Fantasy Baseball Today - 2026 Top Shortstop Prospects & The Latest Moves! (12/9 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

Before we get to shortstop prospects, let's recap the latest moves! First up, Emilio Pagan is back with the Reds (4:58). ... Anthony Kay is returning from Japan and has signed with the White Sox (8:28). ... JOSE FERRERRRR was traded to the Mariners for Harry Ford (11:01). ... Cedric Mullins is headed to the Rays and Michael Soroka to the Dbacks (15:10). ... We had some smaller moves with Johan Oviedo traded The Password (20:12). ... Let's get into the top shortstop prospects, starting with Konnor Griffin of the Pirates (30:27). ... Kevin McGonigle took home AFL MVP (36:26). ... Jesus Made has loud tools but is far away (41:02). ... JJ Wetherholt should be up on Opening Day (43:15). ... Leo De Vries got even better with the A's (49:32). ... Colt Emerson will get a real shot during spring training (52:41). ... Sebastian Walcott is an interesting one (56:03). ... Aidan Miller stole a ton of bags in 2025 (1:01:30). ... We wrap up with Eli Willits of the Nationals and Bryce Rainer of the Tigers (1:03:10). Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. When might we see Connor Griffin up with the Pirates? I don't know. Let's discuss.

Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, December 9th. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we are starting up a two-week look at Scott's top prospect rankings. Today, we are starting with short stops. That's right. Only shortstop prospects. There are so many interesting shortstop to talk about. That's half the prospects, Frank.

Yeah, they are. Cover half of them today. And there are so few interesting prospects. Because at the other endfield positions, those guys are all shortstops coming up anyway, right? And so these guys are all going to move off shortstop at some point. Yeah, well, that's part of, I've been writing these prospect rank lists, I don't know, a dozen years at least. And it's been, you know, when it first started shortstop prospects, it was about as well represented as any other position. But it's become, it's come to take on a greater and greater percentage of the pool of interesting prospects to the point now.

I was stretching to get to 10 at the other positions, first base, third base even, and shortstop. It's like, gosh, I'm not sure 25 is enough to really get a good sense of what's out there at this position. And so part of it is, is, yes, these aren't all going to be short stops, but that was always true with shortstop prospects. It was always true. They just get moved off earlier now. They try to keep them at that more premium.

position until they outgrow it. And so I think teams have more patience for letting them work through issues there now than they used to. And also, there's just much better hitters there to begin with. Yeah. It's just honestly, much better athletes in Major League Baseball. Like just, I think the number of guys who can physically handle shortstop is just way higher now.

I think the level of athleticism is just outrageous too. And then you also have. have situations like C.J. Adams has been, C.J. Abrams has been mentioned in a lot of trade rumors lately. He's a shortstop. It's probably not really a shortstop at this point. Kind of. Yeah. Like, if you're trading for C.J. Abrams, you're probably doing so to fill a whole at second base or you believe he can play center field. Plus, you know. I think another reason teams might keep them there longer too. Probably just helps with trade value, too. I mean, I know for Boba Shed, right, I'm sure he's marketing himself as a shortstop in free agency so he can get more money.

when realistically he's probably not going to play a shortstop. Maybe not at all, with whatever team he signs with. So we will see. The winter meetings are up and running, but there's not really much on that front to talk about. There have been a lot of moves in the past week or so. We last podcasted last Tuesday night, and a lot has happened since then.

So we'll start there. We'll get those out of the way. Then we will focus on the shortstop prospects. And first up, the Reds re-signed Emilio Pagan to a two-year $20 million deal. seems like an ideal landing spot for his fantasy value. He had a great season, and we know Terry Francona already trusts him as the closer. 32 saves, 288 ERA, 0.92 whip. There have been three NFBC drafts completed from December 4th on,

so that's once people knew he was back in Cincinnati, and the ADP is 100.3. So that is a very small sample size of drafts going just ahead of Trevor McGill, Jeff Hoffman, Kenley Jansen. So Scott, your thoughts on, Pagan back to the Reds and where he might rank in your closer rankings. You said going ahead of just ahead of which three? Trevor McGill, Jeff Hoffman, Kenley Jansen.

Well, certainly two of those have, I guess all three of those have questions about whether or not they're going to be their team's closer. The one I was feeling a little more optimistic about is Jeff Hoffman. But I guess the Blue Jays have at least raised the question there. So I don't know that Paghan will always. rank ahead of that trio as the offseason continues to play out. I will quote myself from the last time we podcasted. My guest today is that Pagan does not sign as a closer. So that's already been proven wrong.

I think the best way to ensure he will remain a closer is by returning him to the team that used him as a closer. I was betting against Pagan all of last year. And he ended up getting the last laugh. He ended up holding on to that role all season, got 32 saves, 288 ERA. But as we also talked about the last time we talked about Emilio Pagan, it was only the second time in six years he had an ERA below 440. He was as home or prone as he always is,

which you would think would be a disaster given where the Reds play their home games. And he was much more vulnerable at home. If you look at the home away splits, a lot of what carried the ERA was the away number. But any way you look at it, and you could look at FIP, you could look at X-FIP, you could look at the ERA estimators and see, okay, yeah, but gone probably overperformed. And beyond just overperforming, I think there's still the potential for disaster here, given how Homer Proney is, given how Homer-friendly that park is. He does have a pretty clear claim to the closer role right now, yes, but so. sort of like we were saying for Carlos Estevez last time we talked.

It's he may just not be good enough to hold on to it. Just because he was this past year doesn't mean that will remain so. I don't think there were substantial enough gains there in terms of ability to convince me, Emilio Pagons, a different pitcher. I will just say I think I do like him more than Carlos Estevez. I mean, the underlying numbers, while he probably did over. achieve, Emilio Pagan, they're still better than Carlos Estavis, right? It's like well over a strikeout per inning, lots of swinging strikes, fastball velocity was up last year. So I share some of the

same concerns being a flyball pitcher in Cincinnati. He's probably more of a closer two on your fantasy team than your closer one. Maybe in a deeper league you wait a little bit, but should be the closer on opening day. We'll see how long Emilio Paghan can hold on to that with the Cincinnati Reds. Next up, we had the White Sox who signed Anthony K to a two-year 12th. million dollar deal. Who is Anthony K? Well, he is returning to the majors after a two-year-stint in in Japan. 30-year-old lefty, a former first-round pick way back in 2016, coming off the season in Japan with a 174 ERA, a 0.98 whip, only 7.6K per 9, but that came with a 56% ground ball rate, and he threw a good amount of innings. It was 155 innings in the NPB this past season.

