Long ball to LF (Johnnywise) trades away
Musgrove, Joe 2019 Draft Pick, Round 2 (Senior Squids)
Wright, Kyle
O’Neill, Tyler
Senior Squids trades away
Paxton, James
Hustle’s Toxic $.02
The nice thing I’ll say about this trade is that I do like it more than the last one. Paxton is a more volatile asset than Gary Sanchez is, thus I think it’s a better piece to trade if you’re rebuilding/tanking. Elton took my advice from the last review in trading Paxton. I still think it would be preferable to have made this trade rather than and instead of the last one.
That being said, I still think this isn’t a great trade, but it’s not awful. It’s basically a downgrade from a near ace level pitcher in Paxton to whatever Musgrove is with a wild card shot on Wright or Oneil being something. If Oneill becomes a middle of the order bopper year in and year out and Musgrove is a top 30ish pitcher, then it probably works out ok for him. That still seems like a lot of risk of both those things happening rather than Paxton just staying good. Paxton could get hurt, but Musgrove is no stranger to injuries either. Seems risky with not a ton of upside unless you think Paxton isn’t built to hold up for a few years or that Musgrove will become close to his tier of a player. Which I suppose is possible!
I still have trouble seeing how this puts Elton in a better position to beat the teams he made stronger in 2019 and beyond. Senior Squids finally has a top 10 farm, and their best course now is to let his prospects marinate and hopefully next year flip them for an elite asset like Gary Sanchez or James Paxton. This trade reminds me a lot of the Pirates trading Gerit Cole, when they sought elite future assets and ended up with… Joe Musgrove.
For Long Ball, this seems like a no brainer move. Sure Paxton has injury risk, but so does Musgrove. Every trade has inherent risks, but this seems like a pretty safe bet. With a rotation of Nola, Paxton, and Greinke, the Long Balls look to be serious contenders now and in the future.
Andrew’s thoughts:
James Paxton is a weird guy to value. He’s obviously very, very good, but he’s also constantly hurt. He’s never thrown more than 136 innings and I feel like if you’re buying him, you’re probably worried he won’t be available when it matters most (H2H playoff time). At the same time… he costs only $10, $12 minimum to keep, and that is effectively nothing. Even if he gets greeded up to $20, that’s peanuts for a player of his caliber. He could miss all of 2019 for whatever reason and still be cheap enough to keep into 2020. I guess what I’m saying is, he’s riskier than your average pitcher, but his price and ability outweigh a good majority of that risk. I agree with Hustle’s general sentiment that, for a rebuilding team, Paxton is the most obvious chip to move (and that he should’ve been traded first and instead of franchise piece Gary Sanchez).
On the other side, Joe Musgrove also appears to be an injury risk. He’s only pitched in four MLB games this year after battling injuries all winter and spring. I like Musgrove, but I’m a little shocked he’s the main piece in a deal for a Paxton-like stud. I’m having flashbacks to Lewis Brinson — in other words, a guy who pops up on the trade block sporadically for months, then is suddenly headlining a deal for a star. In this case, three of Musgrove’s four starts have been good, so I guess that’s enough to make him valuable.
In essence, Long Ball paid three prospects — O’Neill, Wright, and a pick — to upgrade Musgrove to Paxton. And I love it. He had to do it. He didn’t, in my opinion, touch any of his premium prospects to get this deal done (if I’m Squids and trading Paxton to Long Ball, I’m getting Juan Soto or Bo Bichette back or I’m shopping really hard elsewhere). Musgrove seems good, but Paxton is elite. To me, Tyler O’Neill is a depth piece in our league. The power will play, but his cost control clock has already started ticking and he’s on a team that doesn’t have room for him. Is he just a fourth outfielder? Kyle Wright ranked 24th on FanGraphs’ new prospect list, but I don’t know much about him. He’s a pitcher, and if I’m tanking this year and probably next as Squids appears to be doing, I’m just not pumped to do it all around pitchers.
