Updated Dynasty Draft Thoughts
Dropping some thoughts on dynasty player values heading into the draft. Previous Profiles have been outlined in the piece that is linked. Those were basically in order of how I would draft them if I were in a dynasty draft. Since then, my opinion on some players has changed.
Stock Up
Kyle Wright SP - Pretty much everyone has him going #1 in their latest mock drafts as he has really turned up the play as the season progressed. Best combo of a high floor and high ceiling here for a SP. He should be in play at #1 in your dynasty drafts.
MacKenzie Gore SP HS - Skyrocketing up the boards and likely to be a top five pick. I hate drafting HS arms but Jim Callis has said he’d take him #1 overall in the MLB draft and Longenhagen has him up to #3 in the mock, so scouts are obviously raving about him. If you look his stats, you will draft this guy. The numbers are insane. Take a deep breath and remember it’s HS though. I think he should be in top six to eight picks of a dynasty draft, although I previously had him outside the top ten.
Logan Warmoth SS UNC - I feel like I didn’t give college hitters enough credit in my initial write-up. So they are all getting a slight bump here. Logan is a solid SS prospect likely to go mid-first round. Overall he’s not a high-ceiling guy that I like, but he could be a underrated because of that.
David Peterson SP - this guy might be a huge value guy in your fantasy draft. Good chance that he falls into the teens during the real draft but he’s a polished college arm with decent ceiling. I would easily take him above any HS pitchers not names Greene or Gore.
Tristan Beck SP - This guy hasn’t pitched this season because of injury but was a top 10 talent before that. Could be a really highly rated prospect as soon as he shows health. This a great guy to grab in the teens of your draft because of the ability to re-establish his prospect ranking quickly.
Keston Hiura 2B?- This guy can flat out hit. No idea where he plays on the field but we can worry about that later in fantasy.
Evan White 1B - make sure you’re sitting down before you look at this guys stats in the SEC. Second straight season hitting over .350 with plenty of extra base hits (32 in 46 games)
Quentin Holmes CF HS - this guy has the profile of a Billy Hamilton. Questionable hit tool but easy 80 speed. One of the youngest players in the draft, has a sky-high fantasy ceiling with the floor of never making it. Just seeing the impact that Hamilton has had recently makes Holmes so intriguing.
Terry Fuller - Crazy raw power HS bat.
Who Knows What’s Going on Here
Seth Romero - Plus pitches, negative maturity. This is the type of guy you can gamble with in fantasy. If he falls a little, he won’t have the hype because of maturity issues. But is someone being immature more risky than being a high school pitcher? Not in fantasy.
Stock Down
Brendan McKay 1B/SP - The reports on his pitching have me a little more worried. He lacks the top the true 1-1 stuff. The stuff could improve once he focuses on one side of the ball. The stats on the hitting side have a little worried. While he mashed against out of conference opponents he didn’t fair nearly as well in the ACC. Again, maybe he just needs more reps. With some recent indications that he’s going the to Rays at pick four as a hitter, that’s a good thing for his value. I still like the prospect, but he’s not a sure 1-1 in dynasty drafts, so he’s in the down category.
Alex Faedo SP - Just hasn’t got the job done recently. Pitches other than slider have not performed and that has led to him throwing the slider too much. When you rely on one pitch too much, hitters know what’s coming. The good part is that this is potentially fixable.
J.B. Bukauskas SP - Did he just have a few bad starts at the end, or did he run out of gas? For a pitcher that some have pegged for the bullpen already, the end of the season was concerning. Still had a great season overall though.
