Buy and Hold: Week 11

Author's note: The author moved into a new house on Friday, and to ensure that the Buy and Hold was still done on time in spite of that, it was written on Thursday afternoon this week. So if it like most of the last few weeks have been, there's probably someone in the top 10 that was called up on Friday night. We'll be back to our regular editing schedule next week.

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 Thursday.

Graduates So Far

George Springer, Trevor Bauer, Tommy La Stella, Oscar Taveras, Marcus Stroman, Jon Singleton, Eddie Butler, Kevin Gausman

This Week's Graduates

Gregory Polanco - No, really. He was promoted on Tuesday by the Pirates, and is 2 for 10 through his first two games. At this point, I can see him hitting 8-10 home runs with 15-20 stolen bases the rest of the way.

1. Taijuan Walker (#6)

RANK LAST WEEK: Not ranked
BLOCKED BY: Erasmo Ramirez
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Two weeks

Is this one cheating? Perhaps, but Walker was technically activated from the major league disabled list this week, and promptly optioned back to the minors to make a couple more rehab starts. It sounds like he will be called up after those starts (assuming everything goes well), and should force Ramirez out of the rotation when he is ready.

2. Joc Pederson (#32)

RANK LAST WEEK: 2 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: The four-headed outfield machine that is Puig, Crawford, Kemp, Ethier and Van Slyke
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME OF CALLUP: The second that another of these four are required to go on the disabled list.

Maybe you thought that Pederson would be the top call up option this week with Polanco gone? I think if the Dodgers were willing to platoon Pederson, he'd have been up a month ago. However, they seem set on playing him every day (as they should), so he'll continue to destroy baseballs in Albuquerque for now.

3. Alex Meyer (#51)

RANK LAST WEEK: 3(No Change)
BLOCKED BY: Mike Pelfrey, Sam Deduno and Kevin Correia
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: June

Kevin Correia continues to be hot and cold, throwing 6 shutout innings against the Blue Jays on Tuesday and defying the odds again. The start before that was a 5 inning, 5 earned run outing though, so it seems like it's just a matter of time before the Twins make a change.

4. Javier Baez (#3)

RANK LAST WEEK: 4 (No Change)
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 is heating up as we move through June, hitting .333 over his six games with 2 home runs. Baez is still playing shortstop in the minors, so unless they're going to teach him a position in the majors on the fly, he may have to wait until Arismendy Alcantara is promoted out of his way at that position

5. Andrew Heaney (#33)

RANK LAST WEEK: 5 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Randy Wolf
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: June

After the team lost Henderson Alvarez to an injury, it was speculated that we might see Heaney. He was then scratched from his start on Wednesday at AAA, but it sounds like he is just getting extra rest over a long season.

6. Jonathan Gray (#22)

RANK LAST WEEK: 6 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Franklin Morales, Tyler Matzek
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Early July

Well, that was a short run for Eddie Butler. One start, and then put on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Crud. So the Rockies dug back into their minor league system, and grabbed their first round draft pick.... from 2009 in Tyler Matzek. Well, that was unexpected. Whether Matzek can continue to hold down the job remains to be seen, but he somehow struck out 7 without walking anyone in his MLB debut.

7. Mookie Betts (#60)

RANK LAST WEEK: 7 (No Change)
BLOCKED BY: Dustin Pedroia, Grady Sizemore, Shane Victorino and Jackie Bradley, Jr.
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Early August

Betts played every day this week in center field as opposed to second base, which could be a clear path to playing time if the team decides to make a change. Personally I would assume that change to be a DFA for Sizemore, but we could see Betts even earlier than I predict above.

8. Arismendy Alcantara (#47)

RANK LAST WEEK: 8 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Luis Valbuena, Emilio Bonifacio
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: July

I keep thinking that the Cubs will eventually decide that they've seen what they need to see from their second base trio of Darwin Barney, Luis Valbuena, and Emilio Bonifacio, and handing over the spot to Alcantara. There's no real evidence that they will do that any time soon, but I keep hoping.

9. Alexander Guerrero (#78)

RANK LAST WEEK: 9 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Dee Gordon
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: July

10. Maikel Franco (#36)

RANK LAST WEEK: Not Ranked
BLOCKED BY: Reid Brignac
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Late July

Honorable Mentions (in Alphabetical Order by Group)

Hitters

Kris Bryant, 3B, CHC (#8)

Matt Davidson, 3B, CHW (#64)

Francisco Lindor, SS, CLE (#35)

Jake Marisnick, OF, MIA (#69)

Pitchers

Rafael Montero, RHP, NYM (#95) 

Jimmy Nelson, RHP, MIL (#91)

Robert Stephenson, RHP, CIN (#17)

Noah Syndergaard, RHP, NYM (#19) - Syndergaard was put on the 7-day disabled list in the minors, but as reported by Marc Carig of Newsday and others, it was a purely procedural move to allow the team to add another player to the roster until his turn.

Matt Wisler, RHP, SDP (#67)