AFL Top 10 Players To Watch This Season

[Greg Ambrosius]

If you ever get the chance to attend the Arizona Fall League games in October and November, you really should do it. For the last dozen years I've been going to Phoenix as part of Ron Shandler's Arizona Fall League Symposium and every year I like it more and more. Seeing these top prospects in the front rows of stadiums is something special and the seminars at the AFL Symposium provide you with insights into these prospects that you can't get anywhere else. It's a great time.

Two years ago you could have seen Bryce Harper and Mike Trout on the same team in the AFL, batting 2nd and 3rd. That was a special season as the AFL also had Wil Myers, Nolan Arenado, Gerrit Cole, Andrew Cashner, Ben Revere, Yasmani Grandal, Tyson Ross, Jedd Gyrko and Brandon Crawford, just to name a few. Last season saw the likes of Billy Hamilton, Anthony Rendon, Christian Yelich, Nick Franklin, James Paxton, Kyle Gibson, Mike Zunino, Jarred Cosart, Nick Castellanos and George Springer.

This year the AFL provided another stellar class of MLB prospects. In fact, I think the depth of talent gets better and better every year. The early years of the AFL saw poor pitching and even worse defense, but things have improved of late as pitching depth all across baseball is better.

I'm sure there are NFBC guys who saw more AFL games than I did, but I'll give you my Top 10 prospects to watch for fantasy purposes from this year's group:

1. Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota: It's plain to see after just watching him for a few minutes why he's the best prospect in baseball. He's all business at the plate and he knows what he's doing there. He doesn't wiggle the bat around or jump in and out of the box, he just sets himself in and then takes a fluid swing where the ball just jumps off his bat. He hit only .212 in the AFL with three homers, eight RBIs and two walks in 52 at-bats before he was shut down with a strained left shoulder, but he proved enough in his short time there. He's going to be a superstar very soon and a fixture in the majors by 2015. It's possible that he reaches the majors next season, but the Twins may let him play the whole season in the minors rather than rush him since he is only 19. He will start this season at Double-A.

2. Alex Meyer, SP, Minnesota: He's a 6'9" right-hander who the Twins acquired from Washington in the Denard Span trade. That's like trading a power forward for a point guard. Meyer had a shoulder strain this year that limited him to only 78 innings in the minors, but he did strike out 100 batters between Rookie League and Double-A. In the AFL, he went 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 7 starts with a 3.12 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 26 innings. He also walked only 7 batters and finished with a 1.04 WHIP. He was the starting pitcher in the Rising Stars game and he easily hit 95-98 mph in that game while throwing three shutout innings. He's going to start the season in the minors, but this sure looks like a front-line SP who will get the call at some point next season and will deliver.

3. Aaron Sanchez, SP, Toronto: Wow, watch this guy pitch just once and you'll see one of the most fluid deliveries and one of the most active arms in baseball. This guy can be dominating and will be a front-line starter in Toronto in a couple of years. He might not see the majors next year since he's just 20 and reached only Hi-A last year, but this is a guy you want to lock onto right now. He went 2-1 in the AFL in six starts with a 1.16 ERA and 0.94 WHIP as he struck out 20 in 23.1 IP, while allowing only 11 hits and 11 walks. Give him time and you're going to love this kid.

4. Kris Bryant, 3B, Cubs: The number 2 overall pick of last year's MLB draft certainly looks like a big-time player. He's 6'5" and 215 pounds and his power is legitimate. He won the AFL's MVP Award as he led the league with 6 home runs and 17 RBIs, while hitting .364 with a .457 OBP. He did strike out 23 times in 77 at-bats and I have to admit that I've never seen anyone with a wider stance than Bryant, who generates all of his power with his upper body. It's an odd swing, but it seems to work. His biggest concern is defensively as he's a marginal third baseman at best, proving that in the Rising Stars Game with two errors. The Cubs will try to keep him at third base, but he could eventually become a corner outfielder. Either way, he's a big part of the Cubs' rebuilding plans and it wouldn't surprise me if he starts 2014 at Double-A and gets a late season promotion to Wrigley Field.