Chris, we were talking beforehand. You either just finished up or, you know, published, an article looking at some of these players. Do you have any interest in Anthony K as a late round sleeper next year? I think only in 15 team leagues. You know, when you look at him compared to Cody Ponce, certainly, Cody Ponce had an elite strikeout rate. Obviously, playing a lower level of competition, certainly than the majors, even lower than what Anthony K was facing in Japan.

But I haven't seen much indication that Anthony K is like a dramatically different pitcher. than he was when he was a pretty fringy guy in Toronto's system. The 174 ERA is obviously very good. Last season, even for Japan. It's about a run and a quarter better. But he was a below average pitcher in 2024. There's very few strikeouts here. I'm not saying these guys can't, or this guy specifically can't find success.

But I don't see much to be excited about. I think in terms of the people, the players coming over from mostly Japan, but also one guy from Korea. I think there's four guys worth being excited about. We talked about Cody Ponce last week. I think he's on the lower end of that excitability, but I think he's higher than Anthony K. Or Ryan Weiss, who signed, who I'm sure will mention, or maybe not. I don't know. I haven't looked at the rest of the rundown.

And then there's Tatsuya I and Munataka Marakami and Kazumakami and Kazuma. Okomato? Okamoto. Okamoto. Those guys are all those guys should all be drafted, I think, into 12-team Roto League. I don't think Anthony K. needs to be. Yeah, he might work his way into streamer territory. The

updated White Sox rotation. Not great, but I guess they're working on it. Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, Anthony K., Jonathan Cannon, as of Tuesday, December 9th. They do have a bunch of pitching prospects on the way. Perhaps we see some of those names in the second half

of 2026. The Mariners acquired Jose Ferrer in exchange for catcher prospect Harry Ford. A little bit upset because I won't be able to say Jose Ferrer's name as much anymore. But expected to be a setup man, so I don't really think we're going to get many saves out of him. Perhaps a lot of holds. So for the play in saves plus holds leagues, I think the more interesting side of this is getting Harry Ford over to the nationals. This season in the minors hit 283, 16 homer, seven steals, 868 OPS at AAA. Scott, there's great OBP here. Interesting athleticism from a catcher.

Does he take over as the starter? That I'm not exactly sure of. Does he just split time with Caber Ruiz? I don't know. Caber Ruiz is locked up for a long time. Yeah. Through 2030 with two team options after that. But he just missed most of this past.

season with a serious concussion issue. And he's been pretty bad offensively the last two years, like his production, which was never great in the first place, but it's fallen off since signing that deal. So I think there's definitely room here for Harry Ford to overtake him, certainly much more than there was in Seattle. I got to feel like if I'm the Mariners fan is a pretty underwhelming return for what was probably your best trade asset, knowing Harry Ford was blocked by Cal but has been widely regarded as one of the top catcher prospects since he was drafted in 2021.

Jose Ferre, yeah, he was closing for the nationals at the end of the last season. Yeah, he throws hard, gets ground balls at a good rate. Hasn't actually performed that well. And, you know, obviously, as you said, loses all his fantasy value. But Ford got a look in the majors at the end of last season. seems like he's ready to at least compete for a spot on the Nationals roster and definitely more exciting than Ruiz. You mentioned the walk rate for his minor league career.

It's a 405 on base percentage 408 last year. He doesn't have a lot of raw power, not great exit velocity readings, but it plays pretty well to his pulse side. I think he could approach 20 homers as a starting catcher. And he's been a big base dealer in the past. It was only seven this past year. It was 35 the year before. He had an injury last year.

I'm not sure what it was, but yeah, he played through something early on in the season. Right. So I think he could catchers who steal bases, they don't usually steal bases for long. But I think early in Harry Ford's career, he could be at least a useful contributor of those. I think it could be like an Augustine Ramirez level of stolen bases. He was a much more prolific base dealer than Ramirez and the minors. But, you know, 15 to 20, I think that's reasonable. Catcher is so deep right now that I don't think even at two catcher leagues,

Harry Ford is on the radar to be drafted yet. But if he starts making noise this spring, he could move into that top 24, maybe even borderline top 20 range at the position. Who will pick up saves for the nationals? No clue. Looks like Cole Henry. Clayton Beater for now, unless they signed somebody. And their new manager, Blake Butera, came over from the raise.

So perhaps they just kind of mix and match, closer by committee, whatever it might be. One of those two guys can emerge. Again, they could sign somebody and then look to flip that guy at the deadline. But maybe they bring back Finnegan. Just keep playing the hits. Yeah, I guess that's a possibility. Do you guys have a lean on Cole Henry or Clayton Beater right now? I'm not going to express an opinion about the Nationals closer.

on December. Yeah, I just think it's not on the roster. Yeah, I think it's unlikely to be, yeah. I'm not expecting a huge investment there, but I think they'll want somebody who doesn't drive their rookie manager into an early grave. We had two one-year deals as well.

The race signed Cedric Mullins to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027. The D-Backs signed Michael Soroka to a one-year deal. Rasta Resource has Soroka in the rotation. I read an article on MLB.com that made it sound like the plan is to use him in the rotation, but he also just has not been able to stay healthy or give a decent amount of innings. So, Chris, any late round interest in that Cedric Mullins or Michael Soroku? No, I think the Cedric Mullins signing is more interesting for what it might portend for the rest of the outfield

because there was a quote from earlier in the off season. I'm completely blanking on the guy who runs the raise now. but he was talking about the outfield and how, you know, they, they view Johnny DeLuca as a big part of their outfield plans. And I know Rastor Resource has Johnny DeLuca going to the bench. They really like his defense. So if Cedric Mullins is like a part-time player in center field, you know, maybe he just doesn't play against lefties.