Ultimately I can’t escape the feeling here that Squids decided Paxton had to go ASAP and just took whatever offer looked best. Yeah, Paxton’s risky, but given his performance and cost, literally every team should have shown interest. Paxton is more valuable to even a rebuilding team than almost any prospect or combo of 2-3 prospects. I’d love to know if any “rebuilding” teams inquired. I know Squids has taken some pleasure in trying to play the “top teams” against each other as he tears down, but the market for Paxton should’ve been vast and the return just seems underwhelming. Oh well. Paxton’s arm could melt off at any moment (he had forearm cramping during his last start!) and this deal could then look fantastic simply by virtue of getting something. There aren’t a lot of studs in the league for under $20, but Paxton’s one of them and injury history be damned, I feel like he should’ve fetched a Bichette, Soto, or some prospect of that ilk a tier or two below the Vlads and Acunas of the world. Kyle Wright feels very blah to me. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out and if injuries play a role in the narrative.
First, this is my first and probably my last attempt at writing for Dynasty Grinders. Since I retired I’ve had more time on my hands and over the last month I’ve dived into each and every Grinders minor league systems. There were a few reasons for the deep dive in the minor league systems:
I wanted to learn more about the minor league systems
Prepare myself for the upcoming draft
Educate myself on the other team’s minor league rosters for possible trades
Finally, as I was going through each team, I’m convinced there are the “haves and the have-nots” and I want to even the playing field. I’m hoping those at the bottom will be motived to do better. I also realize that some owners have different ideas how to manage their teams and I understand that too. My life experience tells me “Knowledge is Power”. The ultimate goal is to make the Dynasty Grinder league better and more balanced.
I’m no minor league expert and I have used a few web sites to grade each minor league player that is on our rosters. Additionally, some teams have players on their roster that weren’t ranked because I couldn’t justify giving them a star. Remember they are minor league players and could be late bloomers. There is a high probability that I’m full of crap, which is probably the case. Column “2018 MLB Ready” below means players could be breaking into the MLB this year. The teams are ranked from the best to worst.
The Key
3 Stars = Elite MLB Player
2 Stars = Solid MLB Player
1 Star = Average MLB Player
#1 HLR
Loaded, more than loaded………………………. Lead by Vladimir Guerrero, if you’re looking to trade for prospects HLR is the place to go. Beware HLR is a hustler and values his prospects and in a few years his team is going to be killing it. Hustle is going to win many championships if you believe in building from the bottom up. The only downside is HLR only has one prospect who might make the majors this year, he’s a good one too, Willie Calhoun. Minor League score 50.
2018 MLB Ready
TEX OF Calhoun, Willie
3 Star Players
ALT SP Allard, Kolby
NYM UT Alonso, Peter
TOR 3B Guerrero Jr., Vladimir
LAD LF Heredia, Starling
MIN SS Javier, Wander
DET SP Manning, Matt
PHL RF Ortiz, Jhailyn
MIL LF Harrison, Monte
TB LF Sanchez, Jesus
HOU RF Tucker, Kyle
#2 TBD
Almost the top minor league team, it was very close that’s for sure since the Joey Wentz trade. TBD was going to drop Brian McCann anyway, good for TBD. The rich get richer in my opinion………………………. TBD’s minor league team is stacked with Eloy Jimenez, who is a year away, and Walker Buehler, who could be the NL Rookie of the Year in 2018. TBD probably has the best 2018 MLB ready players, led by Buehler and Lewis Brinson. TBD’s experience evaluating minor league talent is unquestionable. Minor league score 49.
2018 MLB Ready
BAL RF Hays, Austin
MIL CF Brinson, Lewis
HOU SP/RP Paulino, David
MIL SP Woodruff, Brandon
STL SP Helsley, Ryan
LAD SP Buehler, Walker
3 Star Players
CHC SP Albertos, Jose
MIL CF Brinson, Lewis
CHW LF Jimenez, Eloy
LAD SP May, Dustin
DET SP Perez, Franklin
LAD SP Buehler, Walker
BAL RF Hays, Austin
Alt SP Wentz, Joey
#3 IL4W
IL4W was only one three-star pitcher away from being the top minor league squad. IL4W team is led by strong pitching with Michael Kopech, Braxton Garrett and Cal Quantrill. IL4W has the best group of minor league pitching in the league. IL4W also has young Kevin Maitan who found a new home in Anaheim. IL4W has help on the way this year with Alex Verdugo and Victor Robles, who are projected to be fantasy stars. HLR, IL4W and TBD’s minor league systems are killing it and the rest of us wish we had ¼ of the 3-star prospects they have. I tip my hat to all three teams. Minor league score 47.
