Ray discusses a few players highlighted in Keith Law's Midseason Top 50 Prospects rankings published on Thursday.
ESPN's Keith Law published his Midseason Top 50 Prospect Rankings on Thursday and I wrote about it in this piece on Thursday. Today, I am going to provide a few excerpts from his Top 50 rankings article with some thoughts for fantasy owners.
I will start with Dodgers shortstop prospect Corey Seager:
Seager had some trouble in the Cal League late last summer after a promotion from low-A, but the Dodgers got him to firm up his front side and stay balanced through contact so he wouldn't overrotate and become too pull-oriented. That change was fortuitous: Seager has destroyed high-A all year, at his hitter-friendly home park and away from it, with 54 extra-base hits through 80 games. He's not going to stay at shortstop, but he'll be the Dodgers' third baseman for six solid years once he gets to the majors at some point next year.
Seager has hit very well at High A this season, earning a promotion to AA after the MLB Futures game. I was a little surpirsed with the last sentence in this excerpt. Law opines that he expects to see Seager "in the majors at some point next". I like that the Dodgers haven't traded any of their top prospects yet......and it remains to be seen if they do by the trade deadline. They are built to win now and could deal for a starter before July 31st, especially with Josh Beckett nursing a hip injury (he is supposed to start on Tuesday in Pittsburgh), and Dan Haren struggling over the last month, but I don't see them dealing Seager, especially with Juan Uribe in the last year of his two year deal in 2015. At this point, it appears the Dodgers will allow Hanley Ramirez to become a free agent in the offseason, as he is really struggling at the plate lately, dealing with a right shoulder injury.
Here is an excerpt on the pick the Astros decided not to sign from his chat on Friday afternoon:
Jeff R (btown, in) [via mobile]
If Aiken signed before you submitted your updated ranking list, where would he have ranked?
Klaw (2:09 PM)
Around 10.
So the Astros chose not to sign a Top 10 prospect because of an abnormal ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. I am curious how successful the Astros will be in the draft long term after this signing fiasco.
And here are Law's thoughts on the possibility the Cubs call up third base prospect Kris Bryant in September:
Drew (Tokyo)
If the thought process was to have Bryant start the season in MLB, wouldn't it make sense to bring him up this September?
Klaw (2:21 PM)
And add him to the 40-man a year early, and run the risk of him getting hurt in March and going on the major-league DL rather than the minor-league one? It's not that simple a decision.
I think the Cubs will call up Bryant and Javier Baez in early September to give them a look at their top two prospects facing major league pitching.
Law is high on Mets first round pick, outfield prospect Michael Conforto, and thinks he could be in the big leagues in the next year or so:
Conforto was the most advanced college bat in the draft class this year, leading Division I in OBP despite playing in a major conference (Pac-12, for Oregon State), while showing above-average power and adequate defense in left field. He doesn't have huge upside, but he's very close to major league ready and should be at least an above-average regular with a higher ceiling if the power exceeds expectations. The Mets should fast-track him if his performance warrants it.
Law ranked Conforto as his #32 prospect, and 18th ranked hitting prospect, in the game. Conforto made his minor league debut on Saturday going 1-4 for short season-A Brooklyn. Fantasy owners have to hope his above average power translates to the big leagues.
Finally, here is a guy I talked about on The Fantasy Black Book show with Joe Pisapia on SiriusXMFantasy last Saturday night:
Bell earned a $5 million over-slot bonus in the 2011 draft but lost the 2012 season to a knee injury. With that said, he's now all the way back to where he was supposed to be, destroying high-A pitching from both sides of the plate with great bat speed and excellent hand-eye coordination. He hasn't shown much patience, but he's a very disciplined hitter who recognizes balls and strikes well. I think he ends up in left rather than right field thanks to a fringy arm, but this is a middle-of-the-order bat with the potential to hit for high averages and 25-30 homers a year.
Bell was hitting .335-.384-.502 with 9 home runs, 45 runs scored, 53 RBI and 5 stolen bases in 84 games at High A before his recent promotion to AA Altoona. He doesn't strike out much (11.8% in High A) or walk much (6.9% in High A), but I want to see how his plate discipline translates vs AA pitching.