances with four of those starts.
San Diego sent Allen to Cleveland with Franmil Reyes as part of the three-team deal with the Reds and after being assigned to AAA Columbus, Allen struggled in his first four starts before a good final outing of the season.
Allen made a late-season cameo from the Indians bullpen.
I'm not sure what to expect from Allen, but his ceiling isn't as high as others on this list.

Corbin Martin and Logan Allen weren't drafted by me, but since I added them off waivers in their big league time, I am allowed to send them down to my minors when they were returned to AAA.

I'm going to protect Patino, Luzardo, Garcia, McKenzie, Morejon.
I'm leaning towards protecting Sheffield.
I will be releasing Martin and Allen.

Fantasy Minor Recap- Hitters

Now that the 2020 calendar has begun, I can start thinking about baseball and my minor league fantasy draft that I try to write about here and there.
I finally won the Jim Bouton Baseball League after many years of trying and I was more than happy on the night that I finally won that elusive title.

However, in our league where you keep all of your players, you have to continue to move forward and plan for the future.
In our league, you can only have 17 players in your minor system and you have to have fewer than that to draft more, so it's a constant concept of culling prospects.
Today, I'll be looking back at the hitters from 2019 and discuss if they have a future with the "Akron Rubber Ducks".

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3b Toronto Blue Jays
.272 15 HR 69 RBI Toronto
Guerrero fell just 36 at-bats short of forcing a decision for me as in our league, once a player has 500 MLB at-bats, the team has to either bring him up or release him.
Guerrero spent very little time with AAA Buffalo (9 games) with his "arbitration" send-down time being eaten by a spring training injury.
I have three excellent third basemen (Anthony Rendon, Nolan Arenado, and Rafael Devers), but I'll find a place for Guerrero's bat.

The remaining eight players didn't spend any major league time in 2019, so they are still projections as far their future will be.
Some will stay, some will leave and with one or two others, I am still undecided on keeping them or not.
I'll start with the catchers and work my way around the diamond.

Joey Bart C San Francisco Giants
234 AB .265 12 HR 37 RBI High A San Jose
79 AB .316 4 HR 11 RBI AA Richmond
Bart was just starting to hit his stride when he suffered a broken hand with San Jose but upon his return hit very well at AA Richmond.
I paid a high price to move from eleventh to first in the first round in Shane Bieber to draft Bart last season and although I liked Bieber I was surprised with his elite performance last season.
For that deal to be worthwhile in the long run (assuming Bieber keeps that level of performance), Bart will have to be an elite offensive catcher and not just above average.
I think he's capable of that.
Bart should start at AAA Sacramento and finish the season with the Giants.

William Contreras C Atlanta Braves
190 AB .263 3 HR 22 RBI High A Florida
191 AB .246 3 HR 17 RBI AA Mississippi
The younger brother of Willson Contreras, William split the season between High A and AA  and his numbers were average.
Contreras played most of the season at 21, which made his a little young for AA and the Braves were pleased enough to move him to AA  at mid-season.
I'll be keeping Contreras around for this season, but this is a key year for him.
Contreras will likely return to AA Mississippi to start in 2020.

Miguel Vargas 3B Los Angeles Dodgers
280 AB .325 5 HR 45 RBI Low A Great Lakes
211 AB .284 2 HR 32 RBI High A Rancho Cucamonga
Vargas played the entire season as a 19-year-old and I think he is a star in the making.
The Cuban might eventually become a first baseman and his power numbers were a little low, but with his frame (6'3 205 lbs), I think as he grows into his body, the power will come along.
The hype around the Dodgers farm system is around Gavin Lux right now and rightfully so, but by this time next year when Lux is an established major leaguer, the top minor leaguer could be Miguel Vargas.
Vargas could start with AA Tulsa if the Dodgers really want to challenge him, but my guess is that he starts with High A Rancho Cucamonga and if all goes as expected, Vargas could be in Tulsa by mid-May.

Elehuris Montero 3B St.Louis
224 AB .188 7 HR 18 RBI AA Springfield
Montero shows what can happen when a player is moved too soon as after he dominated the low A Midwest League in 2018 and less than 100 at-bats in high A in the same season, Montero was surprisingly assigned to AA Springfield for 2019.
Montero missed much of the season, struck out 74 times and hit under .190 in never getting untracked.
Still, his seven homers give me hope and Montero only turned 21 with two weeks to go in the season.
I'm still trying to decide on Montero, but I'm leaning towards blaming the team and not the player and seeing if Montero will bounce back.
Montero should return to AA Springfield for a second chance to conquer the Texas League.

O'Neil Cruz SS Pittsburgh
136 AB .301 7 HR 16 RBI High A Bradenton
119 AB .269 1 HR 17 RBI AA Altoona
The tallest shortstop (6'7) that you are likely to see, Cruz, like Montero, battled injuries early in the season and didn't turn 21 until after the season.
Unlike Montero, Cruz started at High A and after his return from injury and an excellent July, only then did Cruz move to AA.
I'm not sure if Cruz plays shortstop at the major league level, but I think his bat is going to play-if the Pirates can be patient and allow him to develop.
Cruz should return to AA Altoona to start in 2020.

Heliot Ramos OF San Francisco
294 AB .306 13 HR 40 RBI High A San Jose
95   AB .242  3 HR 15 RBI AA Richmond
Ramos, like so many in my system, fought injuries early in the year but hit very well with High A San Jose.
Ramos didn't turn 20 until after the season and considering that Ramos held his own after a final month with AA Richmond.
There is plenty to prove, but being young for both levels, I'm very encouraged about the future of Ramos.
Ramos should start 2020 with AA Richmond and finish with AAA Sacramento.

Luis Robert OF Chicago White Sox
75 AB .453 8 HR 24 RBI 8 SB High A Winston-Salem
226 AB. 314 8 HR 29 RBI 21 SB AA Birmingham
202 AB .297 16 HR  39 RBI 7 SB AAA Charlotte
Robert had battled injuries in a disappointing 2018 after I selected him with my first pick in that draft and I was hoping to see a bounceback year.
Robert more than bounced back with a season to be remembered, especially those 75 at-bats to start the season with High A Winston-Salem, which was about as destructive as an outfielder could be as an offensive force.
Robert was almost as dominant at AA and AAA and has nothing left to prove.
The White Sox signed Robert to a six year contract last week and since that contract eliminates the arbitration issue with service time, Robert will likely make the ChiSox team coming out of spring training.

