Going into Friday evening’s games, this seemed just like any other fantasy baseball weekend. A lot of games, some double headers, and a lot of chances at counting stats.
Then Saturday morning it became clear to the world that wunderkind outfielder Juan Soto was to be promoted to the Nationals, a team suffering in the wake of injuries to Howie Kendrick, Adam Eaton, and, in the distance, Victor Robles
Despite those facts, Soto is an undeniable talent, at least thus far. A 19-year-old, Soto has played in exactly 122 minor league games, posting an average of .362-22-102 with 30 doubles, eight triples, and a 1.043 OPS. Soto has 58 walks to 66 whiffs, good for a .434 OBP, and the lowest he has hit at any level was eight games at AA where the best he could manage was .323-2-10.
But the FAAB insanity that ensued was just wacky. My radio show mate Justin Mason revealed a guy in his league spent $990 of his $1000 FAAB budget, and in the National League Tout Wars, Lenny Melnick chunked out $608 of his $1000 clams for rights to the new National, although that was part of a larger plan that involved swapping the likes of Eugenio Suarez and Zack Greinke.
Just within the Tout group of leagues the bids ranged from Melnick’s $608, with Ray Flowers ponying up $412 as part of the Mixed Auction, Scott White $235 in the Mixed Draft, and $79 to Dr. Roto in H2H, though remember that format has smaller rosters
What do I think? I think that as a rookie, Soto will probably have some trouble adjusting to the toughest level of play irrespective of how optimistic we are. It is a long season. Willie Calhoun is still out there, and, well, next weekend we will go head-over-heels for the next big thing.
However, Soto can be a key chip in either kick-starting your offense or as trade bait, so if the price of owning him can translate into point production, by all means.
Austin Meadows (OF, Pirates): The Pirates first round pick in 2013 is up much like Soto cracked the Nationals: Starling Marte‘s injury forced the hand of his team. And, Meadows was having a decent year: .294-1-15, with eight swipes. Meadows has some power, having hit 12 big flies over 87 games at three levels in 2016, and his on-base resume is .357 (159 BB/306 K) which is pretty good. Meadows should see regular time, at least as long as Marte is out and is indeed a blue chip prospect.
Hunter Dozier (3B, Royals): Dozier is a draft mate of Meadows from the first round of 2013 and is also the younger sib of the Twins Brian. Dozier the younger put together a solid 2016 (.296-23-75) but since has been largely pedestrian, moving from potential starting status to utility possibility. He makes for a decent filler in AL only and deep formats, but that is about it.
Clint Frazier (OF, Yankees): So, for some reason we have three first-round picks from the 2013 June draft, with Frazier and Dozier also oddly sharing an odd final four letters of their respective surnames. Over 506 minor league games Frazier has a line of .274-66-252 with 55 swipes. This season Frazier was hitting .323-4-5 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but as with a bunch of this week’s promising prospects, the Yankees outfield is already pretty tight with Brett Gardner largely the odd man out. In fact, Frazier has already been sent back down, but he’s a name to watch.
Franmil Reyes (OF, Padres): Fans of my Top 250 Prospect List will remember that in 2015 I wrote about the #153 prospect, “.248-11-59 w/24 doubles as a 17-year old at A. 6’5, 240 lbs, and turns 18 next July!” Reyes was hitting .346-14-38, now as a 22-year old, with a much improved 21 walks to 31 strikeouts with a .442 OBP way higher than his .342 career average. I would expect Reyes to come up and down and be of the three true outcomes ilk: homers, whiffs and walks.
Dwight Smith, Jr. (OF, Jays): Toronto is another team just struggling to keep a healthy collection of bodies on the diamond, and Smith, a Compensation A pick in 2011, is hitting .278-2-15 this season with five swipes, so he could help in a few ways. It is playing time that might be the issue and with Curtis Granderson also hitting lefty, Teoscar Hernandez becomes the vulnerable player. I suspect Teoscar sees more innings than Smith.
Michael Hermosillo (OF, Angels): Hermosillo offers an interesting potential speed/power package with a line of .267-6-21 with seven swipes at Triple-A Salt Lake City. The .267 average is right on his career mark and he has 24 homers and 152 RBI and 87 swipes, and with Kole Calhoun just suffering at the dish, Hermosillo could at least see some solid platoon time.
Erik Gonzalez (3B, Indians): Gonzalez has actually been up a spell — 22 games worth, actually — but has comported himself pretty well. He’s hitting .361-1-7 over 36 at-bats and reminds me a lot of the Cards Jose Martinez: makes good contact, hits for some average, contributes in a steady, but not spectacular way. That makes the 26-year-old a good play in most leagues, although again in shallower formats he might not be of use, even if his numbers are useful.
