Turning Rocks: MiLB Prospects for Dynasty Leagues (Trevor Story & Others)

Dynasty league prospect information is few and far between. Outside of the common top 100 lists, you really have  dig to find information regarding MiLB prospects for fantasy purposes. In deeper dynasty leagues the top 100 lists just don't cut it. I've spent over the past six months digging through pages of stats and dozens of articles leaving no rocks unturned. Baseball Prospectus , Fan Graphs and Baseball America all do a great job highlighting prospects for fantasy consideration. It is then up to you to decide what kind of player you want and what guys will fit your needs. I generally use the best player available strategy when deciding which prospects to go after. There is an immense risk in projecting players which are years away from contributing. With that in mind, don't fret if there are 4-5 players of the same position on your 20 man MiLB roster. Chances are a few of those players won't even make it; just bank on hitting it big with a few prospects and you can set yourself up for a long-term run in your league. Picking up a budding prospect before your opponents is a necessity for sustained dynasty league success.

Listed below are three prospects that have the ability to turn into solid fantasy contributors over the next few years.

Michael Fulmer, SP - DET- Fulmer was the least regarded prospect of the "Oklahoma 3" in 2011, the other two being Dylan Bundy (BAL) from Owasso High School and Archie Bradley (ARI) from Broken Arrow High School.  The tables have now turned and Fulmer might have the most potential of them all. Fulmer was just recently traded from the Mets to the Tigers in the Yoenis Cespedes deal. The Tigers rotation leaves a lot to be desired, with Verlander being the only proven arm. Fulmer has a great chance to see some starts in 2016 after having a fantastic 2015. Fulmer was awarded the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year award after compiling a 10-3 record and a 2.06 ERA across AA. In all, Fulmer pitched 124.2 innings and struck out 125 on the year while only walking 30. Fulmer has a plus fastball and can pound the strike zone with it. He figures to play as a #2/#3 type rotational starter. If the secondary pitches (slider/curve/change) develop into at least average to above average pitches we could easily be looking at a #3/#4 fantasy starter here.

Luke Weaver, SP -STL- Being a part of the St. Louis Cardinals organization is a big plus for any pitcher. The Cardinals develop pitchers as well as, if not better, than any other organization in the major leagues. Luke Weaver was a first round draft pick out of Florida State University in 2014. In his first full-season of pro-ball he has surpassed expectations. In 2015, while playing for the Palm Beach Cardinals, he put up 105.1IP while only walking 19 batters! He compiled an 8-5 record with an impeccable 1.62ERA. MLBpipeline.com grades Weaver's change up as his best pitch (60), while the fastball grades at (55) and the slider at (45) based on an 80 point scale.  Weaver's best attribute is his ability to control his pitches. "Polished" would be the best way to describe him and I believe he has a similar profile to Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies. Weaver will be better utilized as an innings eater with low ratio's than someone who will pile up strikeouts.  His stuff will never play up as an elite fantasy starter, but he could definitely serve as someone who can provide quality pitching depth in any fantasy rotation. I see him having no problem making it to the big leagues in the next couple of years. As a point of reference, Weaver was selected in the 14^th round of my 20-team MiLB draft.

Trevor Story, SS - COL - Shortstops that provide power and speed are extremely hard to find; In fact, that's almost a non-existent commodity in the big leagues today. Carlos Correa has jumped on to the scene, but outside of that you can make the argument that he's the only one. Story's made a name for himself providing double digit numbers in HR & SB throughout his minor league career. In 2015, his best season yet, he hit 20HR and had 22SB across AA (New Britain) and AAA (Albuquerque). A lot of Story's value will derive from playing in Coors field 81 games a year. The power will play up a bit and it's not out of the realm of possibility for him to continue hitting near 20HR a year. It doesn't appear that Story will ever hit for average, as there is a lot of swing and miss in his game (141K's in 512AB's in '15). Despite the high amount of K's he still managed to put up an impressive OPS of .863. Combining the Coors Field effect and a power/speed combination at SS, I could see Story becoming a top 10 SS over the next few years. With his performance of the past year, I would be more apt to take Story earlier in drafts based on the fact he is so close to making it to the show.