Jhailyn Ortiz OF Philadelphia
430 AB .200 19 HR 65 RBI High A Clearwater
Ortiz didn't turn 21 until the season was over, but I was surprised to see the Phillies start Ortiz at High A Clearwater after a mediocre 2018 (.225 13 homers) at Low A Lakewood.
While you have to like the 19 homers in the Florida State League, a noted pitchers league, there is little else to like from Ortiz's season.
An average that ended exactly on the Mendoza Line and 149 strikeouts (over a strikeout in every three at-bats) at High-A doesn't give me confidence in his future.
The talent is there for Ortiz, but I don't currently believe that he is going to make enough contact to eventually be a big-league level player.
Ortiz is young enough that I wouldn't rule him out as a prospect yet, but two years with a combined 297 strikeouts isn't enough to keep him in my system.

Of my positions players entering the draft year, my current feelings are these.
Promoted to the Ducks- Vladimir Guerrero Jr

Will be promoted to the Ducks sometime this season barring an injury- Luis Robert

Retaining rights and hoping for big things-
Joey Bart
Heliot Ramos
O'Neil Cruz
Miguel Vargas

Protecting, but 2020 make or break
William Contreras

Questioning to protect or not and 2020 make or break
Elehuris Montero

Going to be Released
Jhailyn Ortiz

I plan on doing a similar post on my eight pitchers sometime next week.

Fantasy Minor Update

With a little over a month passed of the baseball season, I thought I would type in an update on my various minor league players and how they performed in the start of the season.
It's been a slow start filled with injuries, but one that hopefully will clear itself up.
Stats as of 5/11.

2019 # 1
Joey Bart C San Francisco
High A San Jose
.270 2 HR 8 RBI in ten games-currently out with a broken hand.

2019 # 2
O'Neil Cruz SS Pittsburgh
High A Bradenton
.238 1 HR 3 RBI in eleven games,
Currently out with a broken foot

2019 # 3
Deivi Garcia P New York Yankees
High A Tampa
0-2 in four starts 3.06 ERA 33 strikeouts in 17 innings, promoted to AA Trenton

AA Trenton
1-1 in two starts 4.00 ERA 16 strikeouts in nine innings

2019 # 4
Luis Patino P San Diego
High A Lake Elsinore
2-3 in six starts 3.75 ERA 29 strikeouts in 24 innings

2019 # 5
Miguel Vargas 3B Los Angeles
Low A Great Lakes
.257 0 HR 20 RBI in 105 at bats

2019 # 6
Elehuris Montero 3B St.Louis
AA Springfield
.219 2 HR 11 RBI in 73 at bats
Currently on the injured list.

2018 # 1
Luis Robert OF Chicago White Sox
High A Winston-Salem
.453 8 HR 24 RBI 8 SB in 75 at-bats, Promoted to AA Birmingham

AA Birmingham
.233 0 HR 3 RBI in 30 at bats

2018 # 2
Heliot Ramos OF San Francisco
.270 5 HR 11 RBI in 63 at bats
Currently injured with a sprained knee

2018 # 3
Jesus Luzardo P Oakland
Has not pitched-shoulder strain, expected to return soon

2018 # 4
Adrian Morejon P San Diego
AA Amarillo
0-3 in four starts 6.59 ERA in 14 innings
Currently on the injured list with back soreness

2018 # 5
Jhailyn Ortiz OF Philadelphia
High A Clearwater
.177 1 HR 7 RBI in 77 at bats

2018 #5A
William Contreras C Atlanta
High A Florida
.284 1 HR 7 RBI in 116 at bats

The remainder of the system
Austin Meadows OF Tampa Bay-MLB
Eloy Jimenez OF Chicago White Sox-MLB
Vladimir Guerrero Jr 3B Toronto-MLB
Justus Sheffield P Seattle-MLB
Triston McKenzie P Cleveland, starting the season on the injured list, expected to return later this month

Minor League Fantasy Draft- Round Six Elehuris Montero

With my final pick, I was thinking about taking another lower level player to develop and hope for an impact player.
However, one player stood out as in "Why is this guy still on the board"?

I mean really, it seemed like he had been taken, but I scanned the results and nope, still available.
I was surprised, but I also was hoping for a younger, albeit riskier, player, but in the end class and performance won out as I finished the draft with the selection of Elehuris Montero, a third baseman from the St.Louis Cardinal system.

The 20-year-old Montero hit .322 with 15 homers and 69 RBI in 103 for Low A Peoria in 103 games before a promotion to High A Palm Beach for the final 24 games where he hit .298 with a homer.
Montero is one of three excellent young third base prospects with the Cardinals along with 2018 first rounder Nolan Gorman and international signee Malcolm Nunez, so it's not out of the question that Montero could be a trade piece near the deadline, should the Cardinals be in playoff contention.

Montero is from the Dominican Republic and was noted by Baseball America to have "Plus raw power" "bat speed to overcome swing holes" and could be an eventual "25 to 30 homer with a steady average player".
Montero's defensive position is less certain as some scouts think he could stay at third as an average defender with work, while others think he will wind up at first base or even possibly left field.
Montero won the Midwest League MVP last season and was expected to be assigned back at High A Palm Beach where he finished last season, but was challenged with advancement to AA Springfield to start 2019.

It'll be interesting to see if Montero zooms up the prospect charts if he plays well at 20 (turns 21 in August) in the Texas League, but should he do there what he did in Peoria, Elehuris Montero will be a name that you hear often not only around the trade deadline but in the 2021 Hot Stove League as well.

Minor League Fantasy Draft- Round Five Miguel Vargas

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Johnson/Ogden Raptors

The fantasy draft was nearing its end and fewer teams still had selections remaining, so there were only a handful of players taken between my fourth-round pick, Luis Patino and my looming pick in the fifth round.

With two rounds to go, I usually like to take players that are lower in team systems with very high upside.
When you are taking a chance on a prospect of that type, it's preferable to do so later in the draft, so if the player struggles, you are more likely to cut bait faster and not keep him around.

I had a handful of players on my post-it with this type of background and level to choose from and almost all of them were still on the board- only one had been taken.
I looked over them closely and decided to take the one that had the highest upside, but having the least experience, was carrying the highest risk.
In the fifth round, I didn't look at it as extremely risky with a lower rounder when I selected 19 year third baseman Miguel Vargas of the Dodgers.
Vargas played 22 games with Rookie-level Ogden of the Pioneer League, where Vargas raked to a .394 2 homers 22 RBI tune and an OPS over a thousand before moving to Low A Great Lakes.
With the Loons, Vargas didn't hit as well in hitting only. 216 without a homer and struck out in 20 of his 75 at-bats.

