Buy and Hold: Week 9

While their value is highly established in dynasty and keeper leagues, there are still prospects that are worth holding onto in redraft leagues while you wait for their call up to the big leagues. Each week I'll be looking at my top five prospects from our top 200 consensus prospects who currently aren't in the majors, but could be worth holding in a bench spot given their potential value for the rest of the season. These rankings are based solely on their potential 2014 value, and do not include any players that are already in the majors as of yesterday.

It makes me wonder more and more this week if some of these teams are getting an advanced copy of the Buy and Hold, as they continue to call up players late on Friday when the post is just about ready to go. This week is no exception, as you'll see shortly.

Graduates So Far

George Springer

Rafael Montero

Trevor Bauer

Tommy La Stella - The long wait is finally over, as the Braves finally called up La Stella and plugged him into the starting lineup. He responded to his debut with a two-hit game, and should be in the lineup most days with Tyler Pastornicky optioned to AAA to make room.

Oscar Taveras - Well, this one is in process as Friday night progresses. It has been confirmed that Taveras is on his way to St. Louis, and will be taking the spot of the disabled-list bound Matt Adams. If he is still available in your league for some reason, now would be a great time to grab him.

Marcus Stroman - Stroman was scratched from his start on Friday night, as he will be called upon to make a spot start for the Blue Jays on Saturday. It's an interesting matchup for streaming for Saturday against Kansas City.

1. Gregory Polanco (#14)

RANK LAST WEEK: 1 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Travis Snider, Jose Tabata
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Mid May Likely closer to June now.

Polanco is in the minors because he is still working on some things, as the team has alluded to. It sounds like it may be defensive issues that the team is speaking to, but honestly it seems like he should be up very soon.

2. Joc Pederson (#32)

RANK LAST WEEK: 3 (+1)
BLOCKED BY: The four-headed outfield machine that is Puig, Crawford, Kemp, and Ethier
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME OF CALLUP: The second that another of these four are required to go on the disabled list.

Well, we finally saw one of the four headed outfield hit the disabled list this week with Carl Crawford going on the disabled list with an ankle injury. The team has made clear that they will not be calling Pederson up unless he has a clear path to everyday playing time, so for now we wait for another injury to clear a spot.

3. Jonathan Singleton (#53)

RANK LAST WEEK: 4 (+1)
BLOCKED BY: Chris Carter, Marc Krauss, Jesus Guzman.
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Early June

The Astros group of first basemen still aren't really hitting, and while George Springer has been hitting out of his mind this month, eventually I think they move to Singleton at first in the hope of adding more offensive production at the major league level.

4. Alex Meyer (#51)

RANK LAST WEEK: 5 (+1)
BLOCKED BY: Mike Pelfrey, Sam Deduno and Kevin Correia
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: June

Correia pitched better in his last start than he had for the year, but 4 earned over 7 innings still isn't exactly setting the world on fire. It's worth noting that Meyer will likely be on an innings-limit for the season, but until the Twins are ready to cut their losses on Correia or Deduno, Meyer will continue to enjoy his stay in scenic Rochester.

5. Javier Baez (#3)

RANK LAST WEEK: 6 (+1)
BLOCKED BY: Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney, Emilio Bonifacio, Not being on the 40-man Roster, Arismendy Alcantara
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: All-Star Break

Baez hit .333 with a home run over the last week, and has been hitting much better lately. I can very easily see a scenario where the Cubs call up Alcantara to take over at second base, and move Baez there at AAA to learn the position since Starlin Castro has been better this year and at least quieted the critics for awhile.

6. Kevin Gausman (#18)

RANK LAST WEEK: 7 (+1)
BLOCKED BY: Miguel Gonzalez
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Late May June

Miguel Gonzalez has pitched well in his last four starts (4 quality starts in a row), so there doesn't appear to be an easy opening for the Orioles to move Gausman into right now. With the team speculated to be interested in acquiring Jeff Samardzija, I could see Gausman being the top piece heading to the North side. We'll see if anything comes of those rumors or not.

7. Jonathan Gray (#22)

RANK LAST WEEK: Honorable Mention
BLOCKED BY: Franklin Morales
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: early July

The first addition to the top 10 this week, Jonathan Gray has been pitching well at AA (except for Thursday night's debacle against Frisco). Morales has struggled recently, and with the Rockies in the thick of the wild card pack (but 7.5 games behind in their division), Gray could be the infusion that the team needs.

8. Andrew Heaney (#33)

RANK LAST WEEK: 10 (+2)
BLOCKED BY: Randy Wolf
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: June

Heaney went out and dominated again in his second start at AAA, and I think at this point that if Randy Wolf struggles for another start or two, we see Heaney then.

9. Eddie Butler (#44)

RANK LAST WEEK: Honorable Mention
BLOCKED BY: Franklin Morales
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: July

Butler falls behind Gray on this week's list due to the lower strikeout potential that Butler can provide than Gray. Butler has pitched great recently at AA Tulsa, including a 50% groundball rate this year.

10. Arismendy Alcantara (#47)

RANK LAST WEEK: Not Ranked
BLOCKED BY: Luis Valbuena, Emilio Bonifacio
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: July

Alcantara may have one of the easier paths to playing time in the majors compared to our honorable mentions, as the Cubs continue to rely upon Valbuena and Bonifacio to play second base (along with Darwin Barney at times as well). Alcantara could provide a good batting average with 5 home runs and 10-12 stolen bases if he spends the second half of the season in the majors.

Honorable Mentions (in Alphabetical Order by Group)

Hitters

Mookie Betts, 2B/OF, BOS

Kris Bryant, 3B, CHC

Matt Davidson, 3B, CHW

Alexander Guerrero, 2B, LAD

Francisco Lindor, SS, CLE

Pitchers

Jimmy Nelson, RHP, MIL - Unless another injury opens up a spot in the near future, it's hard to see Nelson get another call up based on how the Brewers' starters have been pitching well.

Robert Stephenson, RHP, CIN

Noah Syndergaard, RHP, NYM - Syndergaard is expected to return to Las Vegas next week to the rotation after missing time with an injury.

Matt Wisler, RHP, SDP