MLB Ready Prospects: Top 30 Power Rankings for Fantasy (Week One)

To be clear, this list is not the top 30 prospects in baseball. This is a list of the top 30 prospects who are likely going to rise to the major leagues and provide fantasy baseball value this season. The qualifications are simple: a player must not be on an active roster, they must have a clear path to the majors, and while they may have played in seasons prior to 2015, they must still have rookie eligibility. If a player is moved to the active roster of their team, they will be removed from this power rankings list and replaced.

Every year, new talent comes up from the minor leagues and takes the majors by storm. Last year, the likes of Gregory Polanco and George Springer proved to be valuable fantasy contributors after starting the season in the minor leagues.

Being that this is the first of this season-long series, I will grade each MLB prospect based on their current situation with their team, and how well they performed during spring training. So without further ado, here are my Week 1 power rankings for MLB Ready Prospects to make fantasy impacts in 2015:

 

Prospects Power Rankings for 2015 Fantasy Baseball

1. Kris Bryant (3B, CHC)
The most obvious choice on the list, Bryant is only in the minor leagues for now so the Cubs can gain an extra year of control on him. He will likely be with the club by mid-April and will provide excellent fantasy production.

2. Carlos Rodon (SP, CWS)
One of only three players from the 2014 draft to make this list, Rodon looked to have one of the rotation spots locked up after Sale went down. But after an impressive spring training, Rodon was sent back to the minors. Rodon looks poised to join the rotation sooner rather than later.

3. Noah Syndergaard (SP, NYM)
The Mets’ rotation is one of the youngest in baseball and only looks to get younger. Noah Syndergaard will probably follow in the footsteps of Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler as a young pitcher to join the rotation in May and excel in the role, especially if Dillon Gee struggles or is traded.

4. Francisco Lindor (SS, CLE)
The Indians are probably going to be in postseason contention for most of this season, but if they expect to make the postseason, they are going to have to put Francisco Lindor in the lineup. Either Jose Ramirez or the struggling Jason Kipnis will have to be either traded or removed from the lineup. Lindor is ready.

5. Yasmany Tomas (3B/OF, ARI)
When the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Yasmani Tomas to a six year, $68.5 million deal in December, they expected him to take over the position of either third base or one of the corner outfield positions. Bad shape and a disappointing spring training have him waiting in the minors to improve. He shouldn’t be in the minors for long and with his game-changing power, he could be a major impact bat on any fantasy roster.

6. J.T. Realmuto (C, MIA)
J.T. Realmuto is a promising offensive minded catcher sitting behind two veterans in Jeff Mathis and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He may not get the starting role right away, but he is at the very least in a position to snatch the backup role away from Mathis.

7. Andrew Heaney (SP, LAA)
Though he struggled in spring training and in his brief major league stint in September, Andrew Heaney looks like a future left-handed ace and a great one/two punch coupled with Garrett Richards at the top of the rotation now. For the time being, Heaney will stay in the minors to touch up on a few things before joining the rotation.

8. Alex Meyer (SP, MIN)
Outside of Phil Hughes, the Twins’ rotation is one of the worst in baseball. Alex Meyer is 25-years-old now, just finished a terrific season in AAA, and looks poised to join the rotation in May where he will likely have a lot of strikeouts and establish himself as a future top of the rotation starter.

9. Steve Matz (SP, NYM)
Though he likely will not get the starting time that Syndergaard will receive, Steve Matz is another young arm in a Mets’ organization that is loaded with future top-line starting pitching. If Niese is moved at any point this season, it will be Matz who steps up to take his place.

10. Blake Swihart (C, BOS)
Christian Vazquez was primed and ready to take over as the starting everyday catcher for Boston before undergoing Tommy John surgery in spring training. This has opened the door for Blake Swihart, an up and coming switch-hitting catcher to steal the spotlight and take the role of catcher from Ryan Hanigan. He just needs a little bit of tuning in AAA and then he should be ready to come up, especially if the Red Sox are in contention.

11. Marco Gonzales (SP, STL)
The battle between Marco Gonzales and Carlos Martinez was ongoing throughout the spring, and may even heat up during the season. Gonzales could be called up if Martinez shows any signs of struggle.

12. Christian Walker (1B, BAL)
I wasn’t sure about Walker at first, but the more I look at it, the more it seems obvious that he will be up at some point in 2015. Chris Davis has struggled since his suspension and could be moved to DH (especially if Steve Pearce struggles). Plus the Orioles are replacing Nick Markakis with Travis Snider which is a serious drop in offensive production. Expect Walker up by mid-May if the Orioles are in contention.

13. Jon Gray (SP, COL)
As bad as the Rockies rotation is and as good as Jon Gray has proven he can be, it is almost a no-brainer that Gray will be in the rotation in the 2015 season. The only question is whether or not he will pan out as the first pitcher to excel in Coors Field.

14. Maikel Franco (3B, PHI)
The role of starting third baseman currently belongs to Cody Asche but that may not be the case for long. Maikel Franco has hit at every level that he has played at and possesses a tremendous amount of power. He will start the season in Triple A, but with his power and low strikeout rates, look for him to quickly take the third base role if Asche struggles.

15. Jose Peraza (2B, ATL)
Jose Peraza and Andrelton Simmons are going to be the middle infielders of the Atlanta Braves for a long time and together they will provide stellar defense with Peraza being one of the best potential leadoff hitters in the game. He just needs a bit of fine tuning at AAA behind Phil Gosselin and will likely be up in the majors before too long.

16. Miguel Sano (3B, MIN)
Sano is out of options with the Twins which means that the Twins can’t afford to leave him off of their 40 man roster any longer. Expect them to not wait as long as the September expanded roster to have him up in the majors as his offensive ability has come a long way since his Tommy John surgery earlier in his minor league career.

17. Byron Buxton (OF, MIN)
Byron Buxton probably won’t be in the majors as long as most of the other people on this list, but he has all of the tools to produce at a very high level for a fantasy team if he is called up, even if just in September. But given where the Twins are at right now, he could potentially be a July call up if he impresses in Double-A and Triple-A early on.

18. Brandon Finnegan (SP, KC)
Brandon Finnegan took the baseball headlines by storm when he burst onto the scene and went from pitching in the College World Series with TCU to pitching in the MLB World Series with Kansas City in the same season. He will start the season off in the minors to work on becoming a starter but if one of the Royals’ starters struggles, look for Finnegan to be called up quickly.

19. Mark Appel (SP, HOU)
Many thought Mark Appel was major league ready as soon as he was drafted but the Astros decided against it. Appel has been going through a slow process in the minor leagues, but this ought to be the season that he rises up and joins the Astros rotation.

20. Michael Lorenzen (SP, CIN)
Lorenzen had an impressive outing in spring training this season but unsurprisingly was sent to the minors to work on command. If the Reds are sellers at the deadline, which they will likely be, they will probably trade Johnny Cueto leaving an open spot in the rotation that is likely to be filled by Lorenzen if he is sharp at Double-A.

21. Addison Russell (SS, CHC)

22. Domingo Santana (OF, HOU)

23. Kyle Crick (SP, SFG)

24. Aaron Nola (SP, PHI)

25. Andrew Susac (C, SF)

26. Austin Hedges (C, SDP)

27. Jameson Taillon (SP, PIT)

28. Dylan Bundy (SP, BAL)

29. Steven Moya (OF, DET)

30. Matt Wisler (SP, ATL)