Vargas is the son of one of Cuba's greatest baseball legends, Lazaro Vargas, who played 22 seasons for the Cuban national team and won two Olympic gold's with that national team.
The 6'3 Vargas signed for $300,000 and is expected to may have to eventually shift to first, but is thought to have plus power and line drive potential once he fills into his still growing body.
Vargas needs work on pulling the ball for power and if he is going to stay at third base reports say he'll have to keep from gaining weight as he is said to have "Slow Twitch" reflexes, although good hands defensively.

Miguel Vargas has the pedigree and background for success but comes with some questions as most younger Cuban prospects have about the competition level that they have faced along with the adjustment of moving to the USA.
Still, his bat looks like it has the chance to be special and was worth taking a chance on at this time of the draft.
I'll finish the draft series sometime on a slow day and I'll try to keep updates through the season on how the system is doing.

Minor League Fantasy Draft-Round Four- Luis Patino

Photo Credit:Jeff Nycz

The draft entered its fourth round and I decided that I had plenty of "Dark Horse" hitting prospects to throw a dart or two in my final selections and decided to take the best pitcher available.

The interesting prospect to me was Colombia's  Luis Patino, who pitched the entire season at 18 years of age for the San Diego Padres Low A affiliate, the Fort Wayne Tin Caps.

Patino's numbers were dazzling as a Tin Cap, finishing 6-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 17 starts, striking out 98 and walking only 24.

Patino had skipped short-season baseball in order to start with Fort Wayne and the Padres could have then sent Patino there, should he struggle in the Midwest League, which as you can see did not happen.
Patino will likely start the season for the Padres high A affiliate in the California League in Lake Elsinore.


Joe Werner notes that Patino is 'the righthanded version of fellow Padre prospect MacKenzie Gore" with an "all arms and legs windup" and with this really intriguing note- Patino allowed twenty earned runs all season, but eleven of those came in two starts.
If you delete those starts and only look at Patino's other fifteen starts, his ERA drops to a tiny 1.08.
And for those 98 strikeouts- Patino has been clocked at 100 MPH and has a strong slider, curve, and changeup.
Werner adds that you could make a case that Patino is "the highest-ceiling pitcher in the minor leagues"!

Between the numbers at Fort Wayne and the downright glowing reports from Joe Werner, Luis Patino could be the type of pitcher that you talk about for years as a fourth-round pick.
At the same time, so many variables can happen to a pitcher, especially one that will pitch the season at only 19, so nothing is a sure thing, but I'm very encouraged about the potential of Luis Patino.

Minor League Fantasy Draft- Round Three- Deivi Garcia

The fantasy draft steamed into round three and I needed a pitcher or two to keep the system even in numbers.

The choice was Deivi Garcia, a right-handed pitcher from the New York Yankees system and I was pretty pleased to select Garcia among a small group of pitchers that I was looking at for this pick and later in the draft.

The right-hander from the Dominican Republic made fifteen starts last season at three levels, Low A Charleston, High A Tampa, and AA Trenton.
Garcia made just one start in Trenton, but pitched five innings without allowing a hit and striking out seven.


Garcia turns 20 in May and since he made only six starts at Tampa, I'd normally think that he would start the season there, but his six starts in Florida saw Garcia strike out 35 in 28 innings and finish with an ERA of 1.27, so there is the possibility that the Yankees may decide to start Garcia at AA with the Thunder.


Garcia is noted to throw in the mid 90's, but he is more than just a fireballer as his curveball is just as good at this time.
Garcia also has the motion that brings to mind the exaggerated windup's of Luis Tiant or Johnny Cueto that creates deception for the hitter and there is one point to add and it's a huge one for possible future success- Garcia throws strikes.
Sounds simple, but for a 19-year-old at three levels to strike out 105 and walk only twenty in seventy plus innings that shows the type of maturity that you don't always see from a young pitcher.

There is one concern, which is a slight frame at 5'10 and only 163 (pretty specific there) pounds.
Smallish pitchers don't always seem to have the length of career that larger pitchers have, but they often are dominant during their peak.
Deivi Garcia's size does give me a little pause, but the scouting reports are glowing and even though there is a risk, it's possible that Garcia could have the highest potential of any pitcher in this draft.

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.

Busy Busy

Monday and Tuesday can be busy days for me and sometimes working around real life (Especially on Tuesday) and the everyday errands that we all have hit my time here hard.

However, enjoy this note about the upcoming week to come:

The Browns hit free agency as I write this, Cleveland has an agreement for a major defensive contributor in case.
That's an agreement because teams cannot sign anyone officially until tomorrow, but it is extremely rare to renege on these agreements.

No Hotshots review this week.
Why? Well, I was exhausted after a long Sunday of work and family events and was watching something else when the game began.
I finished that and was going to go to bed when Fred Landucci called me and said the game against San Antonio was 26-0 Commanders near the half.
Judging that, I went to bed- the Hotshots rallied strongly in the second half but lost 29-25.
Arizona falls to 2-3 on the year and visits what appears to be the league's top team next week in the undefeated Orlando Apollos.

I'll be appearing on a podcast (remember when I did one of those before controversy and dollars came into play?) on Wednesday, so once I can post and give the host show some pub, I'll link to it so anyone out there can give it a listen.
Please make sure you give the guys at Rouge White and Blue some comments or even ratings on your podcasting tool of choice.
I'm sure they'll appreciate it and mentioning me wouldn't hurt getting my name out there as I (Shh) tenderly begin the process of "other projects".

Since I'm picking at the bottom of my fantasy draft in each round, it has taken longer to make my picks so the posts on those players will be worked on.
I've picked three more "Rubber Ducks", one of them just a few minutes ago and there will be two more before I'm finished.
I'm fairly pleased so far considering where I'm picking, but I gambled twice in the draft on players I really liked and once it paid off well and the other it didn't so I'll have those stories as well.

I also have the boxing challenge starting early this week with a Friday night card on DAZN
More passings to note and an inbox that needs dumping along with a possible feature as well

Hang in there until tonight/slash tomorrow morning as Jim Ross used to scream- Business is about to pick up!

Minor League Fantasy Draft- Round One- Joey Bart

(Jared Ravich/MiLB.com)

Last year, I wrote about my various draft selections in my minor league fantasy draft and followed them throughout the season.
Now, I know that someone's fantasy sports team are as interesting to others as other people's little league teams or pictures of their kids or pets (General rule of thumb- those are all things to be passionate about when you are involved and no problems with that, but unless you are in that league, no one else really cares) and I won't bore you with my team in the season, etc ,but since I write about minor league baseball throughout the season, I do make an exception for my minor players because I think it's just fun to follow.