He's been really bad against them the last few years. And then maybe it solves itself. But is it possible he's a. platoon option i don't i guess not right with since simpson and josh low are both lefties as well yeah it doesn't and jake frailey who they have as a lefty so i don't i don't really know what the the raise plan for the outfield is right now i was thinking this might like harm maybe run some risk for josh low or more for our purposes chandler simpson but i guess i don't know how that would work unless Chandler Simpson just it gives them another alternative of Chanders

Simpson just isn't getting the job done well I mean Johnny DeLuca may be a big part of their outfield plans but that I don't know that that means he's like a primary well no but they were talking about the way it was talked about was like he was like a key part but yeah because he's a right-handed hitter it would make sense for him to kind of pair with one of those three lefty and handed hitters in the outfield. And I don't think he's very good. I mean, I'm not Eric Neander.

I would hire him to run a baseball team over me. But yeah, I don't really see it for DeLuca. And obviously, we've seen much more useful contributions from Mullins, Josh Lowe, and Chandler Simpson in the past. But either way, either way, I think we can assume Cedric Mullins is not going to get the playing time with the race that we've known him to get previously. He's not, he's not quite the defensive standout in centerfield that he was in his prime with the Orioles.

And that saved him from platoon roles in the past. I don't know that he's going to get that same benefit with the race. I think the outfield is just a little muddy there right now. And hopefully we got a little more clarity because I think I'm thinking about it from Chandler Simpson's perspective just because. Because he is really interesting for fantasy. Scott, I don't know where you've ranked him overall. I've had a hard time figuring out where to put Chandler Simpson.

Because he's such an obvious standout in two categories. And also might not actually be like a very good baseball player for a raised team that is presumably trying to win games. And so I can see a little role where he's not playing every day. 39th of my roto outfield rankings, which I think is, I think is lower than the consensus. I don't try to build a... That's Chandler Simpson you're talking about. Chandler Simpson, yeah. Yeah.

I don't like to build around specialists like that. It's more when the time comes to take Chandler Simpson, you'll know if you need Chandler Simpson. And like, he's either the perfect player or he's not for you. Yeah. According to early ADP over at the NFBC, Chandler Simpson is the 32nd. outfield are off the board. So yeah, higher than where you have him, Ranked Scott. For whatever this is worth, Cedric Mullins in his career in Tropicana Field, 131 played appearances, so pretty big sample. He has hit 189 with a 519 OPS and a 27% strikeout rate. Well, that's not good.

Yeah. Could be one of those guys that just doesn't see the ball very well in Tropicana Field, so keep that in mind as well. Any thoughts on Michael Soroka to the D-backs? You know I'm a Mike Soroka fan We can go bring back the Mamma Mike Soroka song at some point If he's in the rotation He'll be on my late round Very deep sleepers list

He's got a bunch of strikeouts The peripherals were actually pretty good last year 345 XERA especially But he's got to be in the rotation first And I'm not 100% certain that's going to happen We also had a smaller trade centered around pitcher Johann Oviedo going to the Red Sox in exchange for The Password. Yost Nixon Garcia, Yostinkson Garcia. It's always a tough name. Oviato actually pitched well with the Pirates last year.

Could be part of a competition for one of the final Red Sox rotation spots. The Password turns 23 years old in two days from now. So happy birthday. Performed decently well in the minors, but he was blocked in Boston. Scott, any interest in either of those guys changing hands here, Oviedo to the Red Sox or Garcia to the Pirates. I mean, Garcia, the password, is on, I think he's going to be on most top 100s list this season. And he has a much better chance of playing with the Pirates

than he did with the Red Sox. I don't quite get the enthusiasm for him because the eggs of a lot, like it, he was a productive power hitter, in the miners, yes, eggs of velocity readings we have a AAA are pretty bad and the plate discipline is even worse both in terms of

zone swinging and missing on strikes, which is not a good sign and chasing pitches out of the zone. Neither one of those rates is good or even decent for Yost Nixon Garcia. So

I already had my doubts about him and now the power seemed like it would only play to the pole side. And now he's going to the worst venue for right-handed hitters whose power only plays to their pole side. So even though it opens up at bats for Garcia, I think it takes an already worrisome profile and puts it in a venue that, to me, precludes it from working in the first place. I want to quickly move through the rest of these so we can get to the prospects. Miguel Rojas is returning to the Dodgers for his final season on a one-year.

$5.5 million deal, likely to serve a utility role once again. Non-transaction news. And we will need to spend more time on this at some point, but we did get confirmation. The Padres plan to keep Mason Miller, Adrian Marejone, and David Morgan in the bullpen for next season. So that's exactly what we needed to know. Mason Miller's NFBC ADP right now is 43 as the third closer off the board behind Andrus Munoz and Edwin Diaz.

and it probably should remain that way. He is one of the best relievers in baseball. He should be the first closer. Yeah, he should be the first closer now. Yeah, that's fair. I will say, I saw a report that the Padres are at least open to trading Nick Pavetta. I'm happy Mason Miller is going to be in the bullpen. They might need you to start this year, Chris.

Yeah, who the heck is going to start for the Padres? I think their hope. If they were trading Povetta, this is just my read on the situation, the hope would be to get more depth. pitchers back. I like to get two solid pitchers back for Nick Povetta. I don't see how else that would make sense for the Padres

to make a move like that. Updates on the injured Yankees timelines Garracol could be back in May or June. First time we've heard June out there so that don't love that as much. Carlos Rodon is aiming for late April early May. Anthony Volpey aiming for May pretty much lines up with most

of what we heard so far on those guys. Dodgers GM Brandon Gohm said that Roki Sasaki Sasaki will absolutely be in the team starting rotation next season. Apparently Ben Joyce and Robert Stevenson could be in, uh, could be next in line for Angels saves next year. That is according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Joyce is coming back from Labrum surgery and his right shoulder. Stevenson was limited to just 12 appearances last season, working his way back from Tommy John surgery and then also ended his season on the IL with right elbow inflammation

once again. So I don't think the Angels are going to be very good. but those might be the options for saves there. Rockies prospect Charlie Condon could compete for the Rockies' everyday first base job during spring training, a former third overall pick, solid season in the minors last year. So just a name to be on your late round radar. Tons of rumors coming out of winter meetings right now. Nothing big has happened as of yet.

