Midseason Research: Prospects Dropping

Last week I looked at a few prospects who are on the rise as I continue to work on my midseason top 50 fantasy prospect list, and a commenter suggested that they'd like to see some notes on players who have been dropping as well. With that in mind, here's a few names that are unlikely to make my top 50 list (at least as of now), but were on the list at the start of the season. You can find the preseason consensus top 50 list here.

Mark Appel, RHP, Houston Astros

Preseason Consensus Rank: 27

The Astros can't seem to buy a break in terms of bad news or bad developments lately. The 2012 top pick broke his leg sliding into third base, and is out for the year. The team failed to sign the #1 overall pick in this year's draft, and came off looking about as bad as humanly possible from a public relations standpoint as a result. And yet, the issues surrounding the 2013 top pick may be the worst news. It's been nearly a completely lost year in terms of development, starting with the missed time in the spring due to an appendectomy and continuing now in Lancaster with the poor performance and the poor scouting reports. If you own Appel at this point, I would take an offer if you get eighty cents on the dollar in terms of value, because it looks bad. I keep waiting for news that he's been dealing with some injury that hasn't been reported previously, but it doesn't appear to be coming.

Kyle Zimmer, RHP, Kansas City Royals

Preseason Consensus Rank: 25

The Royals were hopeful that Zimmer would be in the rotation in Kansas City by the end of the season this year, but still has not thrown a single pitch in the minors to date. He's been dealing with injuries all season, and at this point will be unlikely to be making starts during the season. We could see him potentially go to the Arizona Fall League if he's healthy, to help build up his inning total for the season.

Albert Almora, OF, Chicago Cubs

Preseason Consensus Rank: 26

We've been hearing for a while now that while Almora did not have any one elite level tool, his overall profile would help him to put up more statistics than the individual tools would suggest. Unfortunately, the performance this season hasn't been great (better of late though), and it leaves questions about whether he can still turn into a potentially elite fantasy outfielder. The fact that he has been better of late is helpful, and if he can continue it through the rest of the season, we may see him return to the top 50.

Other Fallers - These players weren't necessarily likely to climb into the top 50 with strong first halves, but they still didn't help themselves out at this point with the performance.

Brian Goodwin, OF, Washington Nationals
Eddie Rosario, 2B/OF, Minnesota Twins
Mason Williams, OF, New York Yankees

Got another prospect that should fall out of the midseason top 50 based on this year's information? Let's hear about them in the comments.