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Click here to see the full history of Tim’s Prospects of the Week series.

Hola Amigos, welcome to my weekly prospect report, now only found with an MLB Data Warehouse subscription! The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy-relevant prospect information throughout the last week, all in one place. The format of this weekly prospect report will be a run-through of my top 15-20 prospects of the week, with a goal to get at least three prospects at each level (DSL - AAA).

I will try my best to highlight new prospects every week, rather than repeat names, unless the repeat is so warranted that I just can’t help myself.

This should not be seen as a weekly stash rankings, but as a ranking of top performers each week through all levels. My updated top 150 rankings can currently be found on MLB Data Warehouse, and thanks to Jon, we will now have regularly updated fScores throughout the year.

IMPORTANT: This will be my last weekly T-10 update through the end of May, as I will be working diligently on my updated Top 150 rankings - which I expect will be released within two weeks. I have already begun the process and have updated organizational rankings I will be posting in the meantime, however the write-ups are very time consuming… so patience my padawans, it is coming.

Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and MLB Data Warehouse podcast feeds or on YouTube (@TheTimkanak) and also follow me on X (@fantasyaceball) for more fantasy goodness!

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

NOTE: All stats from Sunday, May 10 - Saturday, May 16 2026

T-10 Prospects

1. 2B/SS/3B Devin Fitz-Gerald (Nationals) - A+

ETA: Mid/Late 2027

Comp: Kevin McGonigle LIGHT

Prime Skills: Fitz-Gerald is a dude I liked back when he was with the Rangers as the trade that keeps on giving continues to produce for the Nationals (MacKenzie Gore trade) as a 2024 fifth round draft pick out of my hood in South Florida. Fitz-Gerald continues to play second, third and shortstop giving him a useful amount of utility value while also rocking a plus hit tool, plus bat speed and increased pop from last season. Fitz-Gerald doesn’t get to the highest raw powers with a 109 max EV, but he does have an 89.5 average EV and his ability to get the barrel on the ball consistently will lead to above average power production for his size and raw power. Fitz-Gerald is on this list for the second week in a row, having made the T-15 last week, but not the T-10, however this week he netted 7 extra base hits, 5 homers and 1 steal with a .333 batting average. He’s destined to be a Top 100 guy in my next rankings update.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 45/60

• Plate Approach: 60/65

• Power: 40/55

• Speed: 50/50

Prospect Rank: Top 250

2. SP Karson Milbrandt (Marlins) - AA

ETA: Early/Mid 2027

Comp: Dylan Cease

Prime Skills: Milbrandt is a righty out of the third round for the Marlins in 2022 who has struggled with command since being drafted, but does tend to put up some nice outings when it all comes together. He has kind of an odd whippy ¾ delivery and needs to work on mechanics as his seems to change arm slot based on the pitch he’s throwing and I’m sure this has led to inconsistencies in command and tipping issues, but when he’s on the stuff is good. The fastball has some arm-side run to it and against the gyro slider is a big time swing and miss weapon. Milbrandt had a beast of a week with 11 strikeouts, 0 walks and only 3 hits allowed with 0 runs this week. The breakout of Milbrandt this year has been due to the development of his kick change up, which was rarely used before and has become a beast this season out of nowhere. He’s a lock into my Top 150 for the next rankings update and barely missed last time, he may end up closer to the Top 100.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (95-97 mph): 60/60

• SL (84-86 mph): 55/60

• FC (86-89 mph): 50/55

• CU (80-82 mph): 45/50

• CH (88-90): 45/60

• Command: 45/50

Prospect Rank: Top 175

3. SP Kash Mayfield (Padres) - A+

ETA: Late 2027

Comp: Christopher Sanchez with an arm-side fastball

Prime Skills: Mayfield had an excellent season as the big lefty demonstrated improved command from the middle of the season on, including rising pitch counts and a ridiculous 2.37 JA ERA on the year. He’s a big dude throwing from a tricky lower ¾ arm-slot that causes the fastball to have a good amount of natural arm-side run that trips up righties against the 2-plane slider (which is a bit slurvy and I would almost label a sweeper if it had more velocity), while the change up helps him freeze up the lefties as it has a decent amount of vertical drop to it and has some air bender qualities. Mayfield would benefit if he could develop a better bridge pitch on the fastball like a gyro slider. Kash had 8 strikeouts, 0 walks and only gave up 1 hit this week. He’s off to a crazy good start this year with a 19.9% SwStr% and he has not given up a run in 3 starts (12 innings). Mayfield is having a fantastic season and appears to be up a tick sitting on the fastball, while the slider is developing into a potential plus pitch. Ideally he will develop a fourth or fifth pitch before reaching the majors. This is his first time on the T-10 this year and second within the T-15 after a 9 strikeout, 0 walk and 1 hit performance.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (92-97 mph): 45/55

• CH (83-86 mph): 60/70

• SL (78-82 mph): 55/60

• Command: 45/50

Prospect Rank: 134

4. 1B/3B Yohandy Morales (Nationals) - AAA

ETA: Mid 2026

Comp: CJ Cron

Prime Skills: Morales profiles as a bench, power option as a hitter with above average to plus power, but a below average hit tool. He was a second rounder in 2023 out of Miami and received a pretty big bonus, so he will get a shot in the majors at some point here and is not really blocked with Curtis Mead, Brady House and Nassim Nunez blocking him. He’s showing improved contact this year from 60s to the low 70s and tends to hit the ball on the ground too much for a power hitter, but there are some plus exit velocities (108.1 90th and 113.1 max EV) in this bat and pedigree, so he should get a shot this year to see if he can be part of the next good Nationals team. He had a great week with 8 extra base hits, 3 homers and a .609 batting average.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 40/40

• Plate Approach: 35/40

• Power: 40/60

• Speed: 35/40

Prospect Rank: Top 500

5. C/1B Jason Schiavone (Astros) - A+

ETA: 2028

Comp: Hunter Goodman light

Prime Skills: Schiavone was an 11th rounder out of James Madison and is a complete under the radar breakout prospect this season after hitting under the Mendoza line in 2025. He is currently leading all of the minors leagues in home runs with 17 in 34 games. The hit tool is atrocious still, as should be expected with any Astros prospect and his home run pace is completely unsustainable, but this dude deserves his moment in the sun and had 8 extra base hits and 3 bombs this week with a .478 batting average. I would love to see the exit velocity data on this guy, but he’s barreling at a crazy rate and we should watch it in case he can become the next Hunter Goodman…. Oh, he also has 9 steals this year!

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 30/35

• Plate Approach: 40/40

• Power: 50/60

• Speed: 45/40

Prospect Rank: Top 500

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Click here to see the full history of Tim’s Prospects of the Week series.

Good day friends, welcome to my weekly prospect report, now only found with an MLB Data Warehouse subscription! The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy-relevant prospect information throughout the last week, all in one place. The format of this weekly prospect report will be a run-through of my top 15-20 prospects of the week, with a goal to get at least three prospects at each level (DSL - AAA).

I will try my best to highlight new prospects every week, rather than repeat names, unless the repeat is so warranted I just can’t help myself.

This should not be seen as a weekly stash rankings, but as a ranking of top performers each week through all levels. My updated top 150 rankings can currently be found on MLB Data Warehouse and thanks to Jon, we will now have regularly updated fScores throughout the year.

IMPORTANT: Following next week, I may take a week or two off the weekly updates as I work on the updated Top 150 position rankings (so the end of May might not have the weekly articles… but I’ll do my best!)

Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and MLB Data Warehouse podcast feeds or on YouTube (@TheTimkanak) and also follow me on X (@fantasyaceball) for more fantasy goodness!

