May 13, 2014

Dynasty Dynamics

The U25 Top 150, Part One

by Ben Carsley and Craig Goldstein

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We’ve done it, Internet. We’ve compiled a Big List of Players just for you.

Craig and I have spent the past six weeks breaking down each division, forming individual top-30 U25 dynasty rankings and comparing those lists with some witty (read: tired) commentary in each installment. We’ve also been debating each list on TINO, with the help of Dear Leader Bret Sayre and Mauricio Rubio, and have fielded many questions and concerns on Twitter and via the comments section, too.

Now, Craig and I have combined forces to form a collaborative top-150 list meant to give dynasty leaguers a concrete view of where we think each player’s value lies at this point in time. This is a great exercise because it forced Craig and I to defend players we love and form cogent arguments (a new experience, to be sure) against players we dislike, and I know I’ve personally changed my evaluations of a few prospects and post-prospects through this process.

That being said, we’re still going to provide you with a few tidbits of our own personal feelings about these rankings, and we strongly encourage you to ask us questions in the comments below. We still disagree on some of these players, but overall I think we’ve come to a happy, reasonable consensus.

As always, players will have to be born after April 1, 1988, to qualify, and just like with the preseason lists, there is of course an element of subjectivity that comes with these rankings. But unlike the preseason lists, these rankings are all about fantasy.

Dynasty U25 Top 150 Rankings, No. 101-150

• 101. Jonathan Schoop, 2B/3B, BAL
• 102. Mike Olt, 3B, CHC
• 103. Jonathan Villar, SS, HOU
• 104. Derek Norris, C, OAK
• 105. Devin Mesoraco, C, CIN
• 106. Marcell Ozuna, OF, MIA
• 107. Max Fried, SP, SD
• 108. Henry Owens, SP, BOS
• 109. Kohl Stewart, SP, MIN
• 110. Kolten Wong, 2B, STL
• 111. Wily Peralta, SP, MIL
• 112. Jose Quintana, SP, CHW
• 113. Brad Miller, SS, SEA
• 114. Yasmani Grandal, C, SD
• 115. Mike Zunino, C, SEA
• 116. Tim Anderson, SS, CHW
• 117. Jackie Bradley Jr., OF, BOS
• 118. Albert Almora, OF, CHC
• 119. Matt Wisler, SP, SD
• 120. Michael Pineda, SP, NYY
• 121. Jameson Taillon, SP, PIT
• 122. Hunter Harvey, SP, BAL
• 123. Wilmer Flores, INF, NYM
• 124. Michael Choice, OF, TEX
• 125. Blake Swihart, C, BOS
• 126. Joey Gallo, 3B, TEX
• 127. Raimel Tapia, OF, COL
• 128. Austin Meadows, OF, PIT
• 129. Dan Vogelbach, 1B, CHC
• 130. Tyler Glasnow, SP, PIT
• 131. Braden Shipley, SP, ARI
• 132. Rymer Liriano, OF, SD
• 133. Jorge Soler, OF, CHC
• 134. Sean Manaea, SP, KC
• 135. Delino DeShields, Jr, OF, HOU
• 136. Matt Davidson, 3B, CHW
• 137. Gary Sanchez, C, NYY
• 138. Lucas Sims, SP, ATL
• 139. Jake Marisnick, OF, MIA
• 140. Danny Duffy, SP, KC
• 141. Nathan Eovaldi, SP, MIA
• 142. Drew Hutchison, SP, TOR
• 143. Josh Bell, OF, PIT
• 144. Mike Foltynewicz, P, HOU
• 145. James Paxton, SP, SEA
• 146. Casey Kelly, SP, SD
• 147. Matt Barnes, SP, BOS
• 148. Stephen Piscotty, OF, STL
• 149. Brian Goodwin, OF, WAS
• 150. Domingo Santana, OF, HOU

Also Considered: Miguel Almonte (SP, KC), Henderson Alvarez (SP, MIA), Tyler Austin (OF, NYY), Jesse Biddle (SP, PHI), Jorge Bonifacio (OF, KC), Lewis Brinson (OF, TEX), Tyler Chatwood (SP, COL), J.P. Crawford (SS, PHI), D.J. Davis (OF, TOR), Avisail Garcia (OF, CHW), Alen Hanson (INF, PIT), Zack Lee (SP, LAD), Ryan McMahon (3B, COL), Rafael Montero (SP, NYM), Jake Odorizzi (SP, TB), Jarrod Parker (SP, OAK), D.J. Peterson (3B, SEA), Rick Porcello (SP, DET), Eduardo Rodriguez (SP, BAL), Luis Sardinas (SS, TEX), Dan Straily (SP, OAK), Vincent Velasquez (SP, HOU), Allen Webster (SP, BOS), Mason Williams (OF, NYY), Nick Williams (OF, TEX)

Ranking Ben Feels Best About: Brad Miller
I don’t think Brad MIller is a very good baseballer and I am happy we ranked him as such. I still think Nick Franklin has the better fantasy career. Craig, to his credit, did not fight me on this.

Ranking Craig Feels Best About: Danny Duffy
I love this ranking because Ben didn’t want him on the list and I made it happen anyway. He’s got his flaws—WHIP is going to be an issue—but the strikeouts will matter, and while he might only be a no. 4 fantasy starter, he’s that right now, with a little room to grow (if not the probability that he will).

Ranking Ben Feels Worst About: Michael Pineda
If he stays healthy, he’s going to make us look really dumb for this ranking. If he doesn’t—which is where the safe money lies—we might be dumb for even putting him this high. Guys like Pineda are among the toughest to rank from a fantasy POV, so all we can really do is hedge our bets. I also loathe putting Danny Duffy on this list, but you can’t win ‘em all.

Ranking Craig Feels Worst About: Kolten Wong
I’ve never been a believer, and while I know he can hit, I think it’s ultimately an empty average with a few stolen bases thrown in. I think his best-case scenario is a back-end top-10 second-sacker, and while that’s useful, I don’t value it much in a list like this.

Ben’s Toughest Omission: Nick Williams
Williams was on this list, but then we were all like, “zomg, we totally forgot Billy Hamilton.” Sure, Williams may lack some degree of baseball awareness (or any awareness in general) but I’m a true believe in his easy plus hit tool, and I think there’s more power here than people realize. He could be a very fast riser up lists like this next year.

Craig’s Toughest Omission: Nomar Mazara
The case just isn’t there to be made, considering he’s a level below Williams and not producing a ton at the moment, but I do believe Mazara has the best blend of power and hit tools of the Hickory/Myrtle outfielders. It was tough to leave him off this list but distance from the majors and a lack of overwhelming production made it unavoidable.

Ben Carsley is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @bencarsley
Click here to see Ben's other articles. You can contact Ben by clicking here
Craig Goldstein is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @cdgoldstein
Click here to see Craig's other articles. You can contact Craig by clicking here