Last season, I lost a heartbreaking championship series that that literally came down to the final at-bat of the week on Sunday Night Baseball before I was defeated.
That loss meant I was picking 11th in the draft and I released six players to possess six picks in this year's draft.
There were a few players that I really liked, but I doubted that they would be available to me at 11.
I noted last year, with my 5th round pick of Atlanta's William Contreras, that the hardest positions to draft and develop players at are catcher and shortstop as young players often start at those positions and are moved to other spots for various reasons.

I was interested in one player more than most though for not only the above reason but because my catching position on my team could use an upgrade and this player would likely be fast-tracked to the big leagues faster than usual.
I talked to a team (Memphis Redbirds) picking at the top of the round to see the cost and the response was to flip first rounders would be a major league pitcher off my roster.
Given the choice of two, I chose Cleveland's Shane Bieber to trade and the deal was finished.

I quickly tabbed Joey Bart of the Giants to address the catching position.
Bart was the second overall choice last year in the draft out of Georgia Tech, where he hit .361 and 16 homers for the Yellow Jackets in 56 games, but was also named the ACC player of the year and the ACC defensive player of the year.
The latter is important because it means that Bart is skilled enough behind the plate that he'll stay there, where his bat is so much more valuable to the Giants and fantasy owners.
The 6'3 Bart played his 2018 minor season at short-season Salem-Keizer, where Bart hit .298 with 13 homers in 45 games with the Volcanoes.
Bart is noted to have 30 homer power potential and should stay behind the plate.
The main worry is this- Making contact and Bart could strike out a lot.
For my purposes, a strikeout is no different than any other type of out, so that's not an issue.
Bart's ceiling- He could develop into the best hitting catcher in the game, hitting .280 with 30 homers.
Bart's floor- He hits .230 with 15 homers with strong defense, which doesn't help me but would keep him in the lineup as the Giants everyday backstop,


Shane Bieber is a promising young pitcher, but I added him as a waiver claim, so as a result I had little invested in him and even though I think Bieber is going to have a nice season, the chance to add what could be an elite catcher should things work out perfectly made the cost reasonable and gamble worth taking.
It's a while before my second rounder comes up, but I'll offer some thoughts on him after the selection.

Fantasy Minor Picks; 2018

Now that the season is over, I wanted to update the players that I selected in my minor league fantasy draft last winter.

It's a mixed bag between great seasons, disappointing ones due to injuries and some just taking time to develop.
Nonetheless, I'm still fairly pleased and with one possible exception, I think I'm going to keep these guys around for 2019.

Round One: Luis Robert OF Chicago White Sox
Low A Kannapolis 13 Games .289, 0 HR 4 RBI 4 SB
High A Winston-Salem 32 Games .269, 0 HR, 11 RBI 8 SB

The 21-year-old Cuban defector had a rough year as he played in just fifty games between a spring training wrist injury and an in-season thumb injury and didn't hit a homer.
Still, wrist and thumb injuries can take away power so I can excuse that and Robert is playing very well in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .369 with a homer in 49 at-bats.
Hopefully, 2019 will show more of the true talent of Robert.
Robert will likely return to High A Winston-Salem, but it's possible he could start with AA Birmingham with a strong spring training.

Round Two: Heliot Ramos OF San Francisco
Low A Augusta: 124 Games  .245 11 HR 52 RBI 8 SB

Ramos, who didn't turn 19 until the season was challenged with an assignment to Low A Augusta and it was a decent, but not great full-season debut.
The average was a little low, but Ramos showed pop with 24 doubles and 8 triples, so the power potential is there. Ramos struck out 136 times which is a lot, but I'll hope that as Ramos gains experience some of those strikeouts will go away.
At 19, Ramos may return to Augusta to start 2019, although he might be assigned to High A San Jose.

Round Three: Jesus Luzardo P Oakland
High A Stockton: 3 Starts 14.2 IP 1-1 Record 1.23 ERA 25 SO 5 BB 0.75 WHIP
AA Midland: 16 Starts 78.2 IP 7-3 Record 2.29 ERA 86 SO 18 BB 0.97 WHIP
AAA Nashville: 4 Starts 16 IP 1-1 Record 7.31 ERA 18 SO 7 BB 2.00 WHIP

Luzardo turned out to be the standout of my draft, dominating two stops, before a late-season cameo at AAA.
In his 108 innings, Luzardo struck out 129 and walked only 30, showing an ability to miss bats and command of the strike zone.
Luzardo turned 21 after the season, so he was not only moved quickly but has room to improve.
Luzardo will likely start 2019 at the Athletics new AAA affiliate in Las Vegas.

Round Four: Adrian Morejon P San Diego
High A Lake Elsinore 13 Starts 62.2 IP 4-4 Record 3.30 ERA 74 SO 24 BB 1.24 WHIP

Morejon was pitching very well in June before hitting the disabled list with a triceps injury,
Morejon would make just one start in each of July and August, pitching a total of five innings before being shut down for the season after August 5.
The injuries are not reported to be serious and Morejon turns twenty over the winter, so my guess is that he returns to Lake Elsinore to start the season and with a solid April, should receive a speedy promotion to San Diego's new AA location in Amarillo, Texas.

Round Five: Jhailyn Ortiz OF Philadelphia
Low A Lakewood: 110 Games .225 Avg 13 HR 47 RBI

Ortiz had a very disappointing season at Low A, striking out 148 times (12 more times than Heliot Ramos in 14 fewer games) and when I saw him play, didn't exactly wow me with his hustle.
Ortiz played the season at 19 (turns 20 in November) so there could be just immaturity issues and he hit a homer at Hagerstown that was the longest that I saw all year, so with 13 homers the power potential is there.
Ortiz is likely to return to Low A Lakewood to work on his contact issues.

Round Five A: William Contreras C Atlanta
Low A Rome: 82 Games .293 11 HR 39 RBI
High A Florida 23 Games .253 0 HR 11 RBI

Contreras continued his development with a strong year in the South Atlantic League before spending August in the Florida State League.
Contreras turns 21 before next season and has time to develop his plate discipline.
Contreras is rumored to be a possible piece in any off-season Braves trades, but if he stays in the Atlanta organization, he'll start back in Florida with the High A Fire Frogs.

I'm more than likely going to keep all of these players, but if I release one, it would be Jhailyn Ortiz.
I may do another piece on the other players in my system on another slow day.

June Minor League System Update!

Here is the update for the minor league system for June.
One of these players is now in the big leagues and is hitting extremely well and I have brought him up to my big club.
I'll still be noting the numbers of Juan Soto for the next three updates, but now that he's on the big club, he's not really part of the system.

