At this point it is safe to say that most owners have been following the ongoing drama between the Chicago Cubs and top prospect Kris Bryant, and no one was shocked to see him sent down to Triple-A. Owners that drafted Bryant were likely expecting this outcome and hopefully prepared accordingly. Addison Russell, a fellow top prospect for the Cubs, getting demoted was no shock either, not even to himself according to reports. The real shocker came when Javier Baez got optioned down to Triple-A, sending many owners scrambling for a new middle infielder. Today we take a look at each player’s fantasy value moving forward since the odds of seeing all three in the majors in 2015 are very high.
Kris Bryant was drafted back in 2013 by the Cubs in the first round as the second pick overall and thus far has been well worth that pick. By 2014 he was in Triple-A and had already accumulated 58 homeruns in all minor league classes combined, giving a legitimate reason to be excited for this kid. According to the 20-80 scouting scale he ranks as a 50+ hitting, 70/80 power, and a 45/50 speed. So accounting for major league pitching this could be a .280/.340/.500 hitter in the future. Owners have also seen his power in Spring Training hitting nine homeruns in the month of March, so we can add that to things to get excited about.
Now that we have that out of the way, what’s his value in 2015? Bryant will probably be up after he spends the twelve days in Triple-A, and will likely be either a 3B or OF when he does make his debut, or if owners are lucky get both during the course of the season. There are many reasons to get excited but it is always prudent to temper expectations since owners do not want to fall into that overhype trap. However, given his ability to take a walk, averaged a 14 percent walk rate in the minors, he could balance out his high strikeout rate, and the power will also make up for the 25 percent strikeout rate. Overall value of Bryant could be very special indeed, but owners should really temper the expectations since Bryant has yet to face MLB level pitching. His 2015 slash line could be closer to .250/.320/.480 with 20 home runs, and while that is still very good remember that he is being drafted in the eighth round.
Javier Baez was something to watch last year for many reasons and one of those reasons was a good showing of power. In 220 plate appearances he recorded nine home runs, which is an average of a home run every 24 plate appearances. If he had reached 500 plate appearances then he would have ended the season with 20 home runs by seasons end and for a rookie that is not half bad. In the minors Baez was rated by the 20-80 scale as a 60 hitter, 75 power, and 55 speed. He did show the power during his short stay in the majors, and proved to be a potential 30-plus home run hitter in the future.
That second thing people watched with Baez was his amazing ability to cool of the fans since he did a fair amount of swinging and missing. Baez struck out last year 41 percent of the time, which is insane by the way, and only hit for a .169/.227/.324 slash line. If you do the same math to Baez’s strikeouts he would have ended 2015 with 227 strikeouts if he had 500 plate appearances. Being sent to the minors is probably for the best and owners may want to get used to him down there. With Addison Russell in the wings and ready for the call up, and players like Tommy La Stella and Arismendy Alcantara to take up the bulk of second base duty till Russell is ready there is no rush to get Baez back up. Unless owners are in a deep league or have him in a dynasty/keeper league feel free to cut him loose and grab him later.
No one was shocked about Addison Russell’s demotion since no one was really paying any attention to him in the first place. To be fair with Bryant hitting as well as he was and most assuming that Russell would not make the team in the first place it made sense. Russell should get the call later this year if all goes well, and he should be on owner’s radars now. On the 20-80 scale he ranks as a 60 across the board and has shown an increased ability in the minors to draw walks and lower his strikeout rate. This is a player that could come up and be a 20/10 player almost immediately, and later in his career maybe a 25/20 player so owners should be keeping an eye on him now.