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Three top fantasy baseball prospects - Kade Anderson, Braden Montgomery, Thomas White - that can make big impacts. These MLB prospects are waiver wire pickups or stashes.
Finding high-impact prospects on the waiver wire can provide your fantasy team with a much-needed boost. During the second half of the 2025 season, managers who picked up Nolan McLean received near ace-level production over the final month of the season and likely played a major role in securing a championship.
Below, we will check in on three of the top prospects in all of the minor leagues and determine if managers should still view them as priority stash targets in Week 8.
Should fantasy managers stash these high-end prospects? Let's dive in!
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Kade Anderson, SP, Seattle Mariners
Current Level: AA
Availability: 15% rostered
2026 AA Stats: 34 IP, 1.85 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 51 SO, 5 BB
Despite being the only pitcher on our stash list who currently resides at Double-A, Kade Anderson holds the No. 1 spot on our Week 8 stash list. Even though he is two spots away from Seattle and is set to join one of the deepest staffs in the major leagues, his upside is immense, especially when comparing him to the names below.
When looking for a true "league winner," Anderson fits the bill.
The Mariners selected Anderson with the third pick in last year's MLB Draft, and the former LSU superstar has done nothing short of impressing in his first taste of professional ball. During his final season with LSU (2025), the southpaw logged 119 innings to the tune of a 3.18 ERA with a 1.06 WHIP and 180 punchouts. He concluded his college career by claiming the College World Series MVP.
Since joining Double-A, Anderson has looked even more impressive. Over his first six professional starts, the southpaw has struck out 47 hitters over 30 innings of work while holding a near-perfect 0.60 ERA with a 0.67 WHIP. He has walked only five total hitters and served up just one home run.
Over the last three games, Anderson has struck out at least eight hitters in each contest and walked only one batter.
Per the FanGraphs scouting report, Anderson boasts one of the most dominant fastballs in the minor leagues. Ahead of his professional debut, Anderson was graded with a 70 future score on this pitch and a 70 current grade, suggesting this pitch has already reached its true potential.
In terms of secondary, the southpaw has three pitches with a 60 futures score (slider, curveball, and changeup), with two of them (slider and changeup) holding 55 current scores.
As noted earlier, the only concern with Anderson's 2026 fantasy value is his path to the majors. The Mariners recently welcomed back Bryce Miller to the staff, and he will serve as a "piggyback" option alongside Luis Castillo, as Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Emerson Hancock are locked into the top four spots.
While Anderson will need an injury to one of those four to open a permanent spot, his upside is worth holding in an NA spot. Those in 12-team leagues with an open NA spot should prioritize Anderson, as he may not even need to make a start at Triple-A before earning the call.
The only prospect in the minor leagues who could have a "Nick Kurtz"-type impact in 2026 is Anderson, making him a must-stash candidate.
Kade Anderson dominated again yesterday.
Friday: 4.2 IP, H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
Season: 18.2 IP, 9 H, ER, 4 BB, 30 KFirmly in the #1 pitching prospect discussion.#TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/Q5fO31x9Xh
— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) April 25, 2026
-Written by Andy Smith
Braden Montgomery, OF, Chicago White Sox
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 5% rostered
2026 AAA Stats: 12 G, .300/.375/.480, 3 2B, 2 HR, 1 SB
Braden Montgomery got off to a hot start in 2026 and dominated in Double-A to the tune of a .313/.429/.606 slash line with six homers, 22 RBI, 20 runs, and two steals in 27 games. This earned him a promotion to Triple-A on May 5, and that didn't slow him down.
Four of his 10 games at the level have been of the multi-hit variety, and he already hit his second Triple-A homer on Saturday, which was a rocket that he sent out to the opposite field.
Braden Montgomery launches his eighth homer of the year, second with Triple-A @KnightsBaseball 🚀
The @whitesox No. 2 prospect is hitting .318 with an .898 OPS since his promotion: pic.twitter.com/AnXq9JateF
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 16, 2026
The 23-year-old is now up to eight long balls on the season, which is three-quarters of the way to the 12 he hit in 120 games last season. Montgomery has always been regarded as an exciting, high-upside prospect since being drafted out of high school in 2021, and it looks like we are finally seeing it all come together.
While it's uncommon for players to spend just a week or two at Triple-A before getting called up to the majors, we just saw Ewing get promoted by the Mets after only 12 games in Triple-A, and the A's didn't make Bolte sit around in the minors for longer than he needed to, either.
The White Sox are currently running out Jarred Kelenic, Tristan Peters, and Andrew Benintendi in their lineup on most days, so it would be an understatement to say Montgomery doesn't have much talent blocking his path.
