Author: Chris Mitchell, Staff Writer
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would add that it is significantly increasing the travel budget of franchises because we are seeing a lot of prospects being promoted and demoted back and forth from the minors to the major leagues. Some prospects should have been in the show already, while some probably don’t deserve their fresh new laundry and probably won’t be wearing it long. What can we expect from the recent rash of prospect promotions and how long can you expect them to be there?
Ian Happ, 2B/OF Chicago Cubs
Bradley Zimmer has the speed/power combination Fantasy owners like. Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire
Minors: HRs 9 – SBs 2 – BA .298 – OBP .361
MLB: HRs 2 – SB 0 – BA .346 – OBP .452
Happ does a little bit of everything well, both in the box and between the lines. He is a switch-hitter who can steal bases and hit home runs while manning second base or any of the three outfield positions. In only 26 at bats, Happ has made himself comfortable in the Cubs lineup, batting .346 with two home runs, and six of his nine base hits have gone for extra bases. His skill set plays much louder as a second baseman, but as a player with the potential for 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases with a .280 -.295 batting average, the bat will play in the outfield as well.
The Cubs’ roster has defenders like Albert Almora and Jon Jay in the outfield, and versatile utility players like Javier Baez and Ben Zobrist who will make it difficult for Happ to remain in the Cubs everyday lineup. If he continues to bat around .350 with power its likely that they continue to send him out there. Happ is worth starting, especially in Daily Fantasy, but now that Jason Heyward has returned you can expect Happ to return to Triple-A once the hot streak cools.
If you can carry Happ on a deep bench if/when he is demoted, then he justifies a claim. But if you can’t spare the spot, don’t fret. It is difficult to confidently project at bats for Happ going forward because of the quality and overall depth of the Cubs current lineup. The skill set, versatility and offensive potential does justify targeting him in Dynasty leagues, especially if the Cubs partner him with Addison Russell in the middle, where the tools play much louder than in the outfield.
Bradley Zimmer, OF Cleveland Indians
Minors: HRs 5 – SBs 9 – BA .294 – OBP .371
Majors: At bats 15 – HRs 1 – SBs 1
Entering the 2017 season, Zimmer had a chance to be one of the better Fantasy rookies because of his ability to hit home runs and steal bases along with plus defense, which should have provided full time at bats starting on Opening Day. He has the potential ceiling to be a consistent 20 home run, 20 stolen base outfielder in Dynasty leagues as well.
Strikeouts and a mediocre hit tool are the concerns regarding Zimmer’s ceiling, but he was having one of his best seasons at Triple-A prior to his promotion and he already has a home run and a stolen base with the Indians. An Indians outfield filled with borderline full-time players should increase Zimmer’s chances to remain in Cleveland for the duration of 2017. They are World Series contenders and you don’t demote a prospect to limit service time if it could cost the organization a pennant.
Zimmer has the tools to be a fourth Fantasy outfielder as a rookie, with a future as a number three or possibly a number two. In an ideal Fantasy situation, he is your fifth or sixth outfielder because there will be times when his high strikeout rate and contact issues will justify benching him; but he needs to be claimed in all leagues. The skills are too good to linger on the waiver wire very long if he is still there now.
Anthony Alford, OF Toronto Blue Jays
Minors: HRs 3 – SBs 9 – BA .325 – OBP .411
Majors: 0 for 6, two strikeouts
As a dual sport athlete in high school and college, Alford’s baseball skills are still raw but his athleticism and baseball IQ has scouts believing that he has a chance to be an impact player with both power and speed. Alford is in the midst of a career-best season in his first taste of Double-A competition, which bodes well for his development. I look for dominance at any level first, and then dominance or at least limited struggles at Double-A second. Alford is checking both of those boxes positively and when you combine those indicators with his tools, he becomes a guy I am seriously looking at as a trade target.
The Blue Jays promoted Alford directly from Double-A after only 33 games and 123 at bats, suggesting that when Kevin Pillar returns from suspension Alford will be sent back to continue his development at Double-A. The Blue Jays have promoted prospects like Daniel Norris and Dalton Pompey much too quickly in recent years and it damaged their development. Norris is no longer in the organization and Pompey hasn’t found a way to curtail the tailspin. However, this is a new regime imported from Cleveland, and it’s unlikely that a team struggling with a new front office that leans heavily towards prospect development will make the same mistakes as the previous administration.
Alford is a prospect to follow and possibly even target in Dynasty leagues, but he isn’t going to receive the opportunity in 2017, and he isn’t ready to do it successfully even if he does. The power and speed potential is all there, but it’s not going to contribute to Fantasy teams until 2018.
Magneuris Sierra, OF St. Louis Cardinals
Minors: HRs 0 – SBs 3 – Caught Stealing 5 – BA .277 – OBP .333
Majors: At Bats 30 – HR 0 – SB 1 – Caught Stealing 2 – BA .367 – OBP .406
Sierra is an elite athlete who should excite Fantasy owners, and the plus defender should reassure them because it almost guarantees that he will have a major league career as a full-time player. He wouldn’t have been promoted from High-A to St. Louis if not for his defense.
Sierra is still an athlete learning and developing his game. He has the swing to make consistent contact that could eventually generate double-digit home runs and the speed to make a Fantasy impact in the category, but neither of those skills are showing up in the box score in 2017. Sierra has not yet hit for power and he has been caught stealing in almost one-third of his attempts, a rate that will guarantee he stands on the bases rather than attempt to steal them until it improves. He is still very raw and very much a project that scouts are speculating about rather than confidently projecting.
Sierra is 21 years old, but he is still raw and immature as a baseball player. The Cardinals obviously felt they needed him to man centerfield, so there he currently roams, but he doesn’t warrant a roster spot and certainly not a starting one for Fantasy teams in 2017.
In Dynasty leagues, he still has the potential to be a 10-15 home run hitter who can contribute positive batting averages with a 30-stolen base profile that would justify a starting role for Fantasy teams. I am less than eager to say he reaches that ceiling, but the potential is still there and it isn’t too late to see him develop into that player.
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