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Kevin's fantasy baseball prospect sleepers, risers in the lower minors. These are fantasy baseball dynasty gems in Low-A ball to target in fantasy for 2025.
Top prospects are some of the most valuable commodities you can have on your dynasty roster, but once they're at the top of prospect lists, it's likely too late to try and acquire them for a reasonable price. One of the best ways to gain an edge in your dynasty leagues is by monitoring the minor leagues for prospect risers that will be top prospects before they gain widespread recognition and end up at the top of prospect lists.
To find these gems, we'll look in the lower minor leagues for youngsters who are showing great productivity and upside for their age. If you can go to a bar and buy a drink, I'm not as interested in what you're doing in Low-A.
Some prospects like Jesus Made and Felnin Celesten are off to good starts this season, but they're already pretty highly ranked on prospect lists, so they don't have as much room to climb. Let's take a look at some early-season risers in Low-A. If they're available for cheap or free, you should consider acquiring them before their price gets too high.
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Luis Pena, SS, Milwaukee Brewers
Jesús Made was the talk of the prospect world this offseason as he put up big numbers for the Brewers' DSL team at 17 years old. However, it looks like there was another budding star getting much less hype on a similar path to Made in his teammate, Luis Peña.
Last year, also at 17 years old, Peña posted a 173 WRC+ in the DSL, compared to 167 for Made, with a matching 8.2 percent strikeout and walk rate. He stole 39 bases in the process.
This season, the Brewers skipped Peña over complex ball right to Low-A, and he has continued to impress. As the third youngest player in Low-A (behind Made and another player coming up in this article), he has a 147 WRC+ (compared to 122 for Made) while having a 7.6 percent strikeout rate and 10.6 percent walk rate.
One aspect of Peña's game that has shown improvement early this season is his swing decisions. While his K-BB rate in the DSL was impressive, he was viewed as more of a free swinger. He's increased his contact rate this season to 83.5 percent and lowered his swinging-strike rate to 8.1 percent while facing much tougher pitching.
On the surface, the one hole you can poke in Peña's game is his lack of power. He only hit one home run last season in 184 PA, and he has one this season in 66 PA. However, he's hit a ton of extra-base hits. He tallied 16 doubles and six triples last season and has six doubles so far this season. He has also put up incredibly impressive exit velocities for a player his age.
Luis Peña is creating some chaos down in Carolina, already ranking 2nd in the Carolina League with 10 SB
In his first 8 games:
🔥.442 OBP
🔥80% Contact
🔥106.4 mph 90th percentile EV
🔥19% Chase#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/xpwVQrd1G6— Brewers Player Development (@BrewersPD) April 15, 2025
Peña is far from a slap hitter. His exit velocities and ability to hit for extra bases are both indicators that home runs will be in his future as his body continues to mature.
I don't think I saw Peña on any Top-100 prospect list this offseason, but he's quickly risen to become a top 50 fantasy prospect and is continuing to climb. If you can get him for yesterday's prices, you should jump at the chance to acquire him before his stock soars.
Braylon Payne, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers are really brewing something special in Carolina, where the Mudcats have one of the most exciting lineups in the minors. We've already talked about Made and Peña, but Braylon Payne has been another major riser this season.
The Mudcats' lineup also has a number of other borderline top-100 prospects, and this level is famously where Jackson Chourio had his first prospect breakout, and we know what a superstar he has become.
Regarding Payne, I'll start by saying that I didn't like his swing when I evaluated him for my FYPD last season. Turns out, you should always bet on smart development organizations to fix any potential mechanical flaws in talented players they invest so highly in.
His swing already looks much cleaner than it did as an amateur, and he's putting up big numbers. Last season, after being drafted 17th overall out of high school, he was assigned directly to Low-A and immediately opened eyes.
He had a 225 WRC+ and a matching 15.8 percent strikeout and walk rate. However, this was in only 19 PA, and he had a .538 BABIP.
This year, back in Low-A, he's showing that he wasn't a fluke. He has a 133 WRC+ with two HRs and 11 SBs. His strikeouts have gone up a bit to 25.0 percent, but he's still walking 16.5 percent of the time.