2018 MLB Ready
PHI UT Alfaro, Jorge
KC SP Skoglund, Eric
LAD CF Verdugo, Alex
WAS RF Robles, Victor
3 Star Players
OAK LF Armenteros, Lazaro
MIA SP Garrett, Braxton
CHW SP Kopech, Michael
OAK SP Luzardo, Jesus
ATL SS Maitan, Kevin
SD SP Quantrill, Cal
MIL RF Grisham, Trent
WAS RF Robles, Victor
LAD SP Sheffield, Jordan
#4 Long Ball
Long Ball =’s Ronald Acuna, the favorite to become 2018 NL Rookie of the Year. Acuna ripped through three levels of the minors and AFL, there’s no doubt Acuna is ready to be a MLB All Star. Sean Reid-Foley has a 97-mph fast ball with a competitive edge. Long Ball also has some nice power coming up with Bobby Dalbec and pure hitter Bo Bichette just a couple of years away. Minor league score 37.
2018 MLB Ready
MIL SP Ortiz, Luis
CHC C Caratini, Victor
STL OF O’Neill, Tyler
ATL OF Acuna, Ronald
3 Star Players
ALT CF Acuna, Ronald
WAS SS Kieboom, Carter
TOR SP Reid-Foley, Sean
WAS RF Soto, Juan
SD SS Ruiz, Esteury
#5 Night King’s Undead Army
The Night Kings have the best pitching prospect in the game, Alex Reyes, but coming off TJS surgery. They also have eight two-star prospects. MLB ready players include Hunter Dozier, who will probably start the season with the Royals but playing time will be a question. Kyle Zimmer also has a chance to break camp with the Royals. Why did The Foundation change their name? Just to confuse me?????? Minor league score 36
2018 MLB Ready
KC 2B Dozier, Hunter
STL SP Reyes, Alex
KC SP Zimmer, Kyle
CHW RP Fulmer, Carson
3 Star Players
ATL SP Anderson, Ian
BOS SP Groome, Jason
BAL 3B Reyes, Jomar
STL SP Reyes, Alex
#6 Senior Squids
Not an earth shattering minor league roster. After the 2016 season the Squids reconstructed the minor league roster and concentrated on pitching. Hoping the likes of Honeywell, Alcantara, Duplantier and Whitley will be the foundation of his team for years to come. News broke recently that Mariner prospect Eric Filia was suspended 50 games for a second positive drug test. Filia hit .326 at Modesto in 2017 and won the Arizona Fall League battle title with a .408 average. Hopefully he gets his drug addiction taken care, and get back on the field and bring a world championship to Seattle. It’s kind of weird evaluating my own team, feel free to throw me under the bus. Minor league score 35
2018 MLB Ready
CIN LF, Winker, Jesse
TB SP Honeywell, Brent
SD RF Renfroe, Hunter
MIA SP Alcantara, Sandy
TB SP De Leon, Jose
CHW RP Vieira, Thyago
3 Star Players
TB 3B Lowe, Josh
SEA RF Lewis, Kyle
MIA SP Alcantara, Sandy
ARI SP Duplantier, Jon
HOU SP Whitley, Forrest
#7 Beach Bum
The Beach Bums have a balanced minor league team with lots of up and coming MLB talent, led by Gleyber Torres. Torres is slated to bat ninth and play 2B for the Yankees, who have the best line up in the majors. The Beach Bums have quite a few minor players that will hit the majors this year, especially with Oakland A’s. I’m a big fan of A J Puk who has huge K upside. The Beach Bums also have Austin Meadows who is #17 on MLB’s prospects and could make the Pirates roster if Andrew McCutchen is traded (ed. note: he was!). Minor league score 33
2018 MLB Ready
OAK SP Puk, AJ
OAK SP Holmes, Grant
NYY SS Torres, Gleyber
PIT CF Meadows, Austin
MIN SP Gonsalves, Stephen
3 Star Players
PHI 2B Kingery, Scott
PIT CF Meadows, Austin
OAK SP Puk, AJ
PHI SP Sanchez, Sixto
NYY SS Torres, Gleyber
#8 Team Hydra
Hydra has a very strong group of 2-star minor leagues, which include Corey Ray if he can find his stroke after a sub par 2017 season. Hydra’s strength is his MLB ready prospects. Francisco Mejia and Jorge Mateo both will make strong pitches for regular playing time this year. Additionally, Daniel Volgelbach will be fighting to win the 1B job with the Mariners, who adds lots of pop if he can do it in the majors. Minor league score 29
