Last week, a brand new, fully redone, Top 400 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings came out. There were a lot of risers and fallers in that list. 

However, the ones that get the most attention are the guys who make the top 100 prospect rankings. So, with us now being into August and officially in the second half of the baseball season, AKA a perfect time to stash prospects for next year, let’s talk about them. 

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Prospect News: Recent MLB Rankings Movement

At this point in the 2024 season, there won’t be a ton of MLB prospects called up who will have impacts, unless we see Dylan Crews getting a shot in Washington, so let’s put an eye towards next year and beyond for new additions to your fantasy baseball rosters.

A word of note, the 2024 MLB Draft prospects who are in the top 100 were already written up in previous, pre-draft, prospect reports so we won’t be touching on them here. Players like Charlie Condon, Travis Bazzana, J.J. Wetherholt, Jac Caglianone, Hagen Smith, Konnor Griffin and more are in the two pre-draft write-ups.

David Festa — RHP Minnesota Twins

Festa has been up with Minnesota for a little while now, five appearances (four starts), and it’s been mixed results. That being said, his pure stuff and ability make him one of the better right-handed pitchers in the rankings. Festa’s main three pitches – fastball, slider, and changeup – are all at least above-average while the fourth pitch is still a burgeoning curveball. 

That mix was good enough for 89 strikeouts in 60.1 innings this year at Triple-A St. Paul before his call-up. Since the callup, Festa has pitched 24.1 innings with a 5.55 ERA and 2.22 HR/9. Don’t worry though, those numbers are slanted. In the last 14.1 innings, the righty has only allowed 3 total ER with a 22:5 K:BB ratio. 

Even with the 5.55 ERA, Festa has a 3.36 xFIP and 3.21 SIERA. See, mixed results. When he gets going consistently, like the last 14.1 innings, Festa is a frontline starter in the making for the Twins and likely a number two starter. If for some reason he’s still available in your keeper leagues, he should be owned and kept for next year and the rest of this year.

 

 

 

Eduardo Quintero — OF Los Angeles Dodgers

Here’s yet another teenager who’s a burgeoning stud for the Dodgers along with Josue De Paula and Hyun-Seok Jang. Eduardo Quintero, an 18-year-old promoted to Class-A this week, has a lot of tools at his discretion. A plus speed skill plus above-average hit and power tools cover him offensively but defensively he has a cannon for an arm and Gold Glove-caliber glove. 

All he needs is seasoning. If everything clicks for Quintero, which could be a bit, he is a 20-HR, 30-SB outfielder in the making while hitting ~.280. That’s more than helpful in fantasy baseball even if it takes him 2.5 more years to come up to the majors.

Brayden Taylor — 3B Tampa Bay Rays

I discussed Taylor in the 2023 MLB Draft prospect reports and stated in those breakdowns:

“Consistently unheralded, including coming out of high school, Brayden Taylor is a toolsy infielder. The lefty-hitting, third baseman, and part-time second baseman, has a nice mix of everything you want from a baseball player. Above-average Hit too, average Power, average Run, and above-average Fielding tools he is the prototypical ballplayer who can do a bit of everything but doesn’t have one tool that carries him. While he can stick at third base full-time, from a fantasy baseball perspective, Taylor has more value if he moves to the Keystone as a 20-homer, 15-steals upside hitter.”

Over 114 in the Rays’ system since being drafted Taylor is slashing .254/.374/.499 with 19 HR, 91 R, 61 RBI, and 37 SB. He’s also walked 80 times in that span, which is good to see, but he’ll need to cut the K-rate down as he has struck out 136 times in 114 games. As he gets further into the upper minors and majors, I’d expect to see the steals number come down some, but he could be closer to a 20-20 third baseman when he reaches Tampa Bay late next year.

Jacob Wilson — SS Oakland Athletics

Another prospect taken in the 2023 MLB Draft, Wilson has been a fast riser through the Oakland system. That’s not surprising given the skillset he came with out of the Grand Canyon University. His 70-grade hit tool was arguably the best in the draft, and now is one of the best in the minors as a whole. 

The rest of the skills are more of a throwback at shortstop with it being led by defense and speed. We won’t be seeing a ton of homers or steals from Wilson, 8 HR and 6 SB in 72 MiLB games, but the average and OBP will carry very nice fantasy value. Expect Wilson to bring a .290-.300 AVG with 12-15 HR and 15-20 SB at short for the A’s when he’s up full-time.

