20 Comments

1. 

   BJ

   July 12, 2019 at 7:49 am

   Great stuff! Appreciate all the work you do on these comprehensive lists

2. 

   Chris

   July 12, 2019 at 10:14 am

   Can you explain the rationale for ranking Castellanos so high? He was good (not great) last year, but he has not been very productive this year (9 HR, 2 SB, .342 OBP). There are at least 175-200 guys that I would take over him in a dynasty league.

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 12, 2019 at 10:26 am

     These rankings are for BA leagues, not OBP (he would rank lower in OBP). Castellanos is a 55-hit, 50/55-power bat on a bad team with limited run scoring opportunities. He is just 27 years old and a free agent after the season. I anticipate a trade this month in fact. Once he leaves Detroit, his value will sky rocket imo. I trust his bat as a .280, 20+ HR hitter, in his prime, with upside for even more.

3. 

   Sal

   July 12, 2019 at 10:57 am

   How high would Adley rank in a 2 catcher league? Specifically for OBP as well. Thanks!

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 12, 2019 at 11:23 am

     It is difficult to judge future OBP based upon college, or even minor league, performance, but Rutschman is a walking machine who likely receives a boost in OBP formats. In a 2-catcher, OBP format, he is my top fantasy prospect in this draft class and he would rank around Kyle Tucker and Luis Robert.

4. 

   Stew Jedele

   July 13, 2019 at 7:32 pm

   For us on Yahoo where would you rank S Ohtani pitcher & S Ohtani batter? If you could give us your take on people who owned B McKay in dynasty leagues and was expecting the pitcher and got the batter instead thanks.

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 13, 2019 at 8:25 pm

     If you look at positional rank, you will see Ohtani as SP14, which places him between Bieber (75) and Paddack (76). While he is also DH1, such a rank is not terribly instructive for where he would place as a hitter. For now, he ranks similarly to Matt Olson (71) with far more risk as his hitter value will change next year.

     Ultimately, his separate hitter/pitcher values carry a ton of uncertainty as his future usage is unclear. If the Angels employ Ohtani similarly to last year, his hitter value will take a big hit once he resumes pitching. He would effectively have the same value as a high-end platoon bat, which likely drops him to the 150 range as a hitter. Meanwhile, his pitching value likely increases if he proves healthy and effective.

     Websites who utilize Ohtani as 2 separate players chose to handle his situation very poorly. However, it is on league commissioners to smooth over these issues, including McKay.

5. 

   Haas

   July 21, 2019 at 3:43 pm

   Would you guys trade Whitley for McKay?

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 21, 2019 at 4:18 pm

     They are obviously very closely ranked. Whitley possesses more upside than McKay, with better raw stuff and top-of-the-rotation potential. He could develop into a fantasy ace. Of course, he also had an atrocious start to the year, struggling with command and landing on the injured list. Meanwhile, McKay has solidly above-average stuff with strong command, a clean delivery, no present injury concerns, and high-end production. However, his whole package profiles as a 2- or 3-starter long-term. Ultimately, it depends on how you weigh risk/reward. It is perfectly reasonable to prefer McKay to Whitley, or vice versa.

6. 

   Haas

   July 21, 2019 at 4:38 pm

   I’m just worried about Whitley’s year so far and no rotation spot in the near future for him at the major league level with as good as the Astros are. He’s kinda stuck like Kyle Tucker

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 21, 2019 at 6:09 pm

     Not sure about that. The Astros have Jose Urquidy and Rogelio Armenteros in the rotation right now. Both of which are far from rotation locks. Further, Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley are free agents after the year. In short, the rotation is completely wide open in the near future.

     However, short-term impact is not the focus for Whitley. He just began a rehab assignment. Fantasy owners (and the Astros) just want him to return to full health and dominance, regardless whether it is in the majors this year. Obviously, continued struggles, especially with command, will push Whitley further down the rankings. Indeed, since these rankings published, he has issued 9 walks in 4 1/3 innings in the Gulf Coast League (scary).

7. 

   adam

   July 24, 2019 at 10:39 pm

   excellent list and thanks for the incredible insight. Is it possible in the future for you to use 2 digits for all of the rankings, such as OF03 for the third ranked OF? when I sort them they get a bit messy otherwise. Seriously thanks for the work!

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 25, 2019 at 9:11 am

     Thanks! I have been trying to figure out a way to make the sorting work better. I will try to add extra digits and see if it helps.

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 25, 2019 at 9:43 am

     Fixed! Thanks for the suggestion!

8. 

   Stew Jedele

   July 26, 2019 at 5:52 pm

   My boys moved up the list in the last four months B McKay 403 up to 132 & D Hudson unranked up to 475 not bad for an overrated prospect & a middle relief prospect isn’t it Tyler B?

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     July 28, 2019 at 9:56 am

     Please note, these rankings represent my opinion, not Bret Sayre’s opinion (he put together the publicly available March rankings), although he does have some input after I finalize my rankings. In my March Top 600 update, I had Brendan McKay ranked 222 (not 403) and Dakota Hudson ranked 495 (not unranked).

9. 

   Patrick Golden

   August 4, 2019 at 7:09 pm

   Does Lux’s recent thrashing of AAA change his outlook since publication?

   • 

     Jesse Roche

     August 4, 2019 at 7:18 pm

     Yes. Lux will be moving up approx 15 spots, into the Bichette/Kieboom/Gore range. I now have him ahead of Kieboom and Gore. His new prospect ranking will be reflected in my updated Top 200 Fantasy Prospects to be published on 8/12!

10. 

    Pete

    August 6, 2019 at 12:44 am

    Would you trade Rizzo $26 for Paddack $15 in an OBP dynasty league?

    • 

      Jesse Roche

      August 6, 2019 at 8:03 am

      When it comes to trades, I need more information. League size/cap? Contract length? Contention window?