2018 MLB Ready
SEA 1 Vogelbach, Dan
CLE C Mejia, Francisco
OAK OF Fowler, Dustin
OAK SS Mateo, Jorge
3 Star Players
LAD SP Alvarez, Yadier
OAK SP Kaprielian, James
PIT SP Keller, Mitch
TEX CF Taveras, Leody
#9 The Wilfred Brimley Fighting Diabeetuses
First, “The Wilfred Brimley Fighting Diabeetuses” has to be the strangest / craziest fantasy team name I’ve ever heard. What’s the story behind the name, WB? Does anyone know? WB has a strong core of three-star prospects that include Jack Flaherty, who could find himself in the Cardinals rotation and be a solid #3. Riley Pint is a complete pitcher with a plus fastball who is a top of the rotation pitcher. Fernando Tatis Jr is going to be an All-Star with an already loaded Padres prospect squad. The Padres are going to be a force to be reckoned with in a couple of years. Minor league score 26
2018 MLB Ready
COL 1B McMahon, Ryan
MIL SS Dubon, Mauricio
TEX 1B Guzman, Ronald
3 Star Players
SD SP Espinoza, Anderson
STL SP Flaherty, Jack
COL 1B McMahon, Ryan
COL SP Pint, Riley
SD SS Tatis Jr, Fernando
#10 Troompa Loompas
Jimmy Kimmel’s team has three high end prospects that includes Dylan Cease a power pitcher who’s a 97 MPH fastball, he’s the 58th ranked prospect on MLB.com. TL should have three players get some MLB playing time this year led by Franklin Barreto who is line drive hitter and could hit .280. My favorite player on his roster is Matt Thaiss who can hit HR’s and knows how to work the count. Minor league score 25
2018 MLB Ready
OAK SS Barreto, Franklin
ARI SP Banda, Anthony
NYY SP Adams, Chance
3 Star Players
CHW SP Cease, Dylan
NYM SS Gimenez, Andres
NYM SP Scapucki, Thomas
#11 Preseason Double-Stuffs
The Oreos have two of the best up and coming infield prospects in our league, Brendon Rogers and Nick Senzel. Late word out of Cincinnati is they want Senzel to learn how to play the OF, which should speed up his callup and he might make the Cincinnati team to start the season. Senzel is Cincinnati’s #1 prospect and 9th overall. Brendon Rogers is the 7th overall prospect and is a middle of the order player at Coors Field, the Oreos will be double stuffing their two prize prospects this year. They also have Luiz Gohara, who Atlanta got from my Mariners. Gohara has #2 stuff. On kind of a strange note, the Double Stuffs have two of the top catching prospects in the league, Chance Sisco and Carson Kelly. However, Kelly is stuck behind Yadier Molina and he’s not going anywhere. I really like the Double Stuffs minor league roster. Minor league score 23.1
2018 MLB Ready
CIN 3B Senzel, Nick
COL SS Rodgers, Brendan
STL C Kelly, Carson
ATL SP Gohara, Luiz
BAL C Sisco, Chance
3 Star Players
COL SS Rodgers, Brendan
CIN 3B Senzel, Nick
CIN UT Trammell, Taylor
ATL SP Gohara, Luiz
#12 Capital City Ironmen
The Capital City Ironmen have nine two-star major league prospects and no three-star prospects. That could be all fake news and CC could have 9 three-star prospects and championships the next five years. This could cause the Hustler to curl up in the fetal position in a bathroom at Dodger Stadium. His squad is led by JP Crawford who will finally get his chance with Phillies batting 7th. They also have Oscar De La Cruz who is on the fast track and will be a middle of the rotation pitcher with fantasy upside. I also like Yordan Alvarez who has 25 HR upside. Minor league score 23
2018 MLB Ready
PHI 3B Crawford, JP
CLE SP Bieber, Shane
LAA SP Barria, Jaime
TOR LF Gurriel, Lourdes
PIT SS Newman, Kevin
3 Star Players
N/A
#13 Who’s Your Haddy?