And shout out to Jeff Kent, who was the lone player elected to the Hall of Fame by the contemporary era committee. They passed on Carlos Delgado, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, and then a bunch of steroid tie players, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Gary Sheffield as well. So congrats to Jeff Kent. He's the only one that got it. Like any time you get a chance to vote for the guy who they walked the other guy to face, I think you've got to do it. Right?

Yeah. We know why Barry Bonds didn't get in. Yeah. It's dumb. Whatever. Jeff Kent's fine. Who cares? Yeah.

Let's take our, go ahead, Scott, if you got some. I was just going to say that the names you read off there, like that Jeff Kent would be the one. Yeah. He would make the cut. Just seemed like the biggest upset. Okay, I understand why they passed over Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and Gary Shafield, I guess. I mean, I think all three should be in personally. But everybody's passed them over to this point.

Carlos Delgado was better. But like, Dale Murphy's a two-time MVP. Yeah, Don Maddenly won one. I mean, Jeff Ken won one. He was one of the most famous players of the 80s as well. Like, Jeff Kent was a really good player. Fernando Valenzuela. And he wanted MVP himself, Jeff Kent.

But he wasn't. A farcical MVP. He wasn't somebody who, watching a play I ever expected him to go to the hall. Like, he wasn't that level of fame that some of those 80s players who were passed over again were. Not even close. In fact, Jeff Kent was a contestant on Survivor,

and he kept his identity secret, and nobody figured it out the whole time. I think one lady did figure it out, but she didn't like out him. But like nobody else knew who he was. That's how unfamous he was. Let's take our first break before we do. Which shortstop prospect are you hoping to draft in 2026? Let us know in the comments and in the live chat. Make sure to like this video as well.

Subscribe for more 2026 fantasy baseball content. Let's take that break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. We went a little bit longer on the news, so this could be a longer episode here. But we're going to talk about shortstop prospects. Again, yes, this position gets its own episode

because there are so many high-end shortstop prospects to talk about. And it's got to do. Just want you to reiterate for a second. to people who are listening or have read the article that these rankings are for dynasty leagues. So it's not all just like redraft, but we're going to talk about players that also have some proximity. So I think it could be useful for both audiences, but the rankings themselves are for dynasty leagues, right? Yeah, yeah. For dynasty, how much you should value them in dynasty leagues.

And proximity is a factor in that equation when I'm determining how much you should value them in dynasty leagues. And proximity is a factor in that equation, when I'm determining how much I want them in dynasty leagues. A closer payoff is a big deal to me. And so it's rare that I include players who haven't advanced beyond rookie ball unless they are just clearly, clearly, even that far down the miners, a potential top 10, top top 25 overall guy. And a shortstop especially, you can find a lot of 18, 19 year olds who people are enthusiastic about their upside. But there's so much, there's so many hurdles they have to clear at that low level.

And the level of competition is so low that the stat line is hard to gauge anything from it. And I don't like in dynasty leagues having to use a spot for years on a guy who doesn't pay out. I'd rather find out within a year or two if he's going to pan out. So that's part of the assessment there too. Proximity matters, but this isn't a redraft list. No. Let's start up at number one, a name we've talked a lot about,

and we will continue to talk a lot about. Connor Griffin of the Pirates 19 years old, the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft, was named Baseball America's minor league player of the year, and for good reason, a ridiculous season where you hit 333, 21 homers, 65 seals, 941 OPS across three levels, actually got slightly better,

at each level again as a 19 year old getting up to double a it's this crazy stuff that he did last month we got an article from jeff passin saying that the pirates are strongly considering giving griffin the opportunity to win their starting shortstop job this spring and his adp is on the rise so nf bc drafts in november Connor griffin's adp was 347 so far in december 208 that is a massive rise already and if we get any more indications or if Connor Griffin does anything this spring, that number is just going to continue to climb. I thought I was being kind of aggressive ranking him. I've gone through like a soft first draft of my top like 600.

And I thought I was being aggressive ranking him like 218. And apparently not nearly enough. And like it's not going to be 208 or 218 or whatever. It's either going to be like 150 or 350, you know? Yeah. It's just whether he's going to make the team or not. Yeah, and that's the ADP for redraft leagues, but obviously, Scott, I mean, based on what we saw at his, like, age to level production, it looks like we have a fantasy superstar in our hands with Connor Griffin. Oh, yeah.

I mean, this is a comp that's going to annoy people, and it's not an apples to apples one. But just in terms of, like, Connor Griffin, how athletic he is and how clearly he outclasses everyone he comes across. it reminds me of Mike Trout. I don't think Connor Griffin's ever going to have the on-base skills anywhere close to what Trout had in his heyday. But just in terms of the talent he exudes and how effortless it seems at a young age. And, you know, the fact that he runs wild on the bases, which is how Trout started out too. It's very exciting Connor Griffin. Having said all that, I don't buy that the pirates are actually going to give him the opening day job.

I don't buy it. Pirates are talking a big game right now. They're acting like they're going to make a big splash and free agency. I don't buy that either. I think particularly, I think it was Jeff Passon who raised this point. But with the possibility of a work stoppage next year, the pirates would, If they were to promote Connor Griffin this year and there was a work stoppage, they would lose that year of control where the stoppage is happening.

You know, that would still, that would count against Connor Griffin's service time. And so it would just be really bad timing for a team that's probably not going to compete this year. And a guy who's still 19, you know, it just seems, it just doesn't seem like the sort of thing the pirates would do. You know? Yeah. So I'm doubtful. I'm doubtful. I'm certainly not anticipating drafting Connor Griffin in a 12 team, probably even a 15 team league at this point.