2018 # 1
Luis Robert OF Chicago White Sox .237 0 HR 4 RBI-Low A Kannapolis
Robert's season finally started after a spring training wrist injury and was surprisingly assigned to low A Kannapolis after spending time with High A Winston-Salem as he healed.
The numbers aren't great, but they are in only 38 at-bats.
Next month, I'll have a better idea.

2018 # 2
Heliot Ramos OF San Francisco .231 5 HR 20 RBI.-Low A-Augusta.
Ramos raised his average a bit this month, but his other numbers in May were similar to those in April.
Still extremely young at 18 to be in the South Atlantic League with low A Augusta.

2018 # 3
Jesus Luzardo P Oakland 2-1 in 3 starts 1.23 ERA 25 K's in 14.2 innings at Low A Stockton
3-3 in 9 starts 3.80 ERA 54 K's in 42.2 innings at AA Midland.
Aggressively moved to AA after just three starts above short season, Luzardo is holding his own, if not dazzling in the Texas League.
Have to like Luzardo's strikeout numbers in Midland.

2018 # 4
Adrian Morejon 4-4 in 11 starts 3,59 ERA 66 K's in 57.2 innings at High A Lake Elsinore
The 19-year-old Morejon is very young for the High A California League and picked up his strikeout numbers in the last month.

2018 # 5
Jhalyn Ortiz OF Philadelphia  .263 4 HR 16 RBI- Low A Lakewood
Ortiz returned from injury and has hit .322 since his return for Low A Lakewood.
Ortiz smashed a long homer in Hagerstown off 2017 Nationals number one draft pick Seth Romero that I think is still moving.
If Ortiz continues to combine a high average with his natural power, he might be at the top of prospect lists by 2020, if not before.

2018 # 5A
William Contreras.283 5 HR 14 RBI Low A Rome
Contreras continues to hit well after missing time at the beginning of the season for Low A Rome.
Really like the power being shown for a catcher and considering that many thought the bat was going to be a question for Contreras, he might be on his way to solid prospect status.

The rest of my system as follows- If a draft pick number appears to be out of order, I either released that player, traded him or lost him in the expansion draft

2017 # 1
Eloy Jimenez Chicago White Sox .320 10 HR 41 RBI AA Birmingham
The slugging Jimenez continues to crush the ball at AA Birmingham and appears to have a promotion to AAA Charlotte ready whenever the White Sox want to pull the string.
One of the top prospects in the game

2017 # 2
Juan Soto Washington
.373 5 HR 24 RBI in 59 at bats at Low A Hagerstown
.371 7 HR 18 RBI in 62 at bats at High A Potomac
.323 2 RBI 10 RBI in 31 at bats ar AA Harrisburg
.338 5 HR 12 RBI in 68 at bats at Washington
The last we heard from the 19-year-old Soto, we were wondering about the Nationals challenging him with a strong move to AA Harrisburg,
In the interim, the Nationals shocked me and others by bringing him to the bigs for what was thought to be a brief stop while the team recovered from injuries in the outfield.
Instead, Soto smashed the ball just as well in the majors as he did in the minors and might have put himself in the lineup for a while.
I'm sure he'll hit a point where he struggles and the Nationals might send him down when that happens to try to avoid his eligibility as a "Super Two" in arbitration, but there has been no indication of that slowdown happening any time soon.
Washington just may have a replacement ready for Bryce Harper and with some hyperbole, a chance to exceed him.

2017 # 4
Triston McKenzie P Cleveland 1-1 in 2 starts 2.89 ERA 9 K's in 9 innings at AA Akron.
McKenzie made his 2018 debut and hitters have hit just .094 in those two starts.
McKenzie just continues to dominate no matter his level and if he pitches to his career thus far over the final three months, might have a shot of joining the Cleveland rotation for 2019.

2016 # 3
Brady Aiken P Cleveland
Aiken is still in Arizona, but after a bad 2018 might be running out of chances.
Haven't heard anything about an assignment soon

2016 # 4

Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 3B Toronto .407 11 HR 55 RBI- AA New Hampshire

Guerrero might have been on his way to joining Juan Soto as 19-year-old big leaguers before straining a patella tendon sliding into second base,

Guerrero has struck out just 21 times in over 200 at-bats and with an OPS over 1,100, he might go straight to AAA Buffalo after his return from injury, from which he is expected to miss one month.

2016 # 5

Phil Bickford P Milwaukee 0-0 3.60 ERA 8 K's in 4 appearances/ 5 innings as a reliever for High A Carolina.

Bickford finally arrived at High A for the Brewers after a collection of suspensions and injuries.

I'm not sure if Milwaukee looks at him as a reliever now or is merely taking it slow with the right-hander after he has basically missed close to a year and a half.

It's hard to believe, but Bickford is still just 22 and a strong second half might make me decide to keep him around.

2016 # 6

Justus Sheffield P New York Yankees

1-2 in 5 starts 2.25 ERA 39 K's in 28 innings at AA Trenton

1-2 in 7 starts 3.03 ERA  33 K's in 32.2 innings at AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre

Hitters are hitting just .203 against the righthanded Sheffield since his promotion to AAA.

Sheffield seems to be progressing well against the AAA hitters and his slider might be big league ready now.

The Yankees might have to decide on bringing him up before the end of the season or Sheffield along with Clint Frazier will likely be the most attractive trade chips that the Bombers have at the trade deadline.

Pre-2016 Draftees

Christian Arroyo 3B Tampa Bay

.200 1 HR 8 RBI in 68 at-bats at AAA Durham

.280 1 HR 6 RBI in 56 at-bats with Tampa Bay.

Arroyo is currently the utility man and has played second and third for the Rays.

Unless Arroyo picks up the pace in the second half, I'll be likely to release him as a final decision looms when he reaches 500 career at-bats.

Austin Meadows OF Pittsburgh

.294 1 HR 15 RBI in 136 at-bats at AAA Indianapolis

.329 5 HR 10 RBI in 87 at-bats with Pittsburgh.

Meadows joined the Pirates with questions about his power and that has not been a problem early in his Pirates career.

Meadows has cooled of late though (.231 in June) and with the return of Starling Marte to join Gregory Polanco and Corey Dickerson in the outfield, Pittsburgh may soon return Meadows to Indianapolis to avoid him becoming the fourth outfielder and get regular at-bats.

Pittsburgh might consider moving Dickerson at the deadline for both the return and to give Meadows a shot at a regular spot in the outfield.