T-10 Prospects

1 | SP Aidan Cremarosa (Rays) - A

ETA: 2028

Comp: Zack Greinke

Prime Skills: Aidan Cremarosa is a very interesting pitcher picked out of Fresno State in the eighth round in 2025 who pitches with deception, command and a five pitch - kitchen sink like approach that is unlikely to generate a ton of strikeouts, but he does have back-end rotation upside. He’s a smart pitcher that uses the fastball as a setup pitch and his breakers for swing and miss at the edge of the zone. While the fastball lacks velocity, it does have ride to it that plays up high in the zone and gets hitters to swing under it more often than not. Cremarosa has good extension for his height that helps provide additional deception from a ¾ arm-slot. The cutter tunnels well with the fastball and he paints with both pitches, while the curve ball has a crazy ephus feel with a super slow, loopy movement you don’t see often. The sweeper has good horizontal break, sweeping across the zone much differently and quicker than the curve, which leads to a many of his strikeouts. Cremarosa pitched a no-hitter on Friday night and has 49 strikeouts to 5 walks in 34 innings this year. I watched the full replay and his ability to get to all parts of the zone with all different shapes and speeds of pitches is incredibly impressive.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (90-92 mph): 40/45

• CH (81-85 mph): 55/60

• CU (68-76 mph): 55/60

• FC (85-89 mph): 40/40

• ST (83-85 mph): 50/60

• Command: 60/65

Prospect Rank: Top 300

2 | OF Henry Bolte (Athletics) - AAA

Comp: Lane Thomas & Righty Charlie Blackmon mash

Prime Skills: Bolte put up a decent steals total and some solid power numbers last year, but a high BABIP and high K rate made him look like a small ball version of Nolan Jones. Bolte has a bad hit tool and strikes out way too much, but he can take a walk and due to his speed is really good at nabbing extra bases when he does make contact with a 150 XBH+. His high batting averages are all based on his speed and BABIP luck, rather than his hit tool or approach ala Billy Hamilton. The interesting thing is he hits the ball hard and can run into barrels despite terrible angles and bad contact. Bolte barely stuck into my Top 150 in the pre-season; mostly because of the tools and though it was all against righties, Bolte managed 9 extra base hits, 5 homers and 4 steals this week for the best offensive week anyone in the MILB has put up all season (too bad for him we had a no hitter this week too). Bolte has a 74% contact rate on the season and 81.9% Z-Contact on the year vs. a 68% contact rate last season. The hit tool is on the rise - and so will Bolte in my next rankings update. He has 12 homers and 16 steals on the season already, though he still hits the ball on the ground way too much.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 35/40

• Plate Approach: 40/45

• Power: 40/50

• Speed: 75/75

Prospect Rank: 150

3 | 2B/SS Edwin Arroyo (Reds) - AAA

ETA: Late 2026

Comp: Ozzie Albies

Prime Skills: Arroyo was a top 150 guy for me all the way back in 2022 when he was still with the Mariners up until 2024 where he was still hanging on in the pre-season before an injury kept him out for the entire 2024 season. Last year was a bit of a struggle for Arroyo as he was returning from injury, but this year he is re-breaking out and is still only 22-years-old! He had 8 extras base hits with 4 homers and a .581 average over the last week and now has 7 bombs and 5 steals on the season after only hitting 3 homers all of last season, while rocking an 81.1% contact rate and 90.9% Z-Contact% on the season with only a 15% K rate. He’s an aggressive swinger, like Albies, but I think that will play for high batting averages earlier in his career and the average EVs are higher than what you would expect based on the 90th and Max EV numbers, so he holds a higher hard hit rate than you might think leading to possibly unexpected homer totals, especially in Great American. The ability to hit liners and get to the sweet spot this season is extremely impressive.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 50/55

• Plate Approach: 45/50

• Power: 45/50

• Speed: 55/55

Prospect Rank: Top 250

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Hey friends, welcome to my weekly prospect report, now only found with an MLB Data Warehouse subscription! The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy-relevant prospect information throughout the last week, all in one place. The format of this weekly prospect report will be a run-through of my top 15-20 prospects of the week, with a goal to get at least three prospects at each level (DSL - AAA).

I will try my best to highlight new prospects every week, rather than repeat names, unless the repeat is so warranted that I just can’t help myself.

This should not be seen as a weekly stash rankings, but as a ranking of top performers each week through all levels. My updated top 150 rankings can currently be found on MLB Data Warehouse, and thanks to Jon, we will now have regularly updated fScores throughout the year.

It should also be noted that THIS WEEK the fScores were updated, so these are all updated fScores now.

Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and MLB Data Warehouse podcast feeds or on YouTube (@TheTimkanak) and also follow me on X (@fantasyaceball) for more fantasy goodness!

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

NOTE: All stats from Sunday, April 26 - Saturday, May 2 2026

T-10 Prospects

1. 2B/SS John Peck (Tigers) - AA

ETA: 2027

Comp: Zack Gelof

Prime Skills: Peck has shown a solid power and speed combo for a probable second baseman, but has strikeout problems and a below average contact tool. He’s shown the ability to get to optimal line drive angles though and the seventh rounder had a fantastic week with 8 extra base hits, 4 homers and 3 steals. It’s hard to top that week, but overall a 2% walk rate and 31% K rate is incredibly dangerous. He’s incredibly aggressive and runs high BABIPs due to the ability to get to consistent line drives and has reached up to 110 mph exit velocities with plus defense. He profiles as a utility player long-term but could go on some nice runs thanks to his ability to get to doubles.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 30/40

• Plate Approach: 25/30

• Power: 40/45

• Speed: 55/55

Prospect Rank: Top 500

2. OF Lazaro Montes (Mariners) - AA

ETA: Early 2027

Comp: Shades of an OF Matt Olson

Prime Skills: Big strong kid with fantastic power from the left side and a solid eye. The power is up this year from last year, but he is also striking out quite a bit more as the hit tool seems to be getting worse from a contact standpoint (62.9%), while the angles are slightly above average (15% barrel rate in 2024). He hits the ball very hard with a reported 116 max EV and a 106.3 90th percentile EV this season and smashed 58 extra base hits in 131 games. Montes had a ridiculous week capped by a 3 homer game where he smashed one 118 mph, netting him 6 extra base hits and 5 bombs on the week.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 30/40

• Plate Approach: 40/45

• Power: 65/70

• Speed: 35/30

Prospect Ranking: 65

3. OF Joseph Sullivan (Astros) - AA

ETA: Late 2026

Comp: Trent Grisham mashed with a more twitchy PCA mechanics and speed

Prime Skills: Sullivan is a seventh rounder out of South Alabama from 2024 with a lot of good stuff under the hood as some of the stats here look pretty extreme. Sullivan finished with an incredibly rough second half slashing .191/.357/.264 after a fabulous first half, but overall he’s basically the Astros version of Emmanuel Rodriguez with a big time three true outcomes approach with plus speed. He hits the ball hard with a 112.2 max EV at the 2024 draft combine and a reported 108 90th percentile EV in 2025. The contact rates are only below average, but the angles are also below average and he doesn’t swing enough. Sullivan was a faller in the fScores despite putting up some pretty sexy back of the baseball card stats early in the season, meaning his under the hood metrics and his production are just beginning to align. Sullivan had a fantastic week with 5 extra base hits, 3 bombs and 2 steals - doing a bit of everything.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 30/40

• Plate Approach: 35/50

• Power: 55/60

• Speed: 60/60

Prospect Rank: 112

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Hey friends, welcome to my weekly prospect report, now only found with an MLB Data Warehouse subscription! The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy relevant prospect information throughout the last week all in one place. The format of this weekly prospect report will be a run-though of my top 15-20 prospects of the week with a goal to get at least three prospects at each level (DSL - AAA).