5. Addison Russell, SS, Oakland: The 11th overall pick in the 2012 draft more than held his own last year at Hi-A Stockton as a 19-year-old, hitting .275-17-60 with 21 stolen bases and he easily shined in the AFL as he hit .282 with five stolen bases and a .361 OBP. He's smooth defensively with very good range and he can definitely handle the bat. This guy has a clear path to the majors and will hold down the shortstop spot for years to come. He's another one who will start out at Double-A and could arrive late in the season.

6. Austin Hedges, C, San Diego: This kid will arrive in the majors soon because his arm is as strong as it gets behind the plate. He threw out two baserunners in the Rising Stars Game and has a big-league arm. However, his bat isn't ready for the bigs just yet as he hit .273 with no homers, six RBIs and 14 strikeouts in 55 at-bats. But expect him in the majors sometime soon because this is one big-time arm.

7. Kyle Crick, SP, San Francisco: We all love power arms and this 2011 first round pick has one of the liveliest arms in the minors. The 2011 first round pick struck out 95 batters in 68.1 IP at Hi-A San Jose this year while going 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA. The 6'4" right-hander consistently hit 97-98 mph on the gun and he manhandled AFL batters, striking out 24 in 15.2 IP while going 0-1 with a 2.87 ERA. The 20-year-old still needs to work on his control (11 walks), but this is a lively arm that will find its way to the majors in the next two years. Keep an eye on Crick.

8. Marcus Stroman, SP, Toronto: This is Flash Gordon again, I'm telling you. Watch him just one time and you'll have flashbacks to Flash. Man, can this little guy bring the heat. Drafted 22nd overall by the Blue Jays in 2012, Stroman went 9-5 with a 3.30 ERA at Double-A New Hampshire last year while striking out 129 batters in 111.2 innings. He walked only 27 batters in the minors and finished with a 1.13 WHIP. Stroman limited AFL hitters to a .186 average and struck out 13 in 11.2 innings. Toronto wants to make him into a starting pitcher, but he almost looks like a late innings guy to me. Either way, he's fun to watch and could be a solid contributor sooner rather than later.

9. Jorge Alfaro, C, Texas: I will be surprised if the Rangers sign Brian McCann to a three-year contract knowing that Alfaro is waiting in the wings. This kid is only 20 and he might have an even stronger arm than Hedges. It's a 70 arm and yet his bat is improving as he hit .386 in the AFL with 11 RBIs in 19 games. He's probably two years away from the majors, but his arm might get him to Arlington sooner than that. Keep an eye on him and let's see if the majors set back his timetable by signing McCann this off-season.

10. C.J. Cron, 1B, Angels: The 17th overall pick of the 2011 draft had a bummer 2013 minor-league season but all he did in the AFL is hit and hit and hit. He led the league with a .413 average and 56 total bases, while finishing second in the AFL with five homers and 20 RBIs. He had a .467 OBP and only 11 strikeouts in 80 at-bats. Every time I saw him he hit the ball hard and he hit it to all fields. At 6'4", 235, he sure looks like a Mark Trumbo replacement and I could see him reaching the majors in the next two years.

I also loved OF Stephen Piscotty of St. Louis (.371-1-18 with 7 SBs), Cubs OF Albert Almora (.307-1-12) and Cubs OF Jorge Soler (.271-114). Soler has a big-league body already and he hit a rocket to right field in the Rising Stars Game. But he really dogged it on some balls and you can see that he's not totally focused on the job at hand. He has big league power, but you have to question whether he will ever put it all together for this franchise.

The games have already begun. And we like what we see from the deep minors.

[gpchurchill]

Great report. Thank Greg
You write well enough to cover fantasy baseball professionally....

[Joe Sambito]

Greg,

Any thoughts on Micah Johnson of the White Sox? Did you get to see him in the AFL?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg,

Any thoughts on Micah Johnson of the White Sox? Did you get to see him in the AFL?

I did not see him and I'm not real familiar with him. I liked Carlos Sanchez a lot the year before and thought he might be their future second baseman, but he didn't progress last year like I expected.