Tyler Beede P San Francisco

3-7 in 10 starts 6.71 ERA 49 K's in 51 innings at AAA Sacramento

0-1 in 2 starts 8.22 ERA in 7.2 innings for San Francisco

Beede's numbers keep getting worse and he looks to be finished as a serious prospect at 25.

Beede isn't missing bats and he should be dominating AAA, not posting ugly stats.

He'll likely be released by me at this rate.

Grant Holmes P Oakland
Holmes suffered a rotator cuff injury in spring training and may miss the season.
Holmes will likely be released by me before the next draft.

May Minor League System Update!

As we near mid-May, I promised an occasional update on my minor leaguers that I drafted.
I'll also add the players that I drafted before this past draft after my picks as well.

2018-# 1
Luis Robert OF Chicago White Sox- missed time with a wrist injury, playing in Arizona, expected to start at High A Winston-Salem soon.

2018 #2
Heliot Ramos OF San Francisco-  .212 3 HR 10 RBI at Low A Augusta.
Has struggled overall, but has had two really strong weeks.
The problem is what he has done otherwise.

2018 #3
Jesus Luzardo P Oakland 2-1 in 3 starts 1.23 ERA 25 K's in 14.2 innings at High A Stockton
                                          1-0 in 3 starts 3.00 ERA 19 K's in 15 innings at AA Midland.
Looking like the pitching steal of the draft in the first month in a half.
Luzardo looked to moved aggressively starting at High A after never being above short season.
Was so dominant that he was quickly promoted to AA Midland.
Hitters hit just .120 against him in High A and only .218 at AA.

2018 #4
Adrian Morejon P San Diego 1-3 in 6 starts 3.68 ERA 30 K's in 29.1 innings at High A Lake Elsinore
Morejon at 19 was aggressively moved and is holding his own if not excelling.
Hitters are only hitting .231 against him, so the numbers aren't bad, just pales next to Luzardo...

2018 #5
Jhailyn Ortiz OF Philadelphia .158 1 HR 5 RBI in 57 at bats at Low A Lakewood-
Ortiz was striking out as I expected (25 whiffs in 57 at-bats) before being injured and placed on the DL after diving for a ball here at the beautiful Muni and its lovely outfield surface.
Not sure how much time he'll miss, but should he miss another month, it'll be interesting to see if he's returned to short-season Williamsport (Where he tore up the NY-Penn League in 2017) to gain some confidence or back to Lakewood.

2018 #5A
William Contreras C Atlanta .232 2 HR 4 RBI in 56 at bats at Low A Rome
Contreras just arrived in Rome two weeks ago after a spring training injury.
Small sample, but have to like the two homers early.

The rest of my system as follows- If a draft pick number appears to be out of order, I either released that player, traded him or lost him in the expansion draft

2017 #1
Eloy Jimenez OF Chicago White Sox .341 7 HR 24 RBI in 85 at bats at AA Birmingham.
Jimenez won't be in Birmingham much longer, the question is this-is he headed for AAA Charlotte or the big club in Chicago.
Jimenez has posted an OPS of 1.064 and looks to be the massive bat among many on a White Sox team that could be a contender for a while in a few years.

2017 #2
Juan Soto OF Washington  .373 5 HR 24 RBI in 59 at bats at Low A Hagerstown
                                            .371 7 HR 18 RBI in 62 at bats at High A Potomac
                                            .400 1 HR   4 RBI in 5 at bats at AA Harrisburg
As terrific as Jimenez has been and he has done it at a higher level, Juan Soto is just crushing the ball.
Was likely started softly in Low A Hagerstown, but at only 19, looked like a major leaguer in the SAL- the old line of a man among boys applies and the Carolina League looked to be a better challenge.
Soto only jacked things up there to far exceed those expectations to the point of having to be moved to AA, where he only homered on his first night there.
Soto notched a combined OPS of 1,275 between Hagerstown and Potomac.
The parent club may very well consider letting Bryce Harper walk if his asking price is too high in the off-season or decide to give him what he wants and combine Harper with Soto for the next few years.
If that happens-Watch out...

2017 #4
Tristan McKenzie P Cleveland
McKenzie is still in Arizona with forearm soreness.
They supposedly aren't serious and he is expected to debut soon.
His 2017 numbers would have made him a lock to start at AA Akron, he might make a start or two back at High A Lynchburg before moving up.

2016 # 3
Brady Aiken P Cleveland
Aiken is also in Arizona, but after a bad 2018 might be running out of chances.
Haven't heard anything about an assignment soon

2016 #4
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3B Toronto .396 5 HR 36 RBI at AA New Hampshire
Yep, 396 for a 19-year-old in AA and only 12 strikeouts? Unreal and an OPS over 1,100!
The question here again as with Eloy Jimenez, does Vlad Jr go to AAA Buffalo or straight to Toronto?
I drafted Guerrero before he had ever played a pro game, so high reward here!
Yes, I could have a lineup of draftees of Jimenez, Soto, and Guerrero- And that's before we see how Luis Robert plays.

2016 #5
Phil Bickford P Milwaukee
Bickford missed time last year with a drug suspension (Marijuana) and a broken hand and hasn't pitched this season despite not being listed on anyone's DL.
It's too bad that he might be tossing a career away because when he sees the mound, he gets batters out- Like Aiken, I'm running out of patience.

2016 #6
Justus Sheffield P New York Yankees 1-2 in 5 starts 2.25 ERA 39 K's in 28 innings at AA Trenton
                                                              0-1 in 4.2 innings in only start at AAA Scranton
Sheffield was solid, but unspectacular in 2017 in Trenton, but it still was a surprise when he was returned there.
Sheffield didn't pout, pitched very well and earned his AAA promotion.

Pre-2016 Draftees

Christian Arroyo 3B Tampa Bay .212 1 HR 8 RBI in 53 at bats at AAA Durham.
Arroyo has struggled in his 1st season in the Rays organization, Still just 22 (23 later in the month), but his struggles might make him a cut for me at season's end.

Austin Meadows OF Pittsburgh .276 1 HR 10 RBI in 98 at bats at AAA Indianapolis.
Meadows bat has been pretty average in his AAA tenure (parts of three seasons) and has had trouble staying healthy.
I would like to see what he would do with an injury-free year, but that hasn't happened yet- Starting to get a little concerned.

Tyler Beede P San Francisco 1-3 in 5 starts 5.63 ERA 26 K's in 24 innings at AAA Sacramento
                                                0-1 in 2 starts 8.22 ERA in 7.2 innings for San Francisco
Beede looks to have had his chance and didn't take advantage of it-Barring a strong turnaround, Beede could be finished with me and maybe even the Giants.