I will try my best to highlight new prospects every week, rather than repeat names, unless the repeat is so warranted I just can’t help myself.

This should not be seen as a weekly stash rankings, but as a ranking of top performers each week through all levels. My updated top 150 rankings can currently be found on MLB Data Warehouse and thanks to Jon, we will now have regularly updated fScores throughout the year.

It should also be noted that THIS WEEK the fScores were updated, so these are all updated fScores now.

Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and MLB Data Warehouse podcast feeds or on YouTube (@TheTimKanak) and also follow me on X (@fantasyaceball) for more fantasy goodness!

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

NOTE: All stats from Sunday April 19 - Saturday April 25 2026

T-10 Prospects

1 | OF Braylon Payne (Brewers) - A+

ETA: 2028

Comp: Lawrence Butler

Prime Skills: Payne is a big bodied outfielder who is tooled up with a killer power and speed combo from the left side. He’s one of the faster guys picked in the 2024 draft and if he can develop the hit tools and classic Brewers plate skills, the tools can really play this kid up with some of the better Brewers prospects. Payne’s hit tool has regressed both contact and angles-wise from last year’s small sample size, but the plate skills are potentially above average to plus. Payne had a 110.2 max EV last season at 18-years-old and could grow into plus power if he improves his angles. He’s electric, speed-wise but could work on his base running ability. Payne was terrible in the second half last year, but has seemingly gotten over it with a stellar start to the season hitting 3 bombs with 4 extra base hits and two steals this week. The plate approach is looking much better early this season, however the contact rates are still off. I bumped his plate approach and power ratings from 40 to 45 based on the early season success.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 25/40

• Plate Approach: 45/55

• Power: 45/55

• Speed: 70/70

Prospect Rank: 149

2 | OF Ryan Wideman (Padres) - A

ETA: 2028

Comp: Righty Evan Carter w/ more speed, worse approach

Prime Skills: Wideman is a dude I had a ton of interest in post-draft as a third rounder who played one year of division one ball for Western Kentucky and completely balled out; hitting .398/.466/.652 with 10 bombs and 45 steals from a 6’4, 205 pound frame. The hit was off last year in his small sample debut, but he did have 11 steals in 26 games. He also has some insane raw power we haven’t seen demonstrated yet with over 110 mph exit velocities with a wood bat at the combine and hitting to 92nd percentile EVs in college with metal bats last year. The 80% contact rates early season along with a solid plate approach led to a week where he hit 8 extra base hits, 2 bombs and had 6 steals and a .458 batting average.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 35/45

• Plate Approach: 40/50

• Power: 40/55

• Speed: 65/65

Prospect Rank: Top 350

3 | SP Anthony Eyanson (Red Sox) - A+

ETA: 2028

Comp: Max Meyer

Prime Skills: Eyanson did get paid nicely for a third rounder out of LSU getting drafted for his elite command and wide pitching arsenal and then broke out this Spring with a huge velocity increase from sitting 93 in college to 95-98. He’s been dealing all year and should be bumped to AA at this point as he has 27 strikeouts and 0 walks in 16 2/3 innings this year. He will be a huge mover in my rankings update. This weekend he was pulled from a perfect game he was throwing with through 4 ⅔ with 9 strikeouts. I can’t wait to get pitch movement data from him, but the fastball went from a below average to average pitch to above average hitting over 16” of induced vertical break at plus velocity and the gyro slider is a sick bridge between the fastball and curve that gets the majority of his swing and miss. The curve is a 12/6, like the slider, so there is a little too much up and down vertical plane here and the development of a sweeper or traditional cutter could help him against righties and while he has been working on a splitter it hasn’t been used much in game action to this point. Once he moves up levels the development of a fourth and fifth pitch will be critical to avoid the Jonah Tong vertical plane trap.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (95-100 mph): 55/60

• SL/FC (87-90 mph): 60/70

• CU (80-84 mph): 45/55

• Command: 60/65

Prospect Rank: Top 300

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Hey friends, welcome to my weekly prospect report, now only found with an MLB Data Warehouse subscription! The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy-relevant prospect information throughout the last week, all in one place. The format of this weekly prospect report will be a run-through of my top 15-20 prospects of the week, with a goal to get at least three prospects at each level (DSL - AAA).

I will try my best to highlight new prospects every week, rather than repeat names, unless the repeat is so warranted that I just can’t help myself.

This should not be seen as a weekly stash rankings, but as a ranking of top performers each week through all levels. My updated top 150 rankings can currently be found on MLB Data Warehouse, and thanks to Jon, we will now have regularly updated fScores throughout the year.

Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and MLB Data Warehouse podcast feeds or on YouTube (@TheTimkanak) and also follow me on X (@fantasyaceball) for more fantasy goodness!

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

NOTE: All stats from Sunday April 12 - Saturday April 18 2026

***AAA started a week earlier, we discussed them last week on the Week 1 podcast.

T-10 Prospects

1 | SP Miguel Sime Jr. (Nationals) - A

ETA: 2028

Comp: Jacob Misiorowski-ish arsenal coming from a righty CC Sabathia delivery

Prime Skills: I can’t believe Sime lasted until the fourth round in the draft last year; my first look at him in person in the Spring Breakout game was enough to get me on board. Sime is built like a brick house at 6’4, 235 pounds The dude has a ridiculous fastball hitting up to 102 mph and blew away Tai Peete and JJ Wetherholt on the fastball in the breakout game. He has a nice 11-5 curveball that was his primary strikeout pitch this week when he racked up 9 strikeouts with only 1 walk in 4 no-hit innings. He almost reminds me of Alfredo Duno, but as a pitcher body type-wise.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (98-102 mph): 70/70

• CU (80-84 mph): 50/60

• CH (85-88 mph): 30/40

• Command: 30/40

Prospect Rank: Top 200

2 | 2B Manuel Pena (Diamondbacks) - AA

ETA: Mid 2027

Comp: Brandon Lowe

Prime Skills: Pena is showing an elite power tool for a second baseman with a 110.6 max EV this spring where we have some statcast data on him and pairs this with a slightly above average hit tool based on a slightly below average contact rate, but the ability to get to plus power angles. There’s not much speed here, but a middle infielder with a solid hit tool and plus power is an interesting play. Pena hit .575 this week with 9 extra base hits and 5 bombs, giving him a ridiculous 8 homers in 13 games to start the season. He does not walk at all, but it should be noted he has equally mashed lefties vs. righties as a left handed hitter.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 40/50

• Plate Approach: 40/40

• Power: 60/60

• Speed: 40/40

Prospect Rank: Top 350

Read more

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Hey friends, welcome to my weekly prospect report, now only found with an MLB Data Warehouse subscription! The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy-relevant prospect information throughout the last week, all in one place. The format of this weekly prospect report will be a run-through of my top 15-20 prospects of the week, with a goal to get at least three prospects at each level (DSL - AAA).

I will try my best to highlight new prospects every week, rather than repeat names, unless the repeat is so warranted I just can’t help myself.

This should not be seen as a weekly stash rankings, but as a ranking of top performers each week through all levels. My updated top 150 rankings can currently be found on MLB Data Warehouse and thanks to Jon, we will now have regularly updated fScores throughout the year.

Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and MLB Data Warehouse podcast feeds or on YouTube (@TheTimkanak) and also follow me on X (@fantasyaceball) for more fantasy goodness!

