With the Super Two deadline (for a quick refresher on the concept, read this) fast approaching, this is the time of year when those precocious young players who have been ripping through the minor leagues start to arrive in The Show in droves.
Looking to avoid player arbitration with some of their best prospects for an extra year, teams, especially small-market ones, have recently adopted the strategy (unofficially of course, so as not to anger the MLBPA) of keeping those prospects in the minors until after the deadline (which usually passes in early- to mid-June).
Once that deadline passes, however, we’ll see some of the minors’ best cracking the big leagues. Just last year, Gerrit Cole and Wil Myers were brought along this way before being thrust into the middle of pennant races. Here are some prospects that will likely be getting a call-up soon. You might want to leave a roster spot available for these guys and give them a long look in redraft leagues.
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
Top 3 MLB Prospects
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Gregory Polanco RF - Pittsburgh
The Pirates have been at the forefront when it comes to implementing the arbitration-avoiding strategy outlined above, doing so a year ago with Cole and this year with its top prospect, Polanco. The 22-year old is universally regarded as a five-tool player and currently sits at No. 3 on Keith Law’s top prospects list.
That ranking is ten spots higher than where Polanco started the season, thanks to the fact that he’s raked at Triple-A this year, posting a .348/.412/.559 line and leading the International League in average and OPS. He’ll likely make an instant impact in the bigs as the Pirates try to dig themselves out of a hole in the NL Central. It’s possible that Polanco could find himself in the leadoff spot immediately upon his arrival in the Steel City.
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Javier Baez SS - Chicago Cubs
Baez is at the center of the Cubs’ rebuilding project, a shortstop with a big bat who will likely force Starlin Castro to center field at some point in the not-so-distant future. Baez, who won’t turn 22 until December, has hit at every level, including .294 with 20 bombs in just 54 games at Triple-A last year. After a great Spring Training this year, in which he hit .308, it seemed that his option back to the minors would be short.
However, the Bayamón, Puerto Rico native slumped badly through the first month-and a half of 2014, leading some to question whether another full season in Triple-A would be good for him. In the last few weeks, though, Baez has turned his season around, hitting .425 with 11 extra-base hits, including four homers, in his last 10 games. When he first arrives on the North Side, it’ll likely be as a second or third baseman, but expect him to be the Cubs’ shortstop for a long time.
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Oscar Taveras OF - St. Louis
Taveras has been the top prospect in the incredibly deep Cardinals system for a few years now and likely would have gotten a call-up a season ago, but for one reason: the Redbirds didn’t need him. They had so much talent up and down the order that they decided to keep one of the best young players in baseball in the minors for a little longer.
There will be nothing of the sort this year, as Taveras has proven once again that he is big league ready, having posted a .325/.373/.524 line with seven home runs at Triple-A this year. He’ll likely take at-bats from the struggling Peter Bourjos when he does get the call, but the Cardinals will probably have to make a further move to free up sufficient space in the outfield for him. His defense is middling and he won’t steal bases, but he hits for average and power and could be a key piece in another Cards title run.
UPDATE: Taveras was called up Saturday, May 31 and hit a home run in his first professional game as a Cardinal. He received a standing ovation from the crowd.
