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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, Gregory Polanco, Andrew Heaney, Jake Marisnick
This Week's Graduates
None
1. Oscar Taveras (#5)
RANK LAST WEEK: #1 (No Change)
BLOCKED BY: Matt Adams
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: The next injury, or late July
The injury bug keeps biting the Cardinals, but to this point it seems to be limiting itself mostly to the starting rotation instead of the outfield or first base as Taveras would likely need to get a call-up.
2. Taijuan Walker (#6)
RANK LAST WEEK: #2 (No Change)
BLOCKED BY: Erasmo Ramirez
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Two weeks This week?
Walker threw a complete game shutout in his start on Tuesday against Oklahoma City, striking out eight and walking just one. Erasmo Ramirez was demoted to AAA after his start on Tuesday, and the Mariners have not yet announced the starting pitcher for this Monday's game. (They have posted the Tuesday starter, for what it's worth.) Just saying... at this point it looks like Walker will be up at some point soon.
3. Joc Pederson (#32)
RANK LAST WEEK: 3 (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.
Well, Pederson won't be up this week for sure, as he separated his shoulder in the game on Tuesday in Iowa. I'm not ready to downgrade him just yet because of the injury, but if he's out for more than the 10 days that are anticipated, he'll likely drop next week.
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 hit well last week, which could be helped in part by the arrival of Kris Bryant at AAA Iowa. At this point, it seems that they want him to hit well for an extended period of time before either a promotion or even a position switch.
5. Alex Meyer (#51)
RANK LAST WEEK: 5(No Change)
BLOCKED BY: Mike Pelfrey, Sam Deduno and Kevin Correia and Yohan Pino
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: June late July
The team sent Yohan Pino down on Thursday to make room on the 25-man roster for Jorge Polanco, but proceeded to call him right back up when they moved Danny Santana onto the disabled list. Pino pitched well enough to get another start, but it still seems likely that Meyer is up by the trade deadline.
6. Noah Syndergaard (#19)
RANK LAST WEEK: Honorable Mention
BLOCKED BY: Jacob deGrom, Daisuke Matsuzaka
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Late July
There seems to be a groundswell building for Syndergaard to get called up, and it's not exactly like the back half of the Mets' rotation is so strong that they should stop him when the organization finally determines he is ready. I'm more inclined to think now that he will be up by the end of next month, and can be a very useful fantasy starter if he is.
7. Jonathan Gray (#22)
RANK LAST WEEK: 6 (-1)
BLOCKED BY: Franklin Morales, Tyler Matzek and Christian Friedrich and Yohan Flande
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Late July
Matzek had a very nice start last night (6 IP, 1 ER), but Friedrich has been ineffective overall in his two starts in the majors so far. Realistically, the Rockies are trying a few different guys in their rotation with the injuries to Butler and Lyles, but at some point soon I think they make a move towards Gray if they continue to struggle. The Rockies are 9.5 games out of the wild card though, so it's possible that they give those three a fairly long leash to see what is possible from them for the future.
8. Mookie Betts (#60)
RANK LAST WEEK: 7 (-1)
BLOCKED BY: Dustin Pedroia, Grady Sizemore, Shane Victorino and Jackie Bradley, Jr.
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Early August
Betts has been playing almost exclusively in the outfield the past two weeks, and while he's still likely to be a work in progress in the outfield, could be interesting if the team decides to make a change. At some point the wheels are going to fall off for Brock Holt, and he seems like a potential candidate to lose time to Betts when that happens. (It's possible that Victorino is back when that occurs, but he's been out after starting on a rehab assignment.)
9. Arismendy Alcantara (#47)
RANK LAST WEEK: 8 (-1)
BLOCKED BY: Luis Valbuena, Emilio Bonifacio
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: July
You're seeing at least a part of your infield of the future, Cubs' fans, albeit in Iowa, with Alcantara, Baez and Bryant on the infield at the same time. Alcantara has also been seeing time in center field for Iowa as well, which could lead him to playing time faster in the majors given that center field hasn't been a great position for Chicago either.
10. Alexander Guerrero (#78)
RANK LAST WEEK: 9 (-1)
BLOCKED BY: Dee Gordon
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: July
Still not back on the field, but still more likely to have an impact than the honorable mentions on the list given their likelihood to be called up at this point. Keep watching how Gordon is doing, as that will impact Guerrero once he does return to game action.
Honorable Mentions (in Alphabetical Order by Group)
Hitters
Kris Bryant, 3B, CHC (#8) - They say that they don't expect Bryant up in the majors this year, but if he keeps hitting home runs at this rate, they may have their hand forced.
Matt Davidson, 3B, CHW (#64)
Maikel Franco, 3B, PHI (#36)
Francisco Lindor, SS, CLE (#35) - Lindor is currently sidelined with a nasal fracture after being struck in the face by an errant ground ball earlier in the week, but is expected to be back by the end of next week. With Asdrubal Cabrera playing better of late, it's looking less likely that the team makes a change during the season.
Pitchers
Trevor May, RHP, MIN (Unranked)
Rafael Montero, RHP, NYM (#95)
Jimmy Nelson, RHP, MIL (#91)
Robert Stephenson, RHP, CIN (#17)
Matt Wisler, RHP, SDP (#67)