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

NOTE: All stats from Monday, April 6th - Sunday, April 12th 2026

***AAA started a week earlier, we discussed them last week on the Week 1 podcast.***

T-10 Prospects for Week 3

1 | OF Theo Gillen (Rays) - A+

ETA: 2028

Comp: Smaller, more toolsy Parker Meadows

Prime Skills: Gillen has great timing at the plate, nice load and really gets on pitches with a sweet and powerful lefty swing. He has a nice sized athletic build and should develop into a power / speed threat. He played SS in highschool, but with a weak arm has moved off to the OF. The hit tool is performing better than I had expected out of the gate with a 74.3% contact rate and near 25% line drive rate. The eye is plus with only an 8.8% SwStr%, while he’s shown but he has been a little too patient with only a 34.3% Swing%. He’s been getting to better angles this year with a plus air-pull rate, as he’s also lowered the groundball rate and increased the linedrive rate. I have not found publicly available max EVs since high school, but this year he has a reported 103.2 90th percentile EV, which is good for his age. The 99 XBH+ portends to only average-ish power over the last year plus, but it’s good to see he finished the week with 4 bombs and 5 total extra base hits along with 2 steals.

NOTE (FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE): The MLB Data Warehouse data is not including Sunday, 4/12/26 stats.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 40/50

• Plate Approach: 60/65

• Power: 40/55

• Speed: 60/60

Prospect Rank: 86

2 | SP Kade Anderson (Mariners) - AA

ETA: Mid/Late 2026

Comp: Max Fried

Prime Skills: Anderson has an arsenal that is across the board plus, against some of the other guys in the class that were elite one or two pitches without the full arsenal to do damage, but is a leaner 6’2” lefty that gives me some Max Fried vibes despite needing work on the command. He has a fastball with up to 20” of vert on it that had the second best whiff% on it in the draft class to Liam Doyle’s fastball, a 2-plane slider, a nasty diving curve and a change up with some nice fade.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (92-96 mph): 60/60

• SL (84-88 mph): 55/60

• CU (79-81 mph): 55/60

• CH (81-85 mph): 50/60

• Command: 45/55

Prospect Rank: 27

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Check out last week’s article here

Hey friends, welcome to my weekly prospect report, now only found with an MLB Data Warehouse subscription! The goal of this column is to give you the most fantasy-relevant prospect information throughout the last week, all in one place. The format of this weekly prospect report will be a run-through of my top 15-20 prospects of the week, with a goal to get at least three prospects at each level (DSL - AAA).

I will try my best to highlight new prospects every week, rather than repeat names, unless the repeat is so warranted that I just can’t help myself.

This should not be seen as a weekly stash rankings, but as a ranking of top performers each week through all levels. My updated top 150 rankings can currently be found on MLB Data Warehouse, and thanks to Jon, we will now have regularly updated fScores throughout the year.

Please subscribe to the Fantasy Aceball podcast and MLB Data Warehouse podcast feeds or on YouTube (@TheTimkanak) and also follow me on X (@fantasyaceball) for more fantasy goodness!

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

NOTE: All stats from Sunday March 30th - Sunday, April 5th 2026

***AAA started a week earlier, we discussed them last week on the Week 1 podcast.

T-10 Prospects

1 | OF James Tibbs III (Dodgers - AAA)

ETA: Mid/Late 2026

Comp: Mike Yastrzemski

Prime Skills / Player Notes: Tibbs has shown ridiculous power this year with seven bombs already and is not a huge dude, but does show solid power with mid 20s power potential and has above average plate skills with a slightly below average hit tool. He’s been good against lefties so I think he’s a big league corner OF as long as he can keep hitting lefties like he has so far in 2026, but when will the Dodgers have room for him?

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 40/45

• Plate Approach: 55/60

• Power: 55/60

• Speed: 45/45

Prospect Rank: Top 200

2 | SP Seth Hernandez (Pirates - A)

ETA: Late 2027

Comp: Andrew Painter (yes, I’m comparing a prospect to a prospect)

Prime Skills: Hernandez is a well built starter with an old school top end starter’s arsenal, great command and a smooth delivery. The breakers need some work developing, but the fastball and changeup combo alone will help him raise quickly through the levels despite his age and with health this is a dude who could debut at 20/21 years-old.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA4 (94-102 mph) w/ arm side run: 65/70

• FA2 (93-97 mph): 50/60

• CH (81-84 mph): 60/65

• FC/SL (88-89 mph): 50/55

• CU (77-82 mph): 45/55

• Command: 50/60

Prospect Ranking: 57

3 | 2B Gavin Kilen (Giants - AA)

ETA: Late 2026

Comp: Brendan Donovan

Prime Skills / Player Notes: Kilen was the Giants first rounder last year, picked at 13th overall and I have been higher on him than others in FYPD with a plus hit tool and potential decent power at a very weak fantasy position at second base. The Giants have been looking for a second baseman, so he could be a quick mover if Arraez fails. He has an aggressive hit profile with a great hit tool and doesn’t strike out much.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 60/60

• Plate Approach: 55/60

• Power: 45/50

• Speed: 45/50

Prospect Rank: Top 250

4 | SP Khristian Curtis (Pirates - AA):

ETA: Late 2026

Comp: Trey Yesavage light

Prime Skills: Curtis wasn’t much on my radar last season and he seemed kind of destined to be a back end rotation guy, but that was before we had some pitch level data on him. This Spring, we got to see what he actually has in his arsenal and he’s a pretty over the top delivery guy with a fastball that touches up to 20” IVB at times and hits 97 on the gun and Trey Yesavage-like approach and arsenal with a dancing split change up, hard 12/6 cutter and a high velocity slider with above average extension.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (95-97 mph): 50/60

• SL (87-89 mph): 60/60

• FC (93-94 mph): 45/50

• FS/CH (84-87 mph): 50/60

• CU (76-78 mph): 45/55

• Command: 45/55

Prospect Rank: Unranked (was not on my radar until spring)

5 | SP Owen Murphy (Braves - AA)

ETA: Late 2026

Comp: Dylan Cease mash with Bryan Woo

Prime Skills: Murphy is a former first rounder with ridiculous fastball characteristics (up to 22” IVB on it.) and just returned from Tommy John. The fastball runs into the lower/mid-90s with excellent ride to it and he’s good and pounding it into the top of the zone. He throws a curve against a 12/6 slider, it would be killer if he could add a sweeper to the arsenal or something with more horizontal movement and the change up has some splitter characteristics.

Arsenal Grades:

• FA (91-94 mph): 60/65

• SL (83-86 mph): 60/65

• CU (76-80 mph): 55/60

• CH (78-82 mph): 40/45

• Command: 60/65

Prospect Rank: 82

Paid subscribers (PRO not needed) get access to the minor league Tableau dashboards, Tim’s fScores, constantly updated and new tools via the MLB DW web app, all of the written articles and podcasts, and way more. MLB DW is going to be the place to be for dynasty leagues this year. Sign up today to unlock all of it!

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NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

1. SS/OF Konnor Griffin (Pirates)

ETA: Late 2026

Comp: Light Fernando Tatis Jr. with an Elly de la Cruz statistical profile

Prime Skills: Griffin is a big righty with a good arm as a high school pitcher and he has some massive power upside. The high stance and high and tight hands in his swing reminds me of Fernando Tatis Jr. and like Tatis, he will probably have plenty of swing and miss to go with the damage. Tools for days here as Griffin has already posted a max EV of 114.2 and has a 90th percentile EV of nearly 108. The hit tool is better than expected, but still might only tune in at slightly above league average as he could do better on the angles ala Elly de la Cruz coming up (52% groundball rate and only 7 degree average launch angle). Griffin was able to get 48 extra bas ts in 122 games in 2025 in addition to the 65 stolen bases on the season.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 50/55

• Plate Approach: 45/55

• Power: 60/70

• Speed: 70/70

Ranking Explanation: Griffin has the highest upside of any prospect in baseball and has shown this season to have a much safer hit tool than previously expected after some changes to his batting stance. He could maximize his skillset further by becoming more efficient on the basepaths and improving his bat path for better angles to generate a higher level of quality contact. Griffin seemingly improved upon being promoted from low A to AA throughout the course of the season and while some think he will break camp, especially with all the power he has shown - I still doubt it unless we get the magic contract. Griffin is the top prospect in baseball and also the top SS prospect as he looks like a future fantasy first rounder for quite some time.

