Max Anderson, Detroit Tigers, Triple-A (end of 2025), Rank: 9

In the prospecting world there are many tropes that get repeated over and over again; some of the biggest are chasing the shiny new prospect and fixating on tools with upside. Both have their merits, and for good reason, but what if a prospect doesn’t fit into these categories, well, ever? What can happen is, you have a prospect who continuously is succeeding and excelling while being just good enough to be on the radar, but never gets the recognition. They exist in a constant state of limbo: showing enough potential to matter, but forgotten all the same. What if I told you there was a Detroit Tigers prospect who was so exceptional in Double-A Erie he had a 146 wRC+ and 14 home runs in 90 games, who would you guess it was? Most would think of Max Clark or Kevin McGonigle. That would be strike one and strike two. Let’s hope you don’t strike out and now realize the prospect was Max Anderson. I am here to give him the recognition he’s earned.

Anderson stands 6-foot and a compact 215 pounds. He was drafted back in 2023 in the second round out of the University of Nebraska, 45th overall by the Detroit Tigers. In his junior year with the Cornhuskers, he was a beast at the plate, launching 21 home runs and slashing .414/.461/.770 for an OPS of 1.231. The K-BB ratio was almost even and approaching one, with 29 strikeouts to 20 walks. This was the same year Dylan Crews (1.280 OPS, 18 home runs) and Wyatt Langford (1.282 OPS, 21 home runs)  headlined the top hitters drafted out of college and Anderson’s overall statline was very comparable. The SEC remains king in college baseball, so while the numbers were similar, ultimately Anderson’s did not have the same attention as the top duo’s did. Nevertheless, he entered the minor leagues later that year, beginning with his pro debut at Single-A Lakeland. There, he would get his first taste of professional pitching and came out better than average over a 32 game sample. His slash line was .289/.345/.445, with a 112 wRC+ and adding two home runs to go with 12 doubles. He only struck out 17.6% of the time and walked at an 8.3% rate.

In 2024, Anderson would move on up to High-A West Michigan for almost the full season, playing in 121 games. He would slash .270/.321/.392, but as a model for consistency, his wRC+ was almost the exact same as when he was in Single-A. This time it was one point lower, coming in at 111. Continuing to show a great hit tool with contact ability, he dropped his strikeout rate by 3.6% down to 14%. He was kind of swing happy, as his walk rate dropped as well to just 6.4%. Maybe the most important sign from the season was his power numbers increasing from two home runs the prior year in a small sample, up to 11 in 2024. He would finish the year with five games at Double-A, setting him up for a banner year last season.

2025 was a smashing success for the 23-year-old getting his first full season at Double-A. He would play in 90 games and crush baseballs left and right to the tune of one of the minor league’s best slash lines, .306/.358/.499. He launched 14 home runs and 25 doubles, showing a much improved ability to lift the ball and produce more in-game power reminiscent of his junior year at Nebraska. He finished Double-A with a 146 wRC+ and once again didn’t strike out a lot, only 14.6% this time. Taking a walk wasn’t prevalent in his game, with a 6.9% walk rate. He was so good, he got a promotion to Triple-A Toledo for 32 games and added five more home runs with six more doubles. His slash line was .267/.327/.422, but he kept the strikeouts down still, only a 19% rate to go with an even smaller walk rate down to 5.6%.

From Anderson’s player profile you can see what he does well, he was in the 98th percentile for the minor leagues at hitting doubles and 96th percentile for home runs. His Triple-A average exit velocity of 91.2 MPH was good and he made a robust amount of contact at 74.3%. Overall, he is a hitter who has the ability to make a significant amount of contact and even though he doesn’t have the highest end of exit velocities, he hits the ball hard often at 45.5%. Maybe the biggest plus is, when he hits the ball in the air it goes for extra bases. He won’t add much on the bases and needs to increase his 8th percentile walk rate, but he has been above average just about everywhere else.

Looking deeper into Anderson’s fantasy value, I think the industry may have missed the mark with him. He routinely seems to be valued between 200 and 300 on prospect rankings and even our consensus rankings may be selling him short in the 150 range. This is a prospect who has some raw power, shows an abundance of in-game power, good exit velocities, hits the ball in the air enough, and has a very good hit tool, and contact ability. He is being overshadowed by his high profile teammates and can be lost in the shuffle at times. At the end of the day, I think Anderson has all the makings of a Top 100 prospect and he could even make an impact in the major leagues before those high profile teammates. If he hits the ground running in Spring Training, he could get a crack at the major leagues and may bring a profile that compares to Ernie Clement, but with 20 to 25 home run power. That is a prospect I want on my fantasy team and if he keeps being overlooked, now is the time to add him in all fantasy leagues.