2009 Fantasy Baseball Minor League Prospects
Last month, we analyzed the fantasy implications related to the current crop of major league award winners.
Because its never too early to look at prospects for next season, let’s consider four young guns who might come in under the radar in your league next season. Even though they might be under the radar, you should still keep your eye on them for next year.
For those fantasy owners that want to get a jump on who some of those award winners may be next year, they need look no further than the 2008 Minor League award winners. Some of these players will battle for Rookie of the Year consideration in 2009, and all could be great late-round sleepers.
Nelson Cruz, OF, Texas Rangers
Cruz won the Triple-A Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player award in 2008. Playing for Oklahoma, the AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers, Cruz went crazy at the plate this past season.
Cruz hit .342 with 37 homers and 99 runs batted in. He is 28 years old and he will have to battle for time in the crowded Rangers outfield, but he has shown signs of success. At the end of 2008, Texas promoted him to the big leagues, and he hit .330 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs in only 115 at bats.
Lou Montanez, OF, Baltimore Orioles
Lou Montanez won the Double-A Eastern League Player of the Year award playing for the Bowie Baysox in the Orioles organization. Montanez won the Eastern League triple crown, leading the league with 26 homers, 97 runs batted in, and a .335 average.
He saw some time with Baltimore later in the year and hit .295 with three bombs and 14 ribbies in 112 at bats. Keep Montanez in mind next year.
Matt Wieters, Catcher, Baltimore Orioles
Another Oriole farmhand didn’t play enough at any particular level to garner any hardware, but he could be the 2009 version of Cubs Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto. Matt Wieters split time almost evenly between Class-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie.
He combined to hit .355 with 27 home runs, 91 runs batted in and 89 runs scored in his fist season in professional baseball. Expect Wieters to see plenty of time behind the plate for the Orioles in 2009 and be among the top vote getters for 2009 AL Rookie of the Year.
Vince Mazzaro, Pitcher, Oakland Athletics
The Double-A Texas League Pitcher of the Year Award went to Vince Mazzaro. Mazzaro toiled much of the year for Midland in the Oakland system. That’s right. It appears as if Oakland has produced another young talented pitcher.
Mazzaro went 12-3 with a microscopic 1.90 ERA in 137 innings with Midland. He struck out 104 and allowed 1.10 baserunners per inning. Mazzaro made six starts in Triple-A with varying success and may not see the majors until mid-summer. Still, fantasy owners should remember the name.
December 8th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Thats it??? Good job posting a bunch of well known prospects. Anyone could tell you about those guys, find some real sleepers.
December 8th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Just because a name is commonplace does not mean that a player is going to excel in fantasy in their first year.
I’m sure anyone could have told you about Edinson Volquez who went 14-2 with a 2.55 ERA in Double-A and Triple-A in 2007, but did anyone draft him in 2008 fantasy? Nope. Geovany Soto was drafted in approximately round 16-20 in fantasy leagues, and people had certainly heard of him.
The idea of this article is two-fold: (1) to highlight minor league stars to fantasy baseball owners who are not ardent followers of the Bush Leagues and (2) to predict what prospects we think could have fantasy value in 2009 instead of being the next big-name, no-game guy, like a Homer Bailey.
I guarantee there will be a number of fantasy owners who will have wished that they would have drafted Matt Wieters instead of passing on him a dozen or more times.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
nice response dan. full disclosure - i bailed on geovany soto last season before the games started in one league, and paid for it down the line.
December 10th, 2008 at 9:33 am
There’s no such thing as a “sleeper”. I dont know what Nate wants some “sleeper” from South America that some secret double agent flew down and scouted? Anyone who researches fantasy baseball/sports knows everyone who has the potential to be drafted late and produce major value.
Good post, i see big things from wieters, possibly SOTO type production, i’d have to say a bit less, SOTO had a monster year for a rookie catcher…. Which i took in the 13th round in my league because like i said “there are no sleepers” you take those types of names early or you’re not getting them…. Josh Hamilton went in the 7th round in my league…
P.S. I would have drafted Volquez or Cueto because I knew about BOTH of them, but YAHOO did not have them in the system yet! Luckily they loaded VOLQUEZ first and I burned my waiver priority before he pitched a game just because I wanted both. I think I got the better of the two, at least for the first half of last years fantasy season.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:52 am
we just booked dan a flight to the dominican republic, where he should become a full-time scout for FBD. that way, there’s no doubt we will actually start producing fantasy baseball sleepers for all the experts. believe it or not, a lot of people that play fantasy baseball turn it off in their brains from september - february, and pay no attention to the minor leagues. we’re not those kinda guys, but surely some people will read this and not be familiar with these prospects.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Dashing Dan-Are you serious? You think NO ONE drafted Volquez last year? I was in auctions where he went for $14 bucks! I don’t know what leagues you were in, but unless they were a 6 team league there was no excuse for not taking Volquez in a draft. Plus, if you did your homework you would know that Volquez could NOT be on this type of list last year anyway. He was not considered a rookie.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:21 am
$14 for Volquez last season? Was this an NL-only prospects league, or a league that started in June? By May, he was 95% owned in leagues that I have research on. Remember, Volquez was the no. 5 starter on the REDS when the season started. If Bronson Arroyo wasn’t drafted in most mixed leagues last year, I can’t imagine people actually drafting Volquez. Bum rushing the waiver wire to add Volquez, sure, but drafting him? C’mon. You are right about the whole rookie thing, but Volquez did get votes for NL ROY - so if the “experts” who vote for postseason awards thought he was a rookie, you can’t blame us for thinking the same.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Volquez’s name came up near the end of our NL only league auction in 2008–10 or 11 teams, went for $12. Probably would have been lower if his name had been put out earlier.