Prospect Rank: 1

2. 2B / SS Kevin McGonigle (Tigers)

ETA: Early 2026

Comp: Chase Utley wannabe, but the profile might be more like Nomar Garciaparra

Prime Skills: This kid has an insane hit tool and plate skills with developing power. Despite lackluster angles in our limited statcast data available with only a 6.3% barrel rate and a 103.6 90th percentile, he has recorded much higher max EVs to last year constantly touching 111 and reportedly hitting 112 mph. He’s a doubles machine with 31 doubles in only 88 games this year and pretty crazy 52 extra base hits in those 88 games, which has to be the highest XBH / game played in the minores.

Hitter Tool Grades:

• Hit: 60/70

• Plate Approach: 70/70

• Power: 55/60

• Speed: 45/50

Ranking Explanation: It’s hard to show concern for a guy with such a honed hit tool and a nicely developing power stroke, however the speed has taken a dump this year as he went from 22 steals and only 2 caught stealing last year to only 10 steals and 7 times caught stealing this year. There are also some injury concerns I have that nobody wants to discuss, but he only played in 74 games last year after breaking a hamate bone and this year has only played in 88 games after starting the year late from a high ankle sprain. Griffin has a higher power/speed upside, but in a points league, I’m probably picking McGonigle first overall. I have a feeling McGonigle breaks camp with the team and should make a run for Rookie of the Year. Wetherholt may be just as good for fantasy value though - or close enough, as I expect more steals from Wetherholt.

Prospect Rank: 2

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We started a 30-team dynasty league here at MLB DW over the offseason. It was a doozy. I personally think that I did an absolutely horrible job at assembling this roster.

Some people have asked for the results, so that’s what I’m here to deliver.

There were two drafts.

1. Auction draft for MLB debuted players

2. Snake draft for non-debuted players

A single game in the MLB made you eligible for the auction. And if they weren’t taken in the auction, they were eligible for the snake draft.

Our rosters were massive. 52-man rosters (26 MLB, 26 MiLB). That gives you 1,560 players drafted. We started January 1st and finished today, February 11th. Which was way faster than I thought. The auction was finished in less than two weeks, I believe.

The results are in the Google Sheet linked below. We set up our league mimicking MLB, so we all have an MLB team name as our fantasy team’s name. That made it a lot easier to track and do the divisions and scheduling and such.

For anybody wondering about some of the familiar names here.

• Me: Phillies

• Tim: Cardinals

• Doc: Nationals

• John Allen: Padres

Google Sheet Here

Follow @fantasyaceball

NOTE: Rookie status is determined by 130 ABs, or 50 IPs at the Major League level.

Please purchase the Prospect Package here for all my rankings with cheat sheets perfect for drafts for only $29.99!

1. 1B/3B Sal Stewart (Reds)

MILB:

MLB:

ETA: Debuted

Comp: Manny Machado light

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I’ve prepared a nice Google sheet of prospect data for my own use during this 30-team prospect draft we’re doing, and the paid subs can get their hands on it, too.

It has most of the prospect stuff we offer to paid subs, all in one place.

Here’s a description of what you get. You’ll find a link to the data and a video tutorial of me showing how to use it for a draft below the paywall. So become a paid sub today and get all of this prospect stuff. We have advanced scores, grades, ranks, write-ups, and a lot more on the Dynasty League front. And that’s all new and in addition to what we had here last year!

Note: Only players who have not debuted in MLB (regular season) will appear.

Hitters

• Current Age

• MLB team they’re on

• Highest level reached

• Position

• MLB DW Prospect Rank (1-150)

  • These are Tim’s rankings, which are available on the MLB DW web app with full write-ups on all 150

• Age and Level Adjusted wRC+

  • This is a measure of run creation that is adjusted for age and level. So if a player is young for the level they’ve reached in the minors, it boosts them, adn vice versa

• Ownership Rate (Fantrax)

• 2026 Redraft ADP (NFBC)

• fScores (100 = average)

  • Hit Tool

  • Power

  • Speed

  • Discipline

  • Durability

  • Overall Grade

Pitchers

All of the same stuff as mentioned above.

For information about the fScores, check this out.

Tim and I explain what they are, how they work, and how to use them.

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This is part of a post series that John Allen is writing. He had dynasty owners with clunker teams send in the details on their leagues and teams. Below, John offers some advice on how to start righting the ship.

Who doesn’t love a miracle? I’m guessing that is why people like myself and Juan enjoy trying to turn a last-place disaster into a playoff team.

So far, injuries and poor performances have conspired against Juan in this 16-team H2H categories league. It’s also a struggle since it is a contract-based league and, as you will see, Juan’s team has a number of bad contracts.

After making smaller moves in the past, I’m asking Juan to take this roster to rock bottom and get rid of all the contracts that are holding this team back. As he said to me in an email exchange, “My problem is falling in love with my original assessment of rookies and being stubborn in wishing them success.”

As a result, the cost of these formerly cheap rookies has kept Juan’s team from moving forward because of the constant $2 increases each year. To drop a contracted player, the penalty is half of contracts’ cost for that year. So another last-place finish may be in the cards for 2026, but a brighter future is just around the corner.

Here’s the plan I worked on with Juan to get his team on the right track.

FINISH THE 2025 PURGE

The first step is using all the 2025 cap to purge players that are only going to hold you back. So using that $17 in remaining cap space is going to be a great first step. There were plenty of overpaid candidates on your roster and I came up with two possible list of cuts:

OPTION 1: Cut Eduardo Rodriguez, James Outman, Nick Loftin, Keaton Winn, and Dedniel Nunez

• Why I like it: None of these guys are tradable. Only one is certain to see MLB time.

• Why I don’t like it: Because of the way the penalties act for dropping players with contracts (it is half of their 2025 salary), you are only saving $44 to add to your 2026. Plus Eduardo Rodriguez could put together a good start to 2026 and be tradable in the second half.

OPTION 2: Cut Jesus Sanchez, James Outman, Nick Loftin, Jonny DeLuca, Colin Holderman, Keaton Winn, and Dedniel Nunez

• Why I like it: Again, none of these guys is going to be tradable. None have certain MLB roles, so they have no current value and likely no future value. They will save more ($46) for the 2026 cap.

• Why I don’t like it: There is no one big salary eliminated, but I think this move is superior in terms of future value to option 1.

CONFIGURING YOUR TEAM TO YOUR LEAGUE SCORING

Juan’s league is all counting stats. Availability is extra important, especially with the salary cap. So older, often injured players such as Mike Trout and Byron Buxton are not going to be of great interest.

Because of the maximum of 70 IP and 70 games played for hitters, there will be a premium for quality of each start. Leaning into players who have extreme home/away splits (I’m looking at you Colorado Rockies OF Brenton Doyle with your career home BA of .318) can give you a cheaper boost some weeks. Also left/right platoon splits for hitters will give you an edge with your daily lineup.

For pitching, with 5 SP and 5 RP (and 2 P) in your daily lineup, finding a balance of starters and bullpen guys that can match different opponents’ lineups will be nice to achieve.

