Earlier this week, I rolled out my top 400 players for 2019 fantasy baseball redraft leagues. Those drafts are still a few weeks away, but those of you in dynasty have drafts starting any day now. I know some of you are psychos, like myself, who play in extraordinarily deep leagues so I figured it couldn’t hurt to just extend my list out to 1,000 players. This list includes about 400 prospects including high schoolers, 15-year-olds in the Dominican Republic and superstars in Japan in case your league allows for all of that. If you want to see the prospects only, I’ve got that for you here. With all that said, before we get to the rankings I’m going to breakdown five players that I’ve been getting a lot of questions on for dynasty leagues this preseason.
Vlad Guerrero Jr. (3B – TOR) “Just how high should I take Vlad?”, “Would I be crazy to take him in the first round?” I’ve seen these a dozen times in the past week! The answer may surprise you, but I’ve already got him in my top five overall for dynasty leagues. Ronald Acuna may have posted a remarkable rookie campaign, but if he were still a prospect, he’d take a backseat to Vlad, who just so happens to be the best prospect since Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. His minor league production measures up well versus all-time greats like Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera. He truly is that good so don’t hesitate to grab him after Trout, Betts, Arenado and Jose Ramirez in your dynasty start-ups.
Earlier this week, I rolled out my top 400 players for 2019 fantasy baseball redraft leagues. Those drafts are still a few weeks away, but those of you in dynasty have drafts starting any day now. I know some of you are psychos, like myself, who play in extraordinarily deep leagues so I figured it couldn’t hurt to just extend my list out to 1,000 players. This list includes about 400 prospects including high schoolers, 15-year-olds in the Dominican Republic and superstars in Japan in case your league allows for all of that. If you want to see the prospects only, I’ve got that for you here. With all that said, before we get to the rankings I’m going to breakdown five players that I’ve been getting a lot of questions on for dynasty leagues this preseason.
Vlad Guerrero Jr. (3B – TOR) “Just how high should I take Vlad?”, “Would I be crazy to take him in the first round?” I’ve seen these a dozen times in the past week! The answer may surprise you, but I’ve already got him in my top five overall for dynasty leagues. Ronald Acuna may have posted a remarkable rookie campaign, but if he were still a prospect, he’d take a backseat to Vlad, who just so happens to be the best prospect since Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. His minor league production measures up well versus all-time greats like Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera. He truly is that good so don’t hesitate to grab him after Trout, Betts, Arenado and Jose Ramirez in your dynasty start-ups.
Shohei Ohtani (DH/SP – LAA) I’d be willing to wager that if I were in a dynasty start-up, I’d be the one that landed Ohtani since I have him ranked so high. At #34 on my big board, he comes in ahead of players like Gleyber Torres, Rhys Hoskins and Ozzie Albies. Yeah, I’m a huge believer! Why wouldn’t you be when you’ve got a 24-year-old pitcher with a better k-rate than Luis Severino and Stephen Strasburg? Not only that, but there is room for more once he gets healthy. We could be talking about the best pitcher in baseball two years from now. Add on the fact that his bat was every bit as good as former MVP candidate, Hideki Matsui in Japan at a much younger age and you’ve got to be licking your chops. His full-season pace last year at the plate was 34 homers, 16 steals, 95 RBIs, 92 runs and a .285 BA. That is a second-round value, friends, and he hasn’t hit his prime nor had a chance to focus entirely on hitting.
Rafael Devers (3B – BOS) If it weren’t for Vlad Jr, Eloy Jimenez would be the top prospect in baseball. He is one month older than Devers, who has already compiled 31 homers in 179 MLB games. He may have struggled last year, but let’s not forget that when Alex Bregman was his age, he hadn’t even been drafted yet. Devers is a former top prospect and while you may have been disappointed by his performance last year, that type of production is light years ahead of the best 21-year-old sluggers in the world. Don’t give up on him if you own him, and if you don’t, you might want to reach out to his owner in case you can get a discount.
Julio Urias (SP – LAD) Like Devers above, Urias is the classic example of a post-hype dynasty value. There is almost no chance that Urias will make the rotation, needing to beat out two of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling, who were all terrific last season. More likely, he slowly ramps back up in the bullpen this year then finds his way into the rotation at some point next year. That’s too slow for you? Just remember that spring he’ll be younger than Walker Buehler when he made his debut last year. Randy Johnson was walking 128 batters in 140 innings in Double-A as a 22-year-old and Corey Kluber carried a 6.01 ERA in Single-A. There is plenty of time for him to realize his absurd potential and become one of the best pitchers in baseball. It isn’t as though he has lost his top-of-the-rotation stuff. Urias did strike out 14.9 batters per nine innings last year. That is Edwin Diaz territory for those of you wondering.
Dinelson Lamet (SP – SD) Last year I was shouting from the rooftops to draft four pitchers: Mike Clevinger, Blake Snell, Trevor Bauer and Lamet. I don’t need to tell you that the first three turned out great. That really isn’t the point of this. Rather, it is that Lamet belongs in the conversation with those studs. Don’t get too excited, as he won’t be back until July or August this year and when he returns, it may not be roses right away. You can bet I’ll be begging people to draft him this time next year, however, because he has the makings of a true ace. Remember back to last year when his K% as a rookie was higher than James Paxton and Justin Verlander. His batting average against trumped Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale. The kid is absolutely unhittable so don’t miss out on owning him if you can find a way to get your hands on him this off-season.
