Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2025 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. SS Jordan Lawlar | 21 | MLB | 2023
The sixth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Lawlar was on schedule to take over the shortstop spot at some point in 2024 but lost a huge chunk of the season to a thumb surgery. He played well when he played in the minors, slashing .318/.417/.482 in 23 games, and I think he’ll be a good value for people who buy early in the redraft season. In 2023, he hit 20 home runs and stole 36 bases in 105 games across two levels.
2. C Adrian Del Castillo | 25 | MLB | 2024
A powerful lefty bat at 5’11” 208, ADC hit 30 home runs in 130 games across the top two levels this season. Even slashed .313/.368/.525 with four of those home runs during his 25-game MLB stint. He played catcher in 24 of those games, and sure, he struck out 32.2 percent of the time in the majors, but he’s typically controlled the zone and minimized strikeouts throughout his baseball life. I suspect he’ll be able to adjust along with the pitchers.
3. 3B Gino Groover | 22 | AA | 2025
Here’s what I wrote September in Prospect News: Groover’s In The Heart or Valera Morghulis:
“A second round pick in 2023, Groover struck out just 13.7 percent of the time in his 40 High-A games and went 4-for-5 in his Double-A debut. He might cruise right through that league and open next season in Triple-A.”
Well, in 13 Double-A games, Groover slashed .340/.400/.600 with three home runs, nine strikeouts and one stolen base. His patient approach and fast hands at the plate pair with plus power and give the 6’1” 212 lb Groover a chance to be a middle-order bat.
4. OF Druw Jones | 21 | A | 2027
The second overall pick in the 2022 draft, Jones suffered a shoulder injury before his first professional at bat, the first omen for a career haunted by injuries until 2024. This year, Jones played 109 games at Low-A and slashed .275/.409/.405 with six home runs and 21 stolen bases. That’s good but not the stuff that dynasty dreams are made of. From a mechanical perspective, I don’t like his swing. His front foot steps toward the plate and cuts off his rotational explosion. Could certainly be adjusted, but he’ll need a bunch of healthy reps to make that happen.
5. OF Ryan Waldschmidt | 22 | A | 2026
The 31st overall pick in the 2024 draft, Waldschmidt represents the windfall profit from Corbin Carroll’s Rookie of the Year award. In his junior season with Kentucky, he slashed .333/.469/.610 with 14 home runs and 25 steals in 59 games as he recovered from an ACL tear he suffered late in 2023. At 6’2” 205 lbs from the right side, Waldschmidt features plus contact skills, speed and power, a valuable trio of traits in the fantasy game.
6. 3B Demetrio Crisantes | 20 | A | 2027
At 6’0” 178 lbs from the right side, Crisantes takes a contact-first approach that might limit his power potential a bit but makes him an extremely tough out for the time being. I thought of Placido Polanco while researching his blurb, but Cristantes is three inches taller and has more speed and strength upside in his frame. He slashed .341/.429/.492 with seven home runs and 30 steals in 92 games across two levels this year and will be flying up lists around the prospecting world this winter.
7. OF Slade Caldwell | 18 | NA | 2029
A spark plug lefty at 5’9” 182 lbs, Caldwell might not have the dynamite-stick athleticism of Corbin Carroll, but you can see the team trying to replicate that blueprint in drafting Caldwell 29th overall in 2024. A plus defender in center, he’ll have no problem kicking over to a corner if necessary. In the box, he’s got plus plate skills and a quick swing that helps him maximize the advantage of having a smaller strike zone.
8. 3B Yassel Soler | 19 | A | 2028
At 5’11” 185 lbs, Soler is developing plus power from the right side along with carrying tool, which is the best tool to have: the ability to hit. Soler finds the barrel with ease and slashed .303/.351/.472 with six homers and six steals in 53 games on the complex, earning himself a late-season cameo in Low-A, where he’ll likely open 2025. If he hits early there (and I think he will), he’ll be an extremely young man for his level in High-A.
9. SS Tommy Troy | 22 | A+ | 2027
The 12th overall pick out of Stanford in 2023, Troy was expected to hit a little better than he did this year, even if he was battling injury along the way. A slash line of .234/.319/.363 in 72 games is going to be underwhelming no matter the context, but for a high-profile college hitter in High-A, it’s pretty scary. Good chance he bounces back this year.
10. RHP Yilber Diaz | 24 | MLB | 2024
Good cases to be made for Cristofer Torin and Jansel Luis here, but Diaz is the only one with a chance to impact this redraft season, and one could even argue he should be higher than this after he posted a 3.81 ERA in 28.1 MLB innings. So far in the majors, he’s been mostly fastball slider with a little bit of curve, and the early outcomes suggest he’ll have to throw the curve more than 14.3 percent of the time like he did in those 28.1 innings, but that’s exactly the kind of thing that’s fairly easy to adjust over an off-season.
Thanks for reading!