Since wins is not a category, focusing on starting pitchers who can get QS will be important.

With saves, holds, hits against and HR against as part of the categories, finding good setup RP and RP that could also qualify as SP for your lineup will be something to focus on throughout the season. Those guys would at least become good trade fodder to improve the overall roster.

I’d love to load up on $1 relief pitchers in the MLB. And if you can find some who also qualify as SP, even better.

FOCUS ON 2027

While I think you will have a better than last-place team in 2026, I think your starting pitching will hold you back from a playoff run. So the moves you make in 2026 should reflect that.

The good news is Jorge Solar’s contract is off your books at the end of 2026. Often-injured Dalton Varsho and Yimi Garcia will also be gone. Ian Happ joins them, and while he is a good player, he will turn 33 during the 2027 season.

Happ could also be a trade chip to a contending team that runs into injuries in 2026. Whenever someone goes on the IL, contact that owner and see if they are willing to deal them. Contending teams will listen. As an example, the Yankees announced Gerrit Cole would have Tommy John surgery during spring training. Facing a whole year without Cole, I contacted his owner and flipped Jose Berrios for Cole. I’ve also been on the other side of the coin and when Kristen Campbell went to the minors, I needed an OF. I flipped Campbell for Buxton and then crossed my fingers.

Those are the deals you want to be focused on throughout the year. Yusei Kikuchi could be a great candidate to flip if a contending team loses a solid SP with a contract between 16-25 in spring training. That would get him off your books early and set you up for 2027.

Other trade bait would be Sean Murphy and Robert Suarez. If Murphy can get off to a good start in 2026, a contender who needs a backup catcher because of injury might be interested. Given that his contract is through 2028, I wouldn’t ask much for him. Maybe even consider a bad contract that ends in 2026 plus a solid prospect as a good return.

Suarez on the other hand, I would ask a lot. Or use him to get rid of Eduardo Rodriguez’s bad contract (and if you can add to the deal Kikuchi you can jump start this rebuild). He’s cheap, productive and signed thru 2027 in this league. He’s a very interesting signing for the Braves. But since he will be 35 at the start of the 2026 season, he likely is on a very different timeline than the rest of your team.

Finding cheap, talented SP will be a focus of this season. That could be in the draft as this year’s FYPD is loaded with top end SP talent such as Kade Anderson, Liam Doyle, Jamie Arnold, Seth Hernandez, Kyson Witherspoon, and Tyler Bremner.

But also keep an eye on prospects who will not be drafted throughout the season. Examples from last year include Cam Schlittler, Parker Messick, Nolan McLean, Connelly Early, and Payton Tolle. Possible targets for this year include: Kohl Drake, Didier Fuentes, Khal Stephen, or Miguel Mendez.

Last, but not least, keeping your contract costs low is going to be important. Ideally, you would have space throughout the season to absorb cutting Rodriguez if you can’t trade him. But there are also a number of players that will need to show you in 2026 they have a future for the team you are building for 2027 and beyond. Some of those guys would be Nolan Schanuel, Tyler Locklear, Nick Yorke, Parker Meadows, Nacho Alvarez, Javier Assad, Matt Waldron, Drey Jameson, Yennier Cano, Brock Porter, and Ricky Tiedemann.

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This is part of a post series that John Allen is writing. He had dynasty owners with clunker teams send in the details on their leagues and teams. Below, John offers some advice on how to start righting the ship.

I grew up in a Tom Coughlin household, where early was on time and on time was late. So I appreciate punctual people.

For this Pimp My Dynasty Team idea, there were going to be many firsts. Colin was the first to fill out a form, first to complete email questions, and the first team I tried to Pimp.

Colin, who has been playing fantasy baseball since 2016, had a team in fourth place in the middle of the season until the wheels came off. He did the smart thing, dealing away parts for prospects, landing two of the best teenagers in Jesus Made and Sebastian Walcott, and finishing 10th of 20 teams.

This year, the goal is a top-five finish. With these categories in a head-to-head categories league, including a Rule 5-like protect and/or pillage draft before the FYPD, it’s a little complicated.

Here’s what I sent to Colin:

As I said before, you have a very strong group of hitting prospects and I think your trade targets should be teams that are looking to rebuild and have the players you are looking for to get back in the money. But as you will see, I think you could make a deal with last year’s champ.

PITCHING

Given the current categories for pitching and being in a H2H league, focusing on a handful of very good starting pitchers and stuffing your team with a mix of relievers with excellent K/9 stuff who will be pitching in hold and save situations is the key to 2026 success.

You have three starting pitchers who fit what you should be looking for: Bryan Woo, Robbie Ray, and Shane Smith. I don’t think David Festa is one of those guys, but at 25, I’d probably hold onto him for 2026 to find out. Christian Scott or Hunter Barco might be one of those guys, but I would look into finding a veteran arm who may be a little undervalued in 2026. Sonny Gray, Chris Bassitt, and Zac Gallen fit that mold.

Since you sent me the roster for the league champs, and he has Gray and Bassitt, I wonder if he would flip those older arms for a young SS prospect he lacks. Given all your SS prospects, maybe you can get both Gray and Gallen for Luis Pena or Bryce Rainer.

As far as high-leverage relievers, you have four guys I like on the roster: Justin Sterner, Reed Garrett (although you’ll need to wait for 2027 since he had TJ surgery), Bryan King, and Greg Weissert.

Looking to make deals, again probably dealing from your surplus of hitting prospects, for arms such as Kenley Jansen (he’s going to be the closer somewhere), Phil Maton, Ryan Helsley, Brad Keller, Edwin Uceta (love him for this role), Bryan Baker (especially if Griffin Jax goes to the rotation), Jordan Leasure (think he’s the White Sox closer this year), Jeremiah Estrada, Robert Garcia (might be a bargain after blowing up in the middle of last year), Garrett Whitlock (especially if Red Sox sign FA SP), Alex Vesia (if he can stay healthy again), Jeff Hoffman (even if he’s not the closer, he’s going to get holds), Dylan Lee, Jared Koenig, Gabe Speier, Andrew Kittredge (sneaky closer), Camilo Doval (it will be a wild ride), Erik Sabrowski (roles are well-defined in Cleveland and he should be the 6th/7th-inning guy), Connor Phillips (that Reds’ bullpen has a lot of openings), A.J. Minter (coming off hip injury), and Brant Hurter.

HITTING

As far as hitting goes, you are looking for sluggers who take walks. At this point your roster is mostly punting on steals. I’m not sure how the rest of the league approaches steals, but finding a hitter who could steal a couple bases a week, would be good.

I like Ben Rice (especially at C), Michael Busch, Riley Greene, Seiya Suzuki, and Brandon Lowe (when he’s healthy). But this might be a good year to try to sell high on Lowe and Suzuki.

Focusing on hitters who can give you good OBPs will be important. You could push a bunch a chips (Made, Walcott will definitely be part of that) in to see if you can get Judge or Soto, but here are some players who would draw my interest by position and might be a little cheaper:

3B: Carlos Correa, Caleb Durbin (sneaky SBs), Manny Machado (going to cost you, but blueprint for what you want)

OF: Jurickson Profar, Wyatt Langford (thinking he has a big bounceback), Alec Burleson, Taylor Ward, Mike Yastrzemski, Oneil Cruz (not exactly a help at OBP, but he’s not Mendoza-line bad and steals bases)

SS: Jeremy Pena, Willy Adames, Mookie Betts (I think he could rebound as he played thru whatever illness cause him to lose his power before the Japan series)

2B: Brendan Donovan, Jose Altuve

RULE 5 DRAFT CUTS

Before the FYPD, the teams create a 35-player protected list of their major league and minor league players. During the season the rosters will have 28 MLB players and 25 MiLB players, so this is a chance to add your favorite sleeper or pillage teams with too much depth at a particular position.