Grant Holmes P Oakland
Holmes suffered a rotator cuff injury in spring training and may miss the season.
Holmes will likely be released by me before the next draft.


                                           

Minor League Fantasy Draft Round Five- Jhailyn Ortiz and...

Photo Credit; Willamsport Sun-Gazette

It was time to make my final selection and I was looking through various notes because my queue of players had been emptied, but I figured that would happen and had other players listed that were possibilities for my final pick.

I was surprised to see a player that I liked still available.
What I was downright stunned to see was that there were quite a few players available that I was interested in, but two stood out above them all and I could only select one.

I decided on Jhailyn Ortiz, a power hitting outfield prospect from the Philadelphia Phillies, who I had seen on my trip to Batavia last year and watched him smack a long home run.
Ortiz hit .302 and eight homers last year in 159 at-bats at short-season Williamsport with a very impressive .961 OPS as a Crosscutter.
Ortiz signed at 16 for a 4.5 million dollar bonus and played last season at 18.
The 6'3 Ortiz didn't have issues making contact, but he appears to be a player that will have to keep in shape because his body shape might be one that gets thick as he ages, so he might be a candidate to move to first base sometime during his career.
Phillies farm director Joe Jordan rates Ortiz as the most talented player in a system that does have plenty of talent, so there is a chance that Ortiz could be a real steal as a fifth rounder.
Ortiz has the type of righthanded power that makes scouts drool ( Having seen him play, Ortiz reminded me some of Aaron Judge) and his 15 doubles show that he'll make enough contact to give him an excellent chance to hit for average even if he does strike out plenty as the cost of living.
I felt good about Ortiz when one of the better owners in our league posted that Ortiz was going to be his pick shortly after mine, had I passed on him.


Having decided on Ortiz as the final selection, I was finished with my draft, but I kept thinking about the player that I passed over.
The day dragged on and as happy as I was with Ortiz, I wanted to find a way to land that other guy.
I decided I had to have him and found a team that was on the clock- Battlin' Bob's Indianapolis Indians and for the cost of a second-round pick in the 2019 major league draft, I could have his pick.
I was fine with the cost, I usually only use one pick, if any, so it was more than fine with me.

So, who was this player that I had to have?

Photo Courtesy;Danville Braves

William Contreras, a catcher in the Braves organization and brother of Willson Contreras of the Cubs.

Contreras turned 20 at the conclusion of the 2017 season and spent last year with Danville of the Appalachian League.
I was impressed with Contreras smoking a would-be base stealer with ease when I was in Danville last year and made a note of him in that game.
When I looked at his stats during my research, I was intrigued by his .290/4/25 line in 169 at-bats and decided I wanted him.
Catcher along with shortstop is the hardest position to find when you draft a minor league version of fantasy baseball because you are dealing with such young players and all too often, catchers become first basemen or outfielders and shortstops often turn into second or third baseman by the time that they would reach the big time.
Often the reason that catcher get their position switched is defensive liabilities, which Contreras is reported to be strong enough in that area and I've seen the arm.
I have a feeling he stays behind the plate.
The bat looks like it could be a good one and Contreras is patient along with being able to make contact as he finished with 25 walks to his 30 strikeouts.
Rookie league catchers are usually a lottery ticket to the big leagues, but William Contreras was one worth taking...

Minor League Fantasy Draft Round Four- Adrian Morejon

Photo Credit: Shari Sommerfeld-MiLB.com 

The fantasy draft moved into the fourth round and I decided that I wanted another pitcher before taking the best available player with my final pick in the fifth round.

After taking Jesus Luzardo in round three, I wrote that before picking Luzardo, that I had three pitchers to decide from at that pick.
One of the three was selected a few picks later as Franklin Perez of the Tigers, formerly of the Astros, who traded him to Detroit in the Justin Verlander trade at the trade deadline.

However, the third pitcher was still available, so it didn't take me long to move in and select Adrian Morejon from the San Diego Padres system.
Morejon was signed by the Padres out of Cuba at 17 in July 2016 as the top international prospect available to an eleven million dollar bonus.
Morejon just turned 19 in February and last season at 18 split his season between short-season Tri-City and Low A Fort Wayne, which made him very young for the level.

Morejon's numbers weren't eye-popping in his 13 starts (Seven at Tri-City, Six at Fort Wayne) with a combined 3.86 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 63 innings, but considering he was just 18, they weren't that bad at all and showed promise against older competition.
Morejon throws the four-seam and two-seam fastball sits in the low 90's and can heat his best fastball to 95.
Again, with his age, he does have the potential to gain a little more hop on his fastball as he matures.
Morejon uses the curve and changeup as his choices to mix things up and the curve is considered to be a possible plus pitch in the future, so with four pitches, he could develop into a well-rounded pitcher and for now, doesn't have problems finding the strike zone with only 16 walks (Only three of those in the Northwest League) in 2017.
Watching the video at the bottom of the post, two things struck me- the first of which is the easy, effortless motion as the ball jumps out of his hand.
You always like to see a relaxed and refined delivery rather than an explosive one that takes more effort that looks violent visually.
The pitchers with composed mechanics tend to hold up better as far as durability and aren't as susceptible to shoulder or elbow injuries.

Morejon does have a few issues, some scouts think his body is a bit soft and that he'll need to work on conditioning a bit and some see him as more of a fourth or fifth starter in the big leagues.
However, I have seen some observers that believe Morejon could be a number two starter and maybe even a number one on a second-division squad, so with such a small sample size, who really knows what I and the Padres have in Morejon, but the upside seems pretty high, although he is far from a sure thing.

Morejon should return to Low A Fort Wayne to be part of what seems to be one of the more prospect-laden rotation in the country as the Padres are likely to send their first rounder from the 2017 draft MacKenzie Gore (First overall in our draft) there and could possibly return Michel Baez and Logan Allen there as well to start the season there, if not finish it there.

I'll be back soon with my final two picks of the draft as I couldn't decide which of the two players I wanted, so what do you do when you cannot decide?
You swing a trade and get them both!!!

Minor League Fantasy Draft-Round Three-Jesus Luzardo

I had forgotten about my fantasy draft after all the various Browns news, so I'll be filling in the final few picks of mine over the next few days.
I plan on perhaps following these players at the end of each month with a post looking at how they are playing at their respective levels,

In the third round, I planned on taking the best pitcher available and there were three pitchers that I had highest on my board ( Two players that I was watching were selected after my second round pick of Heliot Ramos), I looked over things and decided to take Jesus Luzardo of the Oakland Athletics over the other two.

