Here we go again. It’s ranking season! Well, maybe a week or two before ranking season, but close enough. Through Thursday, I will be ranking the top 100 fantasy baseball prospects in all The Land. And I mean that literally, not the lame nickname that Cleveland now has to make them seem cooler. To be clear, I will not just be ranking prospects in Cleveland. Enough monkey business, here are the 2016 Mid-Season Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings: 11-40 (previous ranking in parenthesis):

2016 Off-Season Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings: 1-100

Graduates: Corey Seager (#1) LAD, SS, Byron Buxton (#2) MIN, OF, Steven Matz (#10) NYM, LHP, Nomar Mazara (#19) TEX, OF, Trevor Story (#30) COL, SS, John Lamb (#40) CIN, LHP, Aaron Blair (#81) ATL, RHP, Michael Fulmer (#82) DET, RHP, Archie Bradley (#83) ARI, RHP, Mallex Smith (#91) ATL, OF, Jon Gray (#100) COL, RHP

1-10
41-70
71-100
Complete Top 100

11) Victor Robles (#35) WASH, OF – Displaying the same elite contact and speed profile in his first full season of pro ball that he did in Rookie ball and Low-A. Perfect combination of raw tools and current production. Prime projection: 96/14/75/.304/28

12) Alex Reyes (#11) STL, RHP – 13.9 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 really does say it all. Can dial it up to 100 MPH, and I’ll take the risk for his through the roof upside. Prime projection: 3.35/1.20/240 in 210 IP

13) Jose Berrios (#12) MIN, RHP – Not going to let his poor 4-start MLB debut scare me off. Future value remains the same. Prime projection: 3.39/1.11/190 in 200 IP

14) Blake Snell (#13) TB, LHP– Look up one inch. Prime projection: 3.36/1.17/209 in 198 IP

15) Jose De Leon (#14) LAD, RHP – Slowly ramping it up at Triple-A after returning from a sore arm. 14.2 K/9 in limited action shows the elite K potential is still there. Prime projection: 3.41/1.16/220 in 190 IP

16) J.P. Crawford (#15) PHI, SS – Having an elite plate approach is like the missionary position for prospects. Not the most exciting, but it gets the job done. Prime projection: 94/12/65/.289/18

17) Brad Zimmer (#16) CLE, OF – 28.8% K rate is higher than we would like, but the power/speed combo is still popping. Prime projection: 86/21/81/.260/24

18) Derek Fisher (#20) HOU, OF – Wrote a sleeper post for him in the off-season, and he is not making me regret it with his strong first half in Double-A. Prime projection: 84/22/84/.270/17

19) Josh Hader (#21) MIL, LHP – Ranked him #3 in my pre-season Dynasty League Prospect Sleepers post. Putting up a pitching line of 1.87/1.13/99 in 77 IP split between Double-A and Triple-A so far this year. Prime projection: 3.31/1.18/198 in 190 IP

20) Jameson Taillon (#86) PIT, RHP – Has looked no worse for wear after not pitching for two full years. Stuff is nasty and has already reached the bigs. Prime projection: 3.38/1.13/180 in 190 IP

21) Willson Contreras (#52) CHC, C – Added power to his already elite hit tool this season. Is now clearly the top fantasy catcher prospect in the game. Prime projection: 70/20/85/.293/3

22) Lewis Brinson (#9) TEX, OF – Shoulder injury cut short his disappointing first half. Hitting profile looked completely different this year, which makes me think he was trying to make an adjustment that wasn’t working. He drops in the rankings, but I would hold if I owned him. Prime projection: 90/25/90/.274/17

23) Bobby Bradley (#18) CLE, 1B – Might as well be named Joey Gallo Jr. Lots of HR’s, BB’s, and K’s. Prime projection: 80/33/105/.250/4

24) Austin Meadows (#53) PIT, OF – Power has ticked up this year, and if he can continue that power surge in Triple-A, will rank even higher in the off-season. Prime projection: 92/18/80/.295/13