With the hole at 3B, this could be a solution if he can’t work a trade. Or a short-term fix at SP, maybe an older arm who still gets solid K/9 output is sitting out there like a Joe Musgrove.

The sacrifice for each player is the lowest remaining draft pick. For Colin’s team, he has two firsts and a 3rd for the 3-round draft. So adding one player from another team would cost a 3rd round pick (11th overall).

TRADES

Here are some interesting possible trades that fit the desire to improve the 2026 outcome (finished 10th in 2025 after getting to 4th at the All-Star Break), while keeping the players young enough to grow with the impressive prospects.

Trade Brandon Lowe and Nick Morabito for Jeremy Pena and Caleb Durbin.

Lowe is flying off Fantrax boards at pick 64 and Morabito was one of the hot-hitting Arizona Fall League prospects. Pena, despite a great season, is still hanging on in the drafts until 128 and Durbin, one of the stars of the 2024 AFL season, fills the need at 3B. This is a good sell high scenario for Lowe, while also improving the SS role in the short term as you wait for Jesus Made.

Trade Seiya Suzuki and George Lombard Jr. OR Bryce Rainer for Edwin Uceta, Jeremiah Estrada and Kerry Carpenter

I think building a strong bullpen will be important to improving this team in the standings. I really like these two young (both 27) arms. Suzuki is coming off a great season. If the Carpenter owner is tired of him constantly being limited to 2-3 at bats for lefty vs. lefty situations or being benched altogether, they may be ready for something much more reliable. The ADP difference for Suzuki and Carpenter is about 135 spots at Fantrax. I would rather move Lombard than Rainer at this time.

FIRST YEAR PLAYER DRAFT

This will be a better than average season for selecting power college arms. The only question is whether one makes it to the second half of the first round, where Colin has two picks. As a Red Sox fan, Colin was a big fan of Jon Lester and got to see him up close at Fenway Park when a seemingly too-good-to-be-true ticket scalper opportunity turned out to be right on the mark.

That said, I think Colin would be excited to see former Florida State lefty Jaime Arnold, who’s fastball sits around 92-94 just like Lester, sitting there when he picks.

If somehow Andrew Fischer or Ethan Conrad slip through, either one of those potential power bats would be very interesting additions to this team’s group of prospects.

I’ll have more on this series coming soon.

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This is part of a post series that John Allen is writing. He had dynasty owners with clunker (or not) teams send in the details on their leagues and teams. Below, John offers some advice on how to start righting the ship.

One of the most difficult things in dynasty baseball is keeping the league together. Over time it is natural for the gap to grow between the haves and the have nots as each owner’s level of dedication to the game and league wanes.

This winter I took over an orphaned team that finished 16th out of 25 teams. I got a little lucky and swung some key deals to win the league in the final week. By the end of October, 11 of the 25 owners left the league, and we are wondering if there will be a 2026 season for this league.

When I started this pimping of dynasty teams I wasn’t expecting league winners to be in the mix. But more than 10 percent of the teams were league winners, including Arlen.

Arlen took a team that was in the dumps three years ago, and built a league winner with Bobby Witt Jr. being the centerpiece of his team.

In a 12-team head-to-head deep categories league (10 categories each for hitting and pitching), to contend for the title is a little bit of luck with hot streaks at the right time. The twist for this league is, no waiver wire pickups throughout the season and the categories reward counting stats much more than averages (17-3). So you also need to prioritize health, age, and mixing prospects with MLB starters.

As someone who played in college – he is Baseball-Reference.com official – Arlen is rooted in analytics. He uses ATC, OOPSY, Steamer, Z-Score, and Bat X. But also keeps an eye on who’s working out at Driveline (Jo Adell, Matt Carpenter) and Tread (Josh Hader, Cole Ragans, Mitch Keller), as those two have a history of successful growth.

After winning the league, Arlen is wrestling with blowing it up for another challenge or continuing to build on the league’s best roster.

What I’m going to challenge Arlen to do is to fight off the urge to win, and make moves that will keep the league healthy and his enjoyment of it last longer. Some long-term health trims now could keep his team competitive and other owners active. That would be the ultimate win-win.

So, building from that base idea, here are some of my thoughts.

ROSTER DROPS

With a 40-player roster and no pickups, minimizing injury and prioritizing age will be some of the drivers for these cuts.

For hitters, I would drop Paul Goldschmidt, MJ Melendez, Tyler O’Neill, and Adolis Garcia or Jake Burger. If Garcia lands on a team where he has a starting role and it’s a good place for him to hit, then keep him (update: Adolis Garcia lands in a pretty good spot in Philly). If Burger is missing because of injuries in spring training, drop him. Because with Bryce Harper starting at 1B, you need a good backup.

For pitchers, Kutter Crawford’s wrist injury is too big of a question mark to keep him around. Also dropping, Kevin Ginkel, Tyler Holton (I understand the SP/RP appeal, but hoping to find that elsewhere), and Chris Martin (always hurt).

ROSTER ADDS

Adding hitters with a couple of positions is going to be important. If there is value, having three catchers should be a priority, and if one of those catchers has another position (i.e. Dalton Rushing) even better.

Having at least 10 starting pitchers, especially without waiver wire pickups, is going to be important. In a 12-team league, that should account for all of the No. 1-4 starters in the MLB.

Stocking the team with up to eight relievers (especially if you can find one or two who can also be SP) will add some certainty to the bullpen.

Finding 2-4 prospects with potential helium (like you did with Sebastian Walcott and Konnor Griffin last year) will be the focus of the FYPD. Those prospects will either be building blocks for the future or trade chips for the deadline. Check out the 2026 Prospect Preview Podcasts for more ideas on who to draft: https://www.mlbdatawarehouse.com/p/2026-prospect-preview-podcasts

TRADE IDEAS

I’m looking for sell-high opportunities that will again minimize injuries and maybe get your team a little younger for the 2026 season.

1. Deal a World Series hero
   The Dodgers abused Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the World Series, and maybe the entire playoffs. Pitchers generally struggle after a World Series run and I’m guessing Yamamoto is going to be on the IL for at least part of 2026. Now you are not going to give him away, but since you are in a head-to-head league, having pitchers with known home field advantages is going to be huge. If you could flip Yamamoto for George Kirby (plus something else good) or straight-up for Logan Gilbert, that feels like a solid deal.

2. Take advantage of your catcher depth
   I am a huge Drake Baldwin fan. I drafted him third overall (before Nick Kuntz) in the one FYPD that he was available last year. So take this with a grain of salt. But Cal Raleigh will never be worth more than this offseason. In the two previous seasons, he has had injuries (thumb and hand) that slowed his bat. It is likely to happen again. Although I know the Braves are not going to give Baldwin the full-time catcher job, he’s going to get DH time, especially with Acuna healthier and back in RF. And that’s actually a better thing for Baldwin, because that will keep his bat fresher. Now, I’m only dealing Raleigh for a younger likely first-rounder for the next 5-6 years. Do you think the owner of Kuntz would swap him for Raleigh and Bryce Harper? If they are in rebuild mode, probably not. But if they were close to winning last year and are weak at catcher, you might have a chance to pull that off.