Luzardo, who turned 20 after the 2017 season concluded, was drafted by the Washington Nationals but was traded at the trade deadline last season with Hagerstown Sun Sheldon Neuse to Oakland for pitching help for the Nationals in Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson.
Luzardo underwent Tommy John surgery in high school, but Washington paid a 1.4 million dollar bonus to keep Luzardo from going to the University of Miami.
Washington has had good luck with drafting injured pitchers that dropped through the draft farther than they should have due to injury and then nurturing them through the aftermath of surgery having done just that with Lucas Giolito and Erick Fedde before drafting Luzardo.
Luzardo made his minor debut last year at short-season Vermont and dazzled before the trade in five starts allowing just four earned runs over 18 innings before the trade to Oakland.
Oakland sent him to their Arizona rookie league team first rather than straight to their NY-Penn league in Vermont where he allowed just two earned runs in eleven innings there.
Luzardo's numbers in his three stops ( he also pitched some for the Nationals Gulf Coast league team). were strong with an ERA of 1.66 and 48 strikeouts in 43 innings.
Strikeouts are always a number that I look strongly at the lower levels- mainly that I want to see a strikeout per inning pitched against lower competition.
Even a finesse pitcher should have his share of strikeout in the low minors and if they aren't tricking hitters by either pure stuff or perplexing movement (of either the ball or a deceptive motion) at those levels, they aren't likely to fool many as they climb the ladder.

That's not all from Luzardo, who is reported to sit in the low 90's, but has been listed as hitting 98, he walked just five batters in those 43 innings.
Keep in mind that batters at these stops aren't always known for their plate patience, but still five walks for a hard thrower is pretty impressive to me.
The well-traveled lefthander, who was born in Peru, lived some in Venezuela before settling in Florida for high school has an excellent head on his shoulders besides his three pitches (fastball, curve and change-up) as Luzardo graduated from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school, the site of the recent shootings in 2016 and is involved in raising money to honor Douglas A.D. Chris Hixon, who was shot and killed during those shooting as he sought to save others.

It'll be fun to follow the power-armed lefthander as he moves through the Oakland system this season, he is expected to start at Low A Beloit, and even though drafting pitchers are always risky, Jesus Luzardo was a nice selection in round three.

I'll attempt to finish the series with my other picks (I pulled a trade later to add a third player) as the week goes on...

Minor League Fantasy Draft-Round Two-Heliot Ramos.

In the second round, I was pretty pleased to be able to select a player that I was considering in round one when I picked outfielder Heliot Ramos, the 2017 San Francisco Giants first-round pick from Puerto Rico.

Ramos has huge upside but is a far riskier pick than my first round outfielder Luis Robert.
I didn't expect to have to choose between Robert and Ramos so I decided to go with the more refined prospect in Robert and hope for the best that Ramos would slide to the second round.

Ramos was a somewhat criticized first rounder of the Giants last season as some teams loved him and others wondered about his bat.
Ramos answered some questions in the Arizona Rookie League last season as he hit .351 with three homers in 37 at-bats for the Giants rookie league entry.
Ramos does have plenty of questions to answer still as he struck out 15 times, but the scouts that like him project him as a potential five-tool player.
Those that don't wonder about a lot of strikeouts, don't like his arm as much as others and remember his older brother Henry Ramos, who was a highly touted player in the Red Sox system, but never seemed to put it together with Boston and now is a AA/AAA level player for the Dodgers at soon to be 26.
Still, when the Giants were making trades for Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen (and tried for Giancarlo Stanton), the first name that opposing general managers asked for was reported to be Ramos.
Some of that may have been the less than deep San Francisco system, but it is always a good sign when other teams ask about a prospect frequently, which makes me think that Ramos may have won over some doubters already around the game at this early stage.

Heliot Ramos from the video below does seem to have plus tools and can turn on the ball pretty well at the plate.
For the Giants, who haven't seemed to produce a top power hitter since the Clinton administration, Ramos gives them some hope that in a few years, he could be just that.
Ramos doesn't turn 19 until September, which means he'll be very young for a full season player.
The Giants are likely to challenge him at Low A Augusta in their new ballpark and see what happens, but there is a slim chance that the Giants could take it a little slower, keep him in Arizona for a few months and start him with their Northwest League short-season team-the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

Heliot Ramos is far from a sure thing and as I mentioned earlier, there is some risk involved, but late in round two, I was ready to gamble on Ramos and take my chances...
Back later with either my third round pick (Unlikely to get to me that soon) or more likely a cleaning of the inbox...

Minor League Fantasy Draft: Round One-Luis Robert

My fantasy baseball league has been quite hectic this year in the cold days of winter.
After many years of existence, we finally made the decision to expand to 12 teams from ten teams, so
as commissioner, I had expansion drafts to run.

Each team would lose two players from their minor league system and then in a week, the minor league draft would begin.
I lost Jose DeLeon, a once highly touted pitcher from the Tampa system that has been riddled with injuries and Sean Reid-Foley, a pitcher that I still like that had his struggles last year for Toronto's AA affiliate in New Hampshire.
Once, I knew what I had lost, I have five picks for my system in the draft and I thought I'd write a small piece on each player that I select.

Picking eighth in round one, I felt I had some good fortune as I was able to select Luis Robert, a 20-year-old outfielder from Cuba with my first pick.
Robert has yet to play a professional game, but I happened to be watching the Indians play the White Sox last year on the day Robert signed with Chicago.
I've noted before that when the Indians play the Chi-Sox and Hawk Harrelson (retiring this year sadly) announces the game, I watch the Chicago network.
The talk during that game was all about Robert and his accolades.
I immediately looked for a video of Robert, found his workout very impressive and filed his name away for later.


Having the chance to add Robert was possible, but unlikely in my opinion,
Joe Werner's Prospect Digest (my go-to book and look for Joe to be doing a podcast with me in the next week or so) has Robert as a future star and compares him more favorably than Yasiel Puig at the same age against the same level of Cuban competition.
Joe's final quote on Robert- "Can someone say star"?.

At 6'3 and being graded as having plus power and plus speed by both Werner and Baseball America and profiling as being able to stay as a centerfielder defensively, Luis Robert seems to me to be a gamble worth taking with massive upside.
Robert will start with either Low A Kannapolis or High A Winston-Salem and in either case, I'll be able to scout Robert for myself and see what I've drafted.
The White Sox think he'll eventually be a middle of the order hitter, in front of another mega-prospect that is winding his way through the minors now - Eloy Jimenez.
What team owns Jimenez's rights in our league?
That would be mine..

Back later tonight from the road office..