I need to see clear indications this spring that they're seriously considering. And then you have to account for just if Connor Griffin does make his debut as a 19-year-old. Actually, wouldn't, would he even be? Yeah, he'd still be 19 for the first month of next season. Players who make their debut at 19 are almost always superstars. It's not a guarantee, but it's a very, very good leading indicator of where a player will end up. But you only have to look at the last guy that we talked all this about, which is Jackson Holiday, the Orioles. I don't know.

He wasn't 19, right. He was 20 when he made his debut, I think. That's, I don't know. Either right, he was super young. I think Walent Soto was like the last legit 19-year-old to play significant time. And Jackson Holiday wasn't much older. and it's been a struggle. He's probably going to be a very good player.

But turning into a superstar does not necessarily mean you will be a superstar at 19. Juan Soto was, okay, Juan Soto is one of the greatest hitters of all time. Mike Trout wasn't. Mike Trout struggled as a 19 or 20-year-old whenever he made his debut. It was pretty bad that first season.

And then obviously the second season, he won. or finish second an MVP. But he was rookie of the year. Like just to clarify, it was like a late season call up for Trout. And then the next year, he was still a rookie and was the best player in fantasy.

So it's just depends what you mean by his first year. But yeah, the overall point is it remains. And it's, it's one I agree with. That being said, I mean, if Griffin is sticking around,

round into late March and he's the talk of spring training. Obviously, he'll rocket up draft boards and he should, given that talent. But sitting here in early December, I'm betting against it. I'm betting against not him, not Connor Griffin. It's my number one shortstop prospect.

A number one prospect overall, by the way. But not somebody I'm investing in for 26. By the way, just to show you the depth of shortstop here, I'm saying Connor Griffin, number one prospect overall. I think my top seven here at shortstop are my top seven overall. Not committing to that, but that is how much talent, high-end talent there is at this position. Let's talk about number two.

That is Kevin McGonigal of the Tigers. He's 21 years old, 37th overall pick in the 2023 draft. Also a name that we've talked a lot about. Chris and I saw him out in the Arizona Fall League when we were there. We saw an RBI triple. We saw a massive two-run home run. Looked to be the real deal. Of course, you know, he was expected to dominate in the NFL.

This past season hit 305, 19 home runs, 10 steals, a 991 OPS. He did all of that in just 88 games. He did win the AFL MVP as well. There is a chance that he is up with the Tigers on opening day, either as a shortstop or third baseman. He played mostly third base in the AFL. His early ADP is 281. So Scott talked to me about McGonigal, the player,

and whether or not you like him for redraft leagues next season. I like him more than Griffin. I don't know that any of these prospects from a redraft perspective are, I'm eager to draft them. You know, again, like I was saying for Griffin, if they're the talk of spring draining, they're naturally going to move up draft boards. And I'm going to share in that enthusiasm to a degree. But there's enough talented shortstop for the typical fantasy league that I don't, I just don't think you need to roll the dice like that. but looking at Kevin McGonagall as a prospect

very exciting very exciting prospect my number two at shortstop my number two overall in all likelihood really good plate skills struck out just 46 times had 59 walks just a really good back control guy but with with power to me it's a question of how much power

is he going to be somebody who can deliver 20-25 home runs with regularity, especially since that power is mostly to his pull side. He's got to have the swing optimized. So far, so good on that front. But, you know, majors are a different story. I think what I'm hoping for for Kevin McGonigal, if everything goes well, he meets the full extent of his potential. would be something like the year

Geraldo Perdomo just had but a multi-year run of that sort of production like Maganical. It may just be a one-off for Podomo, we don't know. Obviously there's reason for skepticism, but that's the kind of stat line you're hoping for from him. I was thinking like a Boba Shet type

too where he's... He's going to walk a lot more than Bichette. Yeah. Five-by-five perspective, some. I don't know if it'll be like the 25 steals that Boba-Shech got. at his peak, but, you know, then he hasn't gotten anywhere close to that since. But should be a good band.

He's not, like, ridiculously tooled up like some of the other top prospects. It's more of a, you know, baseball player. And he's a little smaller, especially for a modern day short step. I think he's 510 or 511. So it's like potentially a superstar outcome, but not in like a super loud way. and you know like maybe you say corbin carroll without the steals is that a superstar i don't know yeah probably better batting average in corbin carroll so he's he's an interesting player i i it's one that like feels like a high certainty player rather than like a super super high ceiling for

kevin mcgoner you know it's more like 111 mile per hour max exit velocities rather than like one 15 plus like some of the other guys right right i kind of read it the same way but I know I feel like baseball America is going to end up putting McGonicle ahead of Griffin and I know some reports are very excited about his power potential even though I don't quite see it in the exit velocities I think it's it's going to rely on him optimizing the angles like I said which you may I mean plenty of fitters learned to do that

Jose Ramirez has been a huge power hitter it's mostly about the angles for him so but yeah I agree it's it's more like you're not going to miss on Kevin McGonigle, but what level of stardom will he achieve? That's really the question which we should be asking. I think in the long run, Kevin McGonicle winds up being a second baseman. Glabridorah's accepting the qualifying offer precludes that possibility for this year. But I think in the long run, that's where McGonicle goes. I think he's a third baseman this year.

Yeah, certainly possible. Scott's number three shortstop prospect is Jesus Made of the Brewers that's spelled M-A-D-E. and that's a name that you will in all certainty not see in the majors in 2025. He's 18 years old, very exciting, long-term name in Dynasty Leagues, where he just hit 285, only six home runs, 47 steals,

but ridiculous tools, has raw power, just not really optimized for in-game yet. Scott, what's the upside player comp here for Monde? And when do you expect him? Is it 2027, 2028? What do you think? I don't think it'll be this year.

Because he reached AA, I would more likely say 2027 than 2028 for Mardi, maybe like a late season, 2027 debut. He'll move fast. He'll move fast like Jackson Churio did. The Brewers obviously aren't shy about doing that. And it's a guy makes it to double A as an 18-year-old. That's a really exciting development indicator for hey. Jesus Mata. Stolen bases are going to be a very big part of his game.