3. Get out before the end
   George Springer and Seiya Suzuki are coming off near-career seasons. Springer will be 37 before the end of next season and Suzuki will be 32. The end of great seasons are getting closer. For Springer, especially after the extended playing in the postseason, I doubt he will exceed those 2025 numbers ever again. With Luis Robert and Ceddanne Rafaela as replacements on the current roster, possibly making a deal for a future CF would make sense. In terms of potential costs, San Diego’s Jackson Merrill is a potential target with likely the highest cost. Until he hit seven HRs in Sept., Merrill was looking like a potential buy low candidate for 2026. He may not be anymore, which leads to the next potential target, Michael Harris II of the Braves. As an owner of Harris since his prospect days, I might want to get off this roller coaster. If the owner in your league feels the same, buying high on the 24-year-old may not be the craziest idea. Next on the target list is Chandler Simpson. Jon Anderson just wrote about Simpson, who can win the stolen bases category each week by himself. But will he continue to be a centerfielder? You could also use a leftfielder, so it’s not the end of the world if he no longer is a CF. You are committing to finding power at all the other positions with this move. And in the buy low category are two young players – Colton Cowser and Brenton Doyle. Cowser broke two ribs on June 12 and had an unusually high strikeout rate and sub-Mendoza level BA the rest of the year. He could bounce back into 25-25 category with health. Doyle also struggled (.233 BA in 2025), but also made himself a known quantity (.306 BA at home in 2025, which followed a .313 home BA in 2024). You know when Doyle will hit, so with daily lineup changes, take advantage of that.

4. Middle is boring, but of core importance
   At this point in his career, we know who Alex Bregman is. He is .350 OBP, 20-24 HR, 85 runs, 80 RBI, and a couple of steals. He is Mr. 120 wRC+. And that’s really good. But it’s not great. And at 31+, it’s not likely to get better. Winning in head-to-head categories can be more about hot streaks at the right time than consistent numbers. The roster already has two replacement level 3B in Eugenio Suarez (especially if he gets back to a good hitters’ park for a home) and Carlos Correa. I’d love to replace Bregman, but third base is a difficult position to find a ready-made star in 2026. But your team also needs core pieces that can deliver known results each week. So holding onto Bregman, unless you get a Godfather offer, makes sense this season.

5. Position flexibility is underrated

   One of my struggles with trading Springer is he is eligible at all three outfield positions. When you are playing in a LF, CF, RF league, that can be very important. I like having 2B/SS combo players, so while Bryson Stott is not a top performer, having him available for replacement-level performances in a pinch can be season-saving.

So what would you do? Run it back to try for another title? Blow it up for a rebuild? Or this?

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Relevant Links

• MLB Data Warehouse App (limited to paid subs, password is here)

• Buy Tim’s Full Prospect Package

  • Full Prospect Ranks (750+ players ranked)

    • Sortable/Searchable by team & position

    • Full fScores included for every player

  • 3-year and 5-year Dynasty Ranks

    • Perfect for short-term and long-term planning in Dynasty Leagues

  • 2026 Redraft Rankings (prospects included)

  • First Year Player Draft Rankings for 2026

A lot of people will be turning the page back to fantasy baseball soon. Welcome back! If you haven’t been paying attention to MLB Data Warehouse since October, first of all, I don’t blame you, but second of all, you have missed a lot!

Tim Kanak (@fantasyaceball on X) has joined the team. He’s a prospect guru who spends as much time as anybody analyzing, scouting, ranking, and writing up prospect content. He’s been leading the charge on going through each team’s top 20 prospects in long-form podcast form. That series is wrapping up soon, and when it does wrap up, we’ll have talked about more than 600 prospects. I didn’t even know there were that many.

What we’re announcing today is his full top 150 prospects with scores and full written analysis on each player. And this is where the beauty of the partnership comes. With my coding abilities, I’ve got the fScores automatically calculating for in-season updates, and I have a page ready to roll on the web app that displays the top 150 along with all of the grades and blurbs. Here’s what it looks like for Tim’s #1 guy, Konnor Griffin:

You can also click the “View full scouting report” button for full analysis from Tim:

So it’s that times 150. It’s incredible work, and now more easily and pleasantly digestible than ever before.

Paid subs can access it right now by loading up the web app. The link to the app is in the Resource Glossary, which you can access by clicking that link, or by hitting the link in the navigation bar if you’re on a PC (I’d keep it bookmarked; there are a lot of important links in there).

After you load the app, you’ll be asked for a password, which is given to you in the Resource Glossary. That password will be changing from time to time, so if you ever have trouble with it, check the resource glossary again for the update (it changed recently on December 20th; you may have already noticed, so check that Resource Glossary page for the new one).

A couple of helpful tips on the app if you’re using a mobile phone. You’ll want to set the theme to light mode for it to be fully readable, and you’ll also want to know that you have to click the » in the top left to show the links to other pages, which doesn’t show up automatically on a phone screen.

Full Prospect Package

All of the above is available for all paid subscribers. We’re all selling Tim’s full prospect package for $29.99. The link and explanation of that is at the top of this post. You can purchase and download the files instantly and be ready to dominate your dynasty leagues today.

I personally (this is Jon writing) would love to generate some big sales numbers for Tim here. He’s been a huge addition to MLB DW without me being able to offer him much financial compensation. 100% of the profits go to Tim on this. He’s been grinding prospect content like few others do for years now, so I think it’s time he gets a nice payday for it!

Reminder About the Prospect Dashboard

Another extremely useful resource for dynasty/prospect people is the Prospect Analysis Tableau Dashboard.

A version of his has been available for two years now, but it’s been given a big facelift this offseason. Tim’s fScores are there, as well as other custom (and better!) stats which I’ll summarize below.

Hitter Metrics

The first thing you see is the fScores. Those are on a scale where 100 is the league average. Anything exceeding 120 is elite, anything below 80 is a real problem. The min-max is generally 50-150. And we combine them all with a weighted scale to come up with the overall Grade (that’s the 113 in Griffin’s case).

The last box is what we call Adjusted wRC+. What it does is find a wRC+ type value that adjusts for league and age. So a guy playing a year or two below the average age for a given level is boosted for being young, and vice versa. You had Griffin playing in AA as a 19-year-old last year, 2+ years below the typical age for that level. That boosts his profile, as it should.

Another custom stat you’ll find for minor league hitters is XBH+. This is another “100 is average” scale with a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 50. But it’s not only looking at home run production, but overall extra base hit production. And it adjusts for league, because power production varies pretty wildly in the minors depending on what league & level you’re talking about.

This stat is also on the main “Hitter Data” leaderboard:

Pitcher Metrics

Let’s take a look at Tim’s top pitching prospect, Chase Burns to get us started on this side of the ball:

The fScores are in the middle there. They are broken up by:

• fStuff: Has to do with strikeout ability

• fControl: Limiting walks, getting ahead in counts

• fERA: A bit of the first two, but also heavily considering home run suppression ability

• fDurability: Ability to stay off the injured list

• Grade: A weighted mix of all four of those

You also have JA ERA on the dashboard, which you can consider to be SIERA. So it’s more reliable ERA indicator for minor leaguers is always a tough thing to do. That will correlate pretty well with fERA, they’re both driving at the same thing.

You’ll also get the pitch mix data where it’s available, which is still only AAA and A+ Florida State League, but we’re hoping to get that data for every minor league game in 2026.

You can find the fScore grades all together on the Hitter Grading and Pitcher Grades tab on that dashboard, and there are more than a dozen other pages on there (and new ones are being added all the time) with minor league data that is hard to find elsewhere.

The preseason and in-season Dynasty content is going to keep flowing; we’re nowhere near done. Tim has a ton of stuff coming, and he’ll be doing in-season weekly articles and podcasts.

And that’s just the prospect side. I am planning on adding on a bunch of stuff on the redraft/MLB side as well. MLB Data Warehouse is going to the next level in 2026, so become a paid subscriber to come along for the ride!

Subscribe now