25) Tim Anderson (#22) CHW, SS – Not the type of hitter to put up pretty K/BB numbers, but can hit for a solid average with top end speed and sneaky power. Prime projection: 90/12/61/.273/28

26) Dansby Swanson (#25) ATL, SS – Looks to have the inside track on Atlanta’s SS job over Albies. Will do a little bit of everything, but doesn’t have a standout tool. Prime projection: 87/17/77/.282/14

27) Trea Turner (#23) WASH, SS – MLB ready but has been prospect blocked by Danny Espinoza as I suspected he would be in my off-season top 100. Played CF last night in an attempt by Washington to find another path to the big leagues for him. Prime projection: 90/9/55/.282/26

28) Orlando Arcia (#27) MIL, SS – Hasn’t quite kept up his 2015 breakout in Triple-A this season, but is still flashing the same offensive skills. Would rank higher on a non-fantasy list due to his plus defense. Prime projection: 87/11/70/.279/25

29) Max Kepler (#29) MIN, OF – Quietly putting together a very strong season. .757 OPS with 3 homers and 2 steals in 33 MLB games. Prime projection: 85/17/85/.288/15

30) Josh Bell (#60) PIT, 1B – Like Contreras, added power to his already elite hit tool. I expected the power to show up, projecting him for 19 homers in the off-season, but it is still nice to see. Prime projection: 78/19/90/.293/5

31) Gary Sanchez (#31) NYY, C – Doesn’t have the eye-popping numbers, but is still displaying good contact and power skills in a pitcher’s park at Triple-A. Gets a bump for positional scarcity due to the wasteland that catcher has become. Prime projection: 67/22/83/.280/4

32) Raimel Tapia (#42) COL, OF – “Elite contact skills. Above average speed. Average power. Gets the Coors Field bump.” – – Same blurb as the off-season. Nothing changed except he is doing it in Double-A now. Prime projection: 92/13/70/.297/17

33) Willie Calhoun (#43) LAD, 2B – Discovered him in my Finding the Next A.J. Reed article that I wrote in January, and also wrote a Willie Calhoun, 2016 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Breakout post for him this season. Prime projection: 85/24/91/.287/2

34) Ian Happ (#50) CHC, 2B/OF – Going back and forth on Willie vs. Happ. Gave Willie the edge because he has been doing it in Double-A all year, but if you prefer the added speed that Happ brings, I can see swapping them. Happ also has a legitimate logjam ahead of him in Chicago. Prime projection: 85/19/76/.273/14

35) Aaron Judge (#34) NYY, OF – On an absolute tear in the last month, slashing .341/.464/.714 with 9 homers. It brings his OPS up to .845 in Triple-A. Prime projection: 75/26/90/.260/7

36) Jorge Mateo (#38) NYY, SS – Speed is the #1 calling card here. The bat hasn’t taken a step forward this year, but the underlying skills and talent remain the same. Prime projection: 87/11/60/.275/34

37) Jesse Winker (#41) CIN, OF – Maintaining his elite contact skills and plate approach in Triple-A, but the power hasn’t fully emerged with only 2 homers on the year. Prime projection: 88/19/92/.292/4

38) Clint Frazier (#58) CLE, OF – I called him “a breakout waiting to happen” in my off-season top 100, and he is breaking out, slashing .295/.381/.488 with 9 homers and 9 steals in 67 games as a 21-year-old in Double-A. Prime projection: 88/23/88/.284/8

39) Harrison Bader (#51) STL, OF – Discovered him in my Finding the Next A.J. Reed article that I wrote in January, and also wrote a Harrison Bader, 2016 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Breakout post for him this season. Prime projection: 85/20/81/.280/14

40) Tyler O’Neill (#78) SEA, OF – Wrote a sleeper post for him in the off-season, and he has drastically improved his K rate while maintaining his power in Double-A this season. The arrow is pointing up. Prime projection: 76/27/88/.265/8

By Michael Halpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)

2 thoughts on “2016 Mid-Season Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings: 11-40

Comments are now closed.