He is working, like a lot of young hitters, on improving the angle. The ball takes off the bat to optimize power. I hate to drop this name again. I was because I did bring it up in relation to Kevin McGonigal, but I think Jesus Made fits the profile more of like a Jose Ramirez type. He could grow into that kind of upside. Obviously, could fall well short of that. but I think the upside,

like that is the kind of upside we're talking about for Jesus Made, like first round, pick and fantasy kind of upside, and probably winds up at third base like Jose Ramirez did. Yeah, and the Brewers, by the way, I mean, they have done an exceptional job in the international market the past handful of years, right? Between Churio and Made and even his teammate, Luis Pena,

who I know is on this list as well, a little bit further down. but they have just done an incredible job finding and now developing some of these, what seem to be, like, awesome talents from a real life and fantasy perspective. Scott's number four shortstop prospect here is JJ Weatherholt of the Cardinals. He's 23 years old. First round pick in the 2024 draft. Just had a very productive season where he hit 306, 17 homers, 23 steals.

72 walks to 73 strikeouts, so he's going to make a lot of contact. He's got a good eye at the plate as well. The exit velocities. look pretty good. He's mostly played shortstop, has dabbled at second or third base. Chris, this is another name here where I think there's a chance he's up on opening day. His NFBC ADP is 306. J.J. Weatherholt, I just don't think it's going to be as a shortstop, mostly because they have Mason win and he's an amazing defender.

Yeah, I, he actually, if you judge the Scatter reports, he's made a lot of strides defensively. There were some questions about whether he could handle shortstop as a pro. It seems like everyone seems to think he can. It's just he's not Mason Wynne. You know, he might be a better player than Mason Wynne, but he's not going to be a better defensive shortstop than Mason Wynn. There aren't many of those. So J.J. Weatherholt seems likely to end up a third or second. I think at this point, it would be a pretty big upset if he's not on the opening day roster for the Cardinals.

Although, yeah, there are some moving pieces that they need to get out of the way, Nolan Aeronado, most chiefly among them. but they got a lot of guys still. I think Brendan Donovan, I've seen his name float as a great possibility. It sounds like there's a lot of emphasis on moving some of these guys out and kind of cycling through the next generation. And Weatherholt, in terms of like physical skills, is probably closer to McGonigal and that he's not built like an NFL player and he doesn't run super fast.

He doesn't have the huge exit velocities, his max EV. at AAA last year was 108. Average X velocity actually at AAA 91 miles per hour. That's pretty good. The problem is he doesn't necessarily hit the ball in the air to the pull side a ton from what I've seen, which has limited the power production. It was 17 homers and 109 games last year. I think there's 2020 upside here for JJ Weatherhole. I think there's like, 17 and 23.

I think there's some like. 408 at bats. Hopefully it's less frustrating. and obviously that there's the one season that I think this comp definitely doesn't work for but I think like Glaber Torres hopefully with a higher batting average floor is kind of a comp I've been thinking for JJ Weatherholt

you know hits 275, 280 15 to 20 homers 15 to 20 steals I think that's about what I expect for JJ Weatherholt as early as this year too because he's well seasoned in the high miners he is one who I gave a little bit of a bump too for proximity reasons.

Yeah, it would be crazy to me if he's not on the Cardinals opening day roster. Of course, if you were listening in September, you know it was crazy to me that he wasn't already on the Cardinals roster at that point, getting a late season look. Because he did everything he could do in the minors, 308 batting average 931 OPS between double and AAA. Like, Weatherholt's ready and he's gotten the versatility already to step. been wherever the Cardinals can use him. And so I give him the edge here over some prospects who might show up higher on most lists over perceived upside. But I think Weatherhole has a ton of upside himself.

Yeah. To your points, I did want to mention the pulled air percentage at AAA this season was just 29th percentile for JJ Weatherhold. But it seems like he does have power to all fields. It's just, you know, he doesn't really optimize so far in that kind of pulled air rate. And I just want to mention the Websterile. website again, Prospectsavant.com. This guy does amazing work and it's a lot of what you see on the actual baseball savant website. There's only, I think, like A ball and AAA numbers here, but it's

really useful if you want to look into prospects and dabbles. So that's how I was able to find something like pulled air rate for JJ Weatherholt. Let's take our final break when we return back into shortstop prospects right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. We are going through Scott's top shortstop prospects heading into 2020. We left off at number five. That is Leo DeVries of the Athletics, 19 years old, the centerpiece in the Mason Miller trade. He made it to AA as an 18-year-old earlier this year. Very impressive stuff.

Actually, once he got traded to the A system, he just took off and got even better. He hit 276, seven homers, three seals, and 889 OPS, and got even better at AA, again, as an 18-year-old. So, Scott, very impressive age-to-level production here. Kind of similar question to Jesus Mande. What do you think the upside comp can look like here in a potential ETA in the future? So the upside comp, I haven't picked one out yet for Leo DeVries. But I think the main thing that separates him from Made and that creates two spots of separation here in my shortstop rankings, even though they're both teenagers who reached AA last year and are thought to have huge upside.

the biggest reason for separation is that I expect Made to be a huge base dealer, and I expect DeVrys to be not much of a base dealer at all, probably. So it's a question of how much power he develops, and it could be a ton. It was definitely encouraging what DeVrys did after getting to AA in 21 games there, slash 281, 359, 551. That's big boy production for anyone at AA, much less an 18-year-old. And so I think a return trip there, a larger, sample there is going to tell us if we're talking about like a manny machado type player or if we're

talking about something less than that what would be let would be a good comp less than manny machado more like a 260 to 275 25 30 homer guy yeah it's it's hard to like alex bregmanee you know yeah 260 25 homers yeah yeah yeah I think he's going to hit the ball a lot harder than Bregman, so I hesitate to make that comp. But just in terms of top line production, I think that's that is within the range of outcomes for DeVarise. And it would still be a very good outcome, but there's the potential for even better. The thing that worries me about DeVrys, one is just the, it's a huge power projection. And I mean that both in there is a lot of power projected and you have to project the power.