It may not take too much longer of this type of production before Chicago decides to pull the trigger, giving the youngster the most favorable odds for an upcoming promotion out of the three prospects mentioned in this week's piece.
He's not perfect by any means, as his 25% strikeout rate could become a problem if that increases in the big leagues, but the upside would be worth taking a chance on in all leagues, especially since there would be no playing time concerns.
He's not someone worth preemptively stashing in most leagues, unless you play in something like a deep AL-only league with deep benches, but be on the lookout for a promotion.
- Written by Jeremy Heist
Thomas White, SP, Miami Marlins
Current Level: AAA
Availability: 10% rostered
2026 AAA Stats: 18 2/3 IP, 4.34 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 25 SO, 9 BB
2026 Prospect Fantasy Baseball Redraft Stash Rankings
Who are the top fantasy baseball prospects to know? Check out our latest 2026 prospect fantasy baseball rankings which are updated regularly by Eric Cross:
Promoted This Week: Colt Emerson (SEA)
Promoted Last Week: Henry Bolte (ATH), A.J. Ewing (NYM), Carson Williams (TBR)
Honorable Mentions (Hitters): Lazaro Montes (SEA), Harry Ford (WAS), Ryan Clifford (NYM), Gabriel Gonzalez (MIN), Zac Veen (COL), Deyvison De Los Santos (MIA), Hector Rodriguez (CIN), Blaze Jordan (STL), Jacob Melton (TBR), James Tibbs (LAD), Michael Arroyo (SEA), Jonathon Long (CHC), Jacob Gonzalez (CHW), Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (ATH), Aidan Miller (PHI), Pedro Ramirez (CHC)
Honorable Mentions (Pitchers): Hagen Smith (CHW), Jaxon Wiggins (CHC), Brody Hopkins (TBR), Jack Wenninger (NYM), Hunter Barco (PIT)
| Rank | Player | Position | Team | ETA |
| 1 | Colt Emerson | SS | SEA | Now |
| 2 | Jhostynxon Garcia | OF | PIT | Now |
| 3 | Kaelen Culpepper | SS | MIN | June |
| 4 | Kade Anderson | SP | SEA | July |
| 5 | Edwin Arroyo | 2B/SS | CIN | May |
| 6 | River Ryan | SP | LAD | June |
| 7 | Braden Montgomery | OF | CHW | July |
| 8 | Max Clark | OF | DET | July |
| 9 | Charlie Condon | 1B | COL | June |
| 10 | Luis Lara | OF | MIL | June |
| 11 | Jett Williams | SS/OF | MIL | June |
| 12 | Cooper Pratt | SS | MIL | July |
| 13 | Walker Jenkins | OF | MIN | June |
| 14 | Emmanuel Rodriguez | OF | MIN | June |
| 15 | Thomas White | SP | MIA | July |
| 16 | Esmerlyn Valdez | OF | PIT | July |
| 17 | Cole Carrigg | OF | COL | June |
| 18 | Yohandy Morales | 1B/3B | WAS | June |
| 19 | Jordan Lawlar | INF/OF | ARI | July |
| 20 | Carlos Lagrange | SP | NYY | July |
| 21 | Kemp Alderman | OF | MIA | July |
| 22 | Gage Jump | SP | ATH | July |
| 23 | Joshua Baez | OF | STL | July |
| 24 | Kevin Alcantara | OF | CHC | July |
| 25 | Jonah Tong | SP | NYM | July |
Who Should I Pickup Fantasy Baseball Tool
Trying to decide who to pick up off the waiver wire? Check the Who Should I Pickup tool:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to pickup...
2026 Player Decisions. Looking to pick up someone else instead? Today's focus is on specific players like Kade Anderson, Braden Montgomery, Thomas White, Justin Crawford, Henry Bolte, Colt Emerson, Brandon Marsh, Bryce Eldridge, Max Clark, Ryan Waldschmidt. These are some common searches for 2026 fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four MLB players at once, and then click the Who To Pickup? button to see who the recommended waiver wire pickups are based on fantasy baseball rankings, projections, and more.
Improvements For Who Should I Pickup? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Pickup? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win on the waiver wire in 2026. You'll see MLB player tiles with stats, projections, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire rankings and projections based on their research, and updates them constantly throughout the week. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup
Looking to pick up someone else instead? Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for 2026 for players like Kade Anderson, Braden Montgomery, Thomas White, Justin Crawford, Henry Bolte, Colt Emerson, Brandon Marsh, Bryce Eldridge, Max Clark, Ryan Waldschmidt:
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