 

 

 

Bryce Eldridge — 1B San Francisco Giants

While he was drafted as a two-way player in the 2023 MLB Draft as 16th overall, he’s made the transition to simply playing first base and letting the bat be his talking point. The power is the calling card for Eldridge as it’s legitimately a double-plus trait to go with his average hit tool. We don’t expect a ton of speed from him as a 6’7” 223 lb. first baseman. In 109 games across Rookie Ball, Class-A, and High-A he’s slashed .279/.366/.476 with 19 HR, 83 RBI, 65 R, and 5 SB. 

Now that he doesn’t have to work on pitching as well, the path to the majors and San Francisco should be quicker especially if his bat keeps speaking the way it is. San Francisco is waiting for a first baseman like Eldridge and the spot is his just as quickly as he can get there. Get ready for a middle-of-the-order bat with 30-35 HR pop from the left side of the plate with a .275 or so average to go with it.

Moises Ballesteros — C/1B Chicago Cubs

Ballesteros was a prospect I mentioned a few weeks ago as a player who could be up sooner rather than later. The good season he’s putting up has continued through 90 games at two levels as he’s slashing .287/.352/.474/.826 with 14 HR, 58 RBI, 40 R, and a steal while splitting time behind the plate and first base. 

Ultimately, he’s likely to find more time at first base as he’s been bad at cutting down would-be base stealers in his minor league career. The Cubs could look to call him up in September as one of the 2 extra roster spots for the last month of the season. For fantasy baseball value, we’re looking at a .270-.275 hitter with 25 HR power at shallow first base.

Agustin Ramirez — C Miami Marlins

One of the top prospects in the rebuilt and reshaped Marlins’ system, Ramirez was sent to Miami from the Yankees in the Jazz Chisholm trade. In the upper levels of the Yankees’ system, he’d hit 20 HR this year in 87 games prior to the trade which isn’t shocking as power is his calling-card trait at above-average. 

Ramirez’s hit tool is below average but that’s not a big concern at catcher as he’s still capable of hitting over .240 with 25 HR which more than plays in fantasy baseball behind the plate. That being said, Ramirez isn’t as high in the rankings as he’d have been staying with the Yankees thanks to the Marlins’ developmental questions and home ballpark. Even with the questions, Ramirez has the ability to be a top 10 catcher for fantasy baseball when he reaches the majors.

 

 

 

Chase Dollander — RHP Colorado Rockies

When Dollander, the second-best pitcher in the 2023 MLB Draft, was selected by Colorado at 9th overall in the draft there was some concern. Colorado isn’t exactly a haven for pitching nor do they have a history of producing good fantasy baseball arms. However, Dollander is good enough and has the right mix of pitches to put those questions to the side for right now. 

In his first full season of pro ball, Dollander as reached Double-A Hartford and racked up impressive numbers in 83.1 innings. Over 17 starts, the righty future ace has struck out 124 batters and only walked 34 and given up only 69 hits. Three plus-pitches and a fourth that’s above-average are more than enough to continue striking out a bevy of batters especially since the three main pitches are an upper-90s fastball with carry, a tight upper-80s slider, and a fading upper-80s changeup. 

All of those play well in the thinner air of Colorado. Had Dollander not been drafted by Colorado, he’d have likely started in the top 100 rather than needing a dominating season to move into that territory.

Jeferson Quero — C Milwaukee Brewers

Quero is an interesting case where he was so good a year ago that he got a bump into the top 100 despite being out for all of 2024. The 20-year-old last year dominated Double-A in 90 games with a .262/.339/.440 and 16 HR all while playing elite defense behind the dish. 

We’ll have to see how the torn labrum and subsequent surgery from March affects him when he’s back on a field but given his track record and youth, it’s likely that Quero is still in play to come up to Milwaukee mid-2025 as a future All-Star caliber catcher capable of hitting at least .260 and 20-26 HR and stealing a handful of bases at catcher. The only real question for Quero is just how much William Contreras blocks him.

Jairo Iriarte — RHP Chicago White Sox

A part of the Dylan Cease return this offseason, Iriarte has done a good job of adjusting to a new league and organization. Over 97 innings at Double-A Birmingham in 2024, Iriarte has posted a 23.8-percent K-rate and 10.9-percent BB-rate while allowing just a .217 BAA. The K-rate isn’t quite as high as we’ve seen before but that’s mainly because he’s been nibbling around the edges of the zone more this year than going right after hitters. 

The lanky 6’2” righty has the stuff to be a high-strikeout mid-rotation starter if the control improves a tad. If it doesn’t Iriarte is a closer-in-waiting arm. Either way though there is nice fantasy baseball value here in one of the top White Sox prospects.