because right now from what I've read, the exit velocity readings aren't quite as impressive for DeVrys as the scouting reports might make you think. He also, he's a switch hitter. He's been, he was really bad against lefties last year. 664 OPS hit 216. That worries me when you're talking about an 18 year old who, or a 19 year old now who's so far away from being a finished product. It's just this is a profile where the upside is clear, but there's just a lot of lot of ways it can go wrong between now and whenever he makes it to the majors. He might end up being a superstar, but I'm a little, I'm a little iffy on DeVries personally. Yeah. All right, Scott's number six shortstop prospect is Colt Emerson of the Mariners. He's 21 years,

20 years old, excuse me, first round pick back in 2023, had a very productive season in the minors, hit 285, 16 homers, 14 steals, 842 OPS across three levels. He got six, six, games in at AAA, known for a strong hit tool, developing power and speed as well. And we already heard earlier this offseason that the Mariners are going to give Colt Emerson a chance to win an opening day job, whether or not that's actually a shortstop. Is that at second or third base? We don't know that yet. But Chris, Colt Emerson sounds like a name that actually could make an impact as soon as next season. Yeah, an opening day job would seem a little optimistic given he's only played 40 games above high.

IA, but, you know, he held his own as a 19 year old at at AA. He, you know, it was six games at AAA, but he wasn't overmatched in those six games. So it's not out of the question. The Mariners are obviously a team that wants to win right now. And so if they think he gives them their best chance to win, I could absolutely see him forcing his way onto the opening day roster. And he's surged to the finish line last year. I think that's helping to drive that enthusiasm. Because from the beginning, Colt Emerson garnered these Corey Seeger comps as a left-handed hitter with good plate skills and good batting skills.

It's just would he deliver on that kind of power? And it didn't come close at first. And it thought, okay, maybe that's too aggressive of a ranking for Cold Emerson. but over the course of last season, he developed a quieter setup, a two-handed finish, made those mechanical adjustments. Final 76 games for Cold Emerson, he slashed 311, 404, 510. So suddenly those very optimistic comps and projections for him seem more viable, especially since he got to AAA and it is only now 20.

So he's well ahead of the development curve, like a lot of these short stops we talked about. I would say I'm – I have Cold Emerson here. Spoiler a lot, Sebastian Walcott's number seven. I think most people would put Walcott ahead of Emerson, but I feel really good about the spot Emerson's in right now. And I think there is a lot less downside risk for him than for Sebastian Walcott. I think there's some similarities between Emerson and Kevin McGonigle in a lot of, of ways like not a elite athlete um really good hit tool really good contact skills um at high a he had the same contact rate as kevin mcgonagle so that's a that's a big sign he doesn't he's not

optimized the way kevin mcgonigal is yet um maybe the changes that scott was referencing helped him unlock some of that but this is a case where cold emerson might actually have more raw power than Kevin McGonigal. He's just not optimized for it in the same way. And obviously, trying to unlock that might lose some of the contact skills. So there could be some give and take there. But I think he's a very interesting prospect, yeah. Let's talk about that number seven shortstop prospect.

Sebastian Walcott of the Rangers, 19 years old with huge raw power. Haven't really seen that manifest in-game yet. He only had 13 home runs this past season, hit 255, also had 32. two steals, dropped his K rate from 25.6% down to 19.6% year over year. So that was impressive, especially when the Rangers challenged Walcott by putting him at AA, leaving him there all season as a 19-year-old. Looks like he was focused on making more contact down the stretch. I looked at his final 21 games. He had just nine strikeouts during that stretch and a 9% strikeout rate. So it's got an interesting prospect here.

Maybe we see him late next season, but we just haven't seen kind of everything come together yet from a statistical perspective. Yeah, in particular, I was concerned that power is supposed to be the carrying tool here. He slugged 386 at AA. And, you know, maybe he was working on the contact skills. That that was a big red flag earlier while caught striking out too much. that strikeout rate under 20% in his his his his year at double a spent the full year there so low strikeout rate but only a 386 slug for a guy who's supposed to hit for a ton of power batted 255 I don't know obviously he's young enough there is enough optimism surrounding him that

I'm ranking him as high as seventh and that probably means the seventh prospect overall not just a shortstop, but some people will rank him as high as third. Some people will have him behind Connor Griffin and Kevin McDonagall and prefer him to Made and DeVries and certainly Cold Emerson and J.J. Weatherholt. So, yeah, I would say relative to the consensus, I'm a little more skeptical, skeptical about Sebastian Walcott, but I mean, he's still a huge prospect. You're able to be skeptical. Can I make a lazy-ish comp for Sebastian Walcott? Sure. Those are my favorite comps. What about the other

notable fun Bahamian he came up as a shortstop middle end fielder. Jazz Chisholed up. Maybe the approach needs some work, but you know, could be a legit power speed guy.

I just like comparing the Bahamian guys to each other. There aren't that many of them, you know? It's not Major League Baseball. I think anybody who has Walcott and Dynasty would be pretty happy about a jazz chisholm, you know, outcome if that's what actually happens here with Walcott. I do wonder if he starts next season in AAA. I think that would be pretty impressive putting a 20-year-old there.

But, I mean, based on him playing an entire year at AA, 124 games, that probably seems likely. I'd be a little surprised if they sent him back to double A. That would feel like a step down. Not a step back. But, yeah, not giving him credit for what was still a very impressive season as a 19-year-old. to double a like that's a really aggressive full season and he was an above average hitter like we we poked holes in it 386 slugging you know 110 wrc plus yeah at double i as an 19 year old

like that's yeah that's there's a lot of rough edges and a lot of ways it can go wrong but you know it is it's better than it seems once you account for the age and the aggressiveness of the promotion what i one of the things i'm trying to do trying to just distinguish myself from, from I guess some of the national rank lists and the consensus rankings out there is, I feel like an error is being made widely about, oh, this guy is this age at this level.

