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 ten prospects that 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.
Graduates So Far
George Springer, Trevor Bauer, Tommy La Stella, Marcus Stroman, Jon Singleton, Eddie Butler, Kevin Gausman, Gregory Polanco, Andrew Heaney, Jake Marisnick, Oscar Taveras, Taijuan Walker, Arismendy Alcantara, Jimmy Nelson, Wilmer Flores, Allen Webster
This Week's Graduates
Mookie Betts - The Red Sox' prospect was called back up on Friday afternoon, although it's unclear how much playing time he will get as of right now. He seems likely to be the fill-in for Jackie Bradley, as well as potentially for Dustin Pedroia when he gets time off.
Jake Marisnick - The newly minted Astros center fielder, Marisnick is joining the team, and hopefully will end the experimenting that the team has been done in their left field spot in the lineup.
1. Joc Pederson (#32)
RANK LAST WEEK: 1 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: All those outfielders, man
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME OF CALLUP: September 1st
You know, I (along with a decent amount of people elsewhere) had this idea that the Dodgers would use Pederson in some shape or form to go out and get an upgrade to their existing roster. Then they remembered that there's the whole month of August to see if anyone will practically give away their high-priced player, like they did two years ago. With that in mind, I don't foresee a Pederson call up until possibly September, hurting his current year value a lot.
2. Javier Baez (#3)
RANK LAST WEEK: 2 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney, Emilio Bonifacio, Not being on the 40-man Roster, Arismendy Alcantara
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Early September
We saw Bonifacio traded to Atlanta on Thursday, which cleared one more road block to a call up for the middle infielder. He's been playing second base primarily for two weeks now, and it seems that he could see a call up right after the end of the minor league season. The key difference with him and Pederson is that Iowa is leading their division (albeit only by 1.5 games), while Albuquerque is 9.5 back in the standings.
3. Andrew Heaney (#34)
RANK LAST WEEK: 3 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Jarred Cosart, Brad Hand
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Early September
The acquisition yesterday of Jarred Cosart would at least seem to keep Heaney in the minors until the end of the AAA season, and then likely a bullpen call up once we reach September 1st. If he's used only in a relief role, his value to fantasy owners is likely negligible.
4. Noah Syndergaard (#19)
RANK LAST WEEK: 5 (+1)
BLOCKED BY: Jacob deGrom, Bartolo Colon?
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Mid August
It's still possible that Bartolo Colon is dealt sometime in August, given that he is still owed a lot of money for the 2015 season.
5. Kris Bryant (#8)
RANK LAST WEEK: 9 (+4)
BLOCKED BY: Mike Olt and Luis Valbuena
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Mid-August
Moving Bonifacio did potentially open up another spot for Bryant, as the team could look to move Luis Valbuena to second base if they wanted the position opened up. I think even if he's a September call-up, he can have a major impact down the stretch.
6. Alex Meyer (#51)
RANK LAST WEEK: 6 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Mike Pelfrey, Sam Deduno and Kevin Correia, Yohan Pino, Logan Darnell, Tommy Milone
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: Mid-August
Look, I want to believe that the Twins will do that which they should really do, and quit throwing the Pino and Darnells of the world out there every day and find out what Meyer can do. Adding Tommy Milone to AAA probably didn't help that out that much though, unfortunately.
7. Taijuan Walker (#6)
RANK LAST WEEK: 7 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: The Mariners' front office?
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: late August
We're going to see James Paxton in the rotation today, and it seems more likely at this point that the team brings up Walker as a relief option for September. He'd be in the same range as Heaney if I thought there was a rotation spot that reasonably might be poached for Walker.
8. Jonathan Gray (#22)
RANK LAST WEEK: 8 (No change)
BLOCKED BY: Franklin Morales, Tyler Matzek,Franklin Morales, and Pedro Hernandez
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: late August
The 40-man roster is full now for the Rockies, although I would imagine that Pedro Hernandez is realistically only a place holder.
9. Francisco Lindor (#35)
RANK LAST WEEK: Honorable Mention
BLOCKED BY: Mike Aviles and Jose Ramirez
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: mid-August
The Indians removed Asdrubal Cabrera from the path to the majors of Francisco Lindor, and while he isn't guaranteed to be called up at all this year, I think at some point the Indians decide to make that switch.
10. Archie Bradley (#7)
RANK LAST WEEK: 9 (-1)
BLOCKED BY: Trevor Cahill, Vidal Nuno, Josh Collmenter
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME FOR CALLUP: September 1st
With the Diamondbacks officially running up the white flag, I'm still of the opinion that they bring Bradley up before the end of the year.
Honorable Mentions (in Alphabetical Order by Group)
Hitters
Matt Davidson, 3B, CHW (#64)
Maikel Franco, 3B, PHI (#36) - Franco has been hitting better lately, and could see a September call up to show the team what they may have at either first or third base.
Rob Refsnyder, 2B/OF, NYY (NR)
Jorge Soler, OF, CHC (#37) - Soler was recently promoted to AAA Iowa, and is already on the 40-man roster. I think we see him in September as well.
Pitchers
Trevor May, RHP, MIN (NR)
Rafael Montero, RHP, NYM (#95)
Robert Stephenson, RHP, CIN (#17)
Matt Wisler, RHP, SDP (#67)