Who’s Your Haddy’s top two prospects are a few years away. Adonis Medina is slated as a #2 with lots of K upside in his future, but could end up in the bullpen. Their top prospect, Estevan Florial is capable of .300+ BA, 20+ HR, and 25+ SB. Major League ready David Dahl is on Haddy’s minor league roster and will be Colorado’s OF of the future. Amir Garrett is slated to start in the bullpen but has #3 starter stuff and will start on the major league roster in 2018. Minor league score 18.1
2018 MLB Ready
CIN SP Garrett, Amir
COL LF Dahl, David
3 Star Players
NYY CF Florial, Estevan
PHI RP Medina, Adonis
3 Star Players 2018 MLB Ready
NYY CF Florial, Estevan CIN SP Garrett, Amir
PHI RP Medina, Adonis COL LF Dahl, David
#14 Team Canada
Team Canada’s minor league has limited 3-star talent except for Isan Diaz who has huge power upside but is a few years away. However, they do have a few players that should make their MLB debut this year. Tyler Mahle has an excellent chance to become a solid fantasy contributor this year. Jordan Patterson can contribute a .270 avg and 20 HR’s. Finally, Erick Feddie should also make his debut, however he did have Tommy John surgery in 2014. He has #3 stuff. Minor league score 18
2018 MLB Ready
CIN SP Mahle, Tyler
COL RF Patterson, Jordan
WAS SP Fedde, Erick
3 Star Players
MIL SS Diaz, Isan
#15 Evil Otters
First, like The Foundation/Night King’s Undead Army, the Otters also changed their name and ownership. We miss you Dusty and I hope your health is improving. I was a little surprise the Otters traded one of their top prospects for a part time catcher for the coming season. There not much squid in the cooler but the Otters do have a couple of sleepers I really like. Jorge Ona and Will Benson are capable of 30 HR’s a season. The only player I see making it onto an MLB roster this year is Domingo Acevedo, who is slated to start in the bullpen. FYI, I’m not a fan of the Otters short name “666” What’s up with that???? Minor league score 16
2018 MLB Ready
NYY RP Acevedo, Domingo
3 Star Players
TEX SP Speas, Alex
NYY RP Acevedo, Domingo
#16 We Talk Fantasy Sports
Momma’s cupboard is empty with an open jar of stale Oreo cookies. Slack chatting with We Talk mentioned that his priority was drafting major league ready players, which explains why he has no fresh cookies. We Talk has two really nice prospects, Adbert Alzolay and Corbin Burnes, who are high level prospects that could see action in 2019. In 2018 We Talk Fantasy Sports should have Dillion Peters fight for a rotation spot with MIA, which shouldn’t be that hard considering what has happened down south, and he still has Byron Buxton right? Minor league score 10
2018 MLB Ready
MIA SP Peters, Dillon
3 Star Players
CHC SP Alzolay, Adbert
MIL SP Burnes, Corbin
Conclusion: I had a lot of fun and learned a lot putting all of this together. Absolutely no hard feelings towards any of the teams, it’s just one opinion. I believe to be successful is a dynasty baseball league it’s a must to have a strong minor league squad. I asked my baseball friends on the right and the left and they said the article is “fake news” because they are only minor league prospects and you never know, plus most of them are young adults. If I missed on any prospects or you disagree with the article please post on slack. Please, I have no intention to be mean and only trying to make the league better.
We are getting close to the Super Two deadline, which FanGraphs explains here. That means that teams will start calling up some of their more talented prospects from the minor leagues. I went and got all the stats from MILB.com from all AA and AAA leagues and used our scoring system to calculate which players were having the best seasons. I then downloaded the list of all players from Fantrax to see which of these players were owned and by who (whom?).
Starting Pitchers
There are 46 pitchers with at least 300 points scored between AA/AA compared to 39 MLB pitchers. Beach Bum (Daniel Mengden, Zach Eflin, Josh Hader -67th pick in rookie draft) and Long Ball to LF (Jameson Taillon – 28th, Chad Kuhl, Joe Musgrove – 69th) each had three minor league pitchers make the list
Musgrove, Mengden, Herrera, Jason Wheeler, Ben Lively and Aaron Wilkerson have been impressive in both AA and AAA.
Batters
Making 300 points the cutoff again, I found 34 hitters in the Minor Leagues compared to 57 in the Majors. TBD owns four of the top 36 bats – Peter O’Brien, Tyler O’Neill – 187th, Willy Adames – 115th and Matt Chapman – 130th.