It is a good indicator. It's a secondary indicator. And I think in a lot of cases, it's treated as a primary indicator. Oh, well, this guy made it to this level at this age. So he must be great. when really it's it's more like a good sign than the reason to be excited you know well this gets to my kind of fake but kind of not fake conspiracy theory which is that a j preller has been

promoting all of his prospects like two levels more aggressively than they actually should be just because every other team uses like computer models that take into account age adjusted production to a huge extent yeah that's why they have just like everyone everyone every one every other everyone at double a is 17 years old for the Padres. You know, that's, that's my dumb conspiracy. And I worried that was happening. That I don't actually believe, by the way. It doesn't sound like the, the craziest conspiracy theory I've heard on the internet today.

So I kind of wondered if that was what was happening with Leo DeVries, too, but then he got traded at the A's and moved up to double A and was better than ever. Yeah. I was going to bring up the same thing with Leo DeVries. the fact that he was sent out to the Arizona Fall League last year as like an 18-year-old. Barely played in, I think, even A-ball at that point. It was very, very weird for the Padres to do that. But you know what? Maybe it worked because they wound up trading him for Mason Miller.

So number eight, we have Aiden Miller of the Phillies, 21 years old, first round pick back in 2023. Took a huge step forward in the speed department this year. 59 steals did that while batting 264, 14 home runs in 825. OPS between AA and AAA, AAA, got eight games in at AAA. Scott, this is another name, especially with how much we've heard, Alec Bone's name brought up in trade rumors and things that

I think that we will see at some point in 2026. Yeah, there's a good chance. And Aidan Miller is another, I feel like a couple prospects on this list are already referred to how they were on the verge of seeing their stock plummet, I think. And then he figured it out at just the right time to keep that from happening.

So Miller is really rocky to start out the year this year. But final 388 games, he's slashed 357, 489, 601. And now his stock is as high as it's ever been. Part of the enthusiasm is that he plays a great shortstop, which wasn't clear at the beginning. It seemed like a given he'd have to move to third base. And now it's like, no, he could stick at shortstop. The problem is Trey Turner is a shortstop.

start for the Phillies. So Aidan Miller might end up debuting as a third baseman regardless. Of course, he'd still be plenty of valuable in fantasy as such, maybe even more valuable, given the state of third base, given that he's a base dealer. But there's power here too. And I don't think he'll be my eighth overall prospect, like one through seven at shortstop or one through seven overall. But Miller would be in my top 15 for sure. The last two names here to round out your top 10 at shortstop sky. You have Eli Willits of the Nationals. He's just 17 years old. He was the first overall pick in this year's draft. Also, the son of former major leaguer Reggie Willits. I am contractually obligated to tell you that.

And the number 10 prospect here is Bryce Rayner of the Tigers. 20 years old, first round pick back in 2024, only played 35 games this past season due to right shoulder surgery. Obviously, Willits is much younger, but both of these guys feel like they're further away. I mean, I've seen ETA, for Rainer at like 2028 and then Willits is 2029 so these both of these guys seem pretty far away from now and both of these guys are really hard to rank in part because of that and part because there's such a little such a small sample of what they've done so far this gets these are the first two short steps that were like I don't really know who deserves to be nine and ten I'm giving Willits an edge here because he was just the first overall pick I think the dream sense

scenario for him is probably something like Trey Turner, but an 18 year old with 50 at bats at low A I mean obviously there are so many directions that could go. It's too early to say what Willits is going to

turn into, but that's kind of where his skill set falls. I think I was ranking Rainer pretty aggressively here and I get why there's hesitance with Bryce Rainer because he's only played 35 games as a professional because of injuries. So it was 2024 he was drafted, right?

And then 2025 he starts out great at low A, 831 OPS 288 batting average, and then ends up missing time with a dislocated shoulder. So I think people are still waiting to find out what they have, what we have in Rainer. And oftentimes when a high draft pick is kind of slow to launch, enthusiasm diminishes very quickly. But the little bit we've seen of Rainer and what the scouting reports are saying about him, I think is very exciting.

He's a big shortstop, six foot three, but athletic enough to stay there and has good plate skills, good raw power. I think there's a ton of upside for Bryce Rainer. And so if you did invest in him in a dynasty league, don't lose faith just because you haven't seen him play much. I think in the long run it's going to pay off. Do you have Willits clearly ahead of Ethan Holiday? Because those were kind of the two big short stops at the top of the draft.

Yeah. I ended up slipping to four. Holidays. And he struck out 40% of the time in 84 plate appearances. It was an aggressive promotion, but still. So Ethan Holliday, who I am obligated to point out as the brother of Jackson Holiday and the son of Matt Holiday. Thank you. I've heard that.

He's a very polarizing prospect. Very polarizing. He has a lot of power in theory, but detractors for Ethan Holiday don't think he's going to be able to handle modern fastball design up in the zone. very high heat because he's got this upper cut swing to tap into the power. And it's just like he's going to have to rework his swing to survive in the majors. Seems to be the thinking among the detractors. And I think those who look at holiday more optimistically, they're like, well, he's a holiday, first of all.

He's got a ton of raw power. He's young enough that'll figure it out. And maybe that's right. I mean, that's why it's, that's why they're just prospects. They're not finished products yet. And there's a lot of speculation that goes into all. of them, but I think the detractors for Ethan Holiday

see a major red flag here. I actually think baseball prospectus is one of the most concerned about him, which I only bring up because I know they're among your favorite prospect evaluators, Chris. They do a good job, of course.

But yeah, that's the story on Ethan Holiday. He's 12th on this list. So just three spots behind Willits, but it's a pretty big gap. Important spots. Yeah. I will mention, you know, a couple others that just missed the top 10 here. We had Luis Pena of the Brewers at 11, followed by Ethan Holiday of the Rockies,

Jojo Parker of the Blue Jays, Aeva Arquette of the Marlins, those last three for those who play in Dynasty Leagues, those will be available in your first year player drafts. And then Kael and Cole Pepper of the Twins, and then there are 10 others as well. So we are only going to go through the top 10 here. But if you want to read about all 25, that is currently on the site. So make sure to check that out. And we are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. Frank, thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today.

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