April 21, 2017

Fantasy Freestyle

My Fantasy Investment Portfolio—Minor Leaguers I Own Across Multiple Leagues

by Scooter Hotz

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This past week, I went through my fantasy investment portfolio for major leaguers across my seven leagues. This week, I’m going to walk through the minor-league side of my fantasy investment portfolio across my five leagues that allow minor leaguers.

Here’s a high-level rundown of the configuration of those five leagues:

1. AL-only rotisserie, 12 teams, auction with $260 budget, keeper, 14 hitters & 10 pitchers, old-school 4x4, includes BP’s own Mike Gianella
2. NL-only rotisserie, 12 teams, auction with $260 budget, keeper, 14 hitters & 9 pitchers, standard 5x5
3. Mixed rotisserie, 12 teams, auction with $260 budget, keeper, 14 hitters & 9 pitchers with 12+ reserves, standard 5x5
4. Mixed head-to-head, 10 teams, snake draft, keeper, 11 hitters & 8 pitchers with 5+ reserves, 6x6 (standard 5x5 with OPS for hitters and QS for pitchers)
5. Mixed head-to-head, 12 teams, auction with $260 budget, keeper, 11 hitters & 9 pitchers with 6+ reserves, 6x6 (standard 5x5 with OPS for hitters and OPS-against for pitchers)

One more note before I get started: I‘m in five leagues that allow for minor leaguers, but I can’t have more than four shares in any player because one of those leagues is an AL-only league and another is an NL-only league.

Four Shares (one player)

Franklin Barreto—Athletics

I just love his bat. In each of the leagues I have him, I have had him for at least a year already. He might not stay at shortstop, and he might not hit for more than average power at his peak, but his contact skills and ability to barrel up just about anything should play just about anywhere along the defensive spectrum. Add that he should be able to post double-digit steals in the first few years of his career, and you’ve got a hell of an attractive profile.

Three Shares (two players)

Francisco Mejia—Cleveland

If you like Barreto’s premium defensive position and contact skills, you’ll love Francisco Mejia. Last season, he hit .333/.380/.488 in 42 games at Low A, and .347/.384/.531 in 60 games at High A, and put together a 50-game hit streak across the two levels for good measure. So far this season, the 21-year-old backstop has picked up right where he left off a year ago, hitting .368/.395/.553 in 10 games at Double A.

I had the third-overall pick in the minor-league draft in my AL-only league and I didn’t think he’d be available, leaving me with Brent Honeywell as my admittedly pretty good consolation prize. However, my Baseball Prospectus colleague Mike Gianella surprised me and took Lucas Giolito with the second-overall pick, leaving me with the opportunity to take Mejia.

Dan Vogelbach—Mariners

Positionally, Dan Vogelbach’s ceiling is as a below-average defensive first baseman, while his mostly likely landing spot is at DH. He has hit at every level throughout his minor-league career, though, posting a .318/.425/.548 line at Triple A in the Cubs’ organization before being acquired by the Mariners in the Mike Montgomery trade. The 24-year-old was expected to make Seattle’s opening-day roster but ended up back in the minors after a surprise demotion. He should be back in the majors this season, hopefully for good. His advanced approach makes him especially attractive in OBP and OPS leagues (one of the leagues in which I own Vogelbach is an OPS league).

Two Shares (five players)

Gleyber Torres—Yankees

Monster prospect, should be a valuable trade chip or worth keeping on his own merits.

Kolby Allard—Braves

One of Atlanta’s roughly 542 pitching prospects, Allard is a hard-throwing lefty with a high ceiling and a long way to go before he reaches the majors.

Kevin Maitan—Braves

Really looking forward to promoting him to my active lineup in 2022.

Reynaldo Lopez—White Sox

I love his stuff, and while I’m hoping that he remains a starter, I’d settle for him turning into a potentially dominant reliever.

Lourdes Gurriel—Blue Jays

Yuli’s little brother can play a lot of positions defensively but doesn’t seem to have plus power or plus speed. The 23-year-old’s future value in roto depends on his contact ability, his approach and his ultimate landing spot on the defensive spectrum.

Scooter Hotz is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @wavingatyou
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