Braylon Payne will be 18 years old for nearly all of the 2025 season. He's already tapping into more power and still has some optimization to be had in his swing. Payne covers a ton of ground in CF, and I clocked him as a 70 runner on a home-to-first sprint. Legit t100 prospect. pic.twitter.com/3V4YcfwciL
— Chris Clegg (@ChrisCleggMiLB) April 24, 2025
Payne, like Peña, is one of my top 50 fantasy prospects. Peña might get the slight edge due to his better bat-to-ball skills, but you can't go wrong with either of these early-season prospect rocket ships.
Andrew Salas, 2B/OF, Miami Marlins
A couple of years ago, when discussing top prospects, Ethan Salas was getting penciled in as the next great young catcher despite being only 16 years old. He's since struggled in some extremely aggressive assignments (as the Padres always do) and has seen his prospect shine dull quite a bit.
His brother, Andrew Salas, has now made his way stateside in an extremely aggressive assignment (must be in the blood). The Marlins assigned the newly turned 17-year-old (turned 17 in March) Salas to Low-A, and he's the youngest player at the level by almost a full year.
Unlike his brother, he has excelled in his aggressive assignment early on. Salas has a 154 WRC+ through 55 PA while walking more than he has struck out (27.3 percent to 21.8 percent).
Game-tying RBI single for Andrew Salas
Dillon Head scored after a ridiculous jump toward third base.#Marlins | @GoHammerheads pic.twitter.com/wX9IyfW63S
— Fish on the Farm (@marlinsminors) April 24, 2025
There are some holes in Salas' early start, considering he has a .393 BABIP, so regression is coming, and only two extra-base hits (.075 ISO). However, this level of production from a kid who should be a junior in high school in full-season ball cannot be ignored.
Salas should be valued as a top 100 prospect and is looking like a better fantasy asset than his much more famous brother.
Slade Caldwell, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
While I don't want to put too much pressure on him by saying Slade Caldwell will be as good as Corbin Carroll, the Diamondbacks have shown that they can develop athletic short-king outfielders extremely well.
After getting drafted out of high school 29th overall last summer, Caldwell got assigned to Low-A for his first full professional season, and he has been excellent. He has a 188 WRC+ so far this season with a .207 ISO.
To pour a little cold water on his start, Caldwell has a .531 BABIP and is striking out 29.8 percent of the time (although he is walking 23.8 percent of the time) so there will likely be some regression coming but he's been so good that even after his statline regresses a bit, it will still be incredibly strong.
He also only has a super low 27.3 percent swing rate. This low swing rate, plus impressive damage when swinging, kind of reminds me of Emmanuel Rodriguez.
This time last year, Slade Caldwell was starring for Valley View HS in Jonesboro, Ark.
Now, the @Dbacks prospect is slugging homers for the @VisaliaRawhide! pic.twitter.com/pYCWOKGCPx
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 11, 2025
As the season progresses, we'll see if he starts to swing the bat a bit more and how much BABIP regression he'll have, but overall, Caldwell also looks like a top 50 prospect and arguably the top high school bat from this previous draft class.
Eduardo Tait, C, Philadelphia Phillies
Unlike the above four prospects, Eduardo Tait has a little bit more professional track record. He was signed as an international free agent and began his career in the DSL at 16 in 2023.
In 2023, he had a 147 WRC+ in the DSL while showing a solid hit tool for a young catcher. In 2024, he had a 125 WRC+ across Rookie Ball and Low-A, but his strikeout rate in Low-A was high at 28.9 percent.
This season, he was sent back to Low-A and is showing both an improved hit tool and emerging power. While he only has a 111 WRC+, which has come with a lowered 21.0 percent K-rate, he's already hit four HRs, including a few with big exit velocities.
113.8 mph | 424 ft -- at 18 years old! 😯@Phillies No. 4 prospect Eduardo Tait demolishes his fourth homer in the past 10 games for the Single-A @Threshers: pic.twitter.com/utrQJAidUX
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 22, 2025
Tait is my favorite catching prospect not on the doorstep of the majors. He has big power upside with a decent hit tool. He takes a hit in OBP leagues, as he has never had a walk rate of around eight percent in any season of his career, and he won't provide any speed. However, he should still be valued as a borderline top 100 prospect.
Other Prospect Risers in Low-A
- Aroon Escobar, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies
- A.J. Ewing, 2B/OF, New York Mets (promoted to High-A)
- Caleb Bonemer, 3B/SS, Chicago White Sox
- Josh Adamczewski, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers
- Franklin Arias, SS, Boston Red Sox (promoted to High-A)
- Alfredo Duno, C, Cincinnati Reds
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