A Giants fan living in San Diego, been playing fantasy baseball since 2005 and dynasty since 2021. Started the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast in June 2023 and joined Prospects Live in March of 2024.
This week, I want to introduce the concept of something I like to call a "churn prospect." This is a prospect on whom I am genuinely higher than the industry, and I feel confident cycling on and off my roster without too much worry about them being claimed. I'm in several daily moves leagues with IL spots, so I often experience expansion and contraction of my bench throughout the week, so I will frequently pick up and drop the same prospect. There is some gamesmanship involved as using one prospect for this purpose across my various leagues; I can limit my league mate's insights into which prospects I plan on picking up (at least the ones that don't sub to PLive). Last season, my churn prospect was Johnny Level. This year, it's another Giant in Dakota Jordan. This is why you will see excessive pickups and drops of Jordan in my transactions below. If he starts to get claimed when I drop him, I'll switch to a different prospect to churn to retain most of my Jordan shares.
Note: all stats current through Tuesday 4/15/25 and all minor league statcast numbers and percentiles are courtesy of TJ Stats.
I’m in 13 dynasty leagues of all different sizes and formats and make many weekly transactions. Due to this, I will include my pickups and drops from the last week below to give you an idea of who I’m targeting and moving on from. Players are in the order I currently value them. An “*” indicates that the player is highlighted in the article below.
MLB Pickups
Osvaldo Bido, J.T. Ginn (x5), Jake Mangum, Henry Davis (x2), Davis Martin, Easton Lucas, Keider Montero (x4), Alexander Canario, Jose Iglesias
MiLB Pickups
Austin Overn (x3), Janson Junk (x5), Gabriel Rincones Jr., Jonathan Santucci, Jhonny Level, Ty Floyd, Aroon Escobar, Ernesto Martinez Jr., A.J. Ewing (x3) *, Adam Serwinowski *, Dakota Jordan (x8), Otto Kemp (x2), Jack Wenninger (x2) *
MLB Drops
Nestor Cortes Jr., DJ Herz, Jake Mangum (x3), Davis Martin (x2), Tim Tawa (x5), Kyle Wright, Trevor Rogers, Dane Myers, Hunter Bigge, Calvin Faucher, Jose Tena, Ryan Bliss (x3),
MiLB Drops
Gavin Cross, Jhonny Level, Justin Wrobleski (x3), Janson Junk, Johnathan Rodriguez, Craig Yoho, Dakota Jordan (x7), Jimmy Crooks, Ramon Ramirez, Charles McAdoo, Mason Barnett, Andres Chaparro, A.J. Ewing (x2), Dominic Canzone
Mid-Week Pickups
This last week was a good one for my past recommendations. My call-up streak continued as Chase Meidroth and J.T. Ginn got the call after I wrote about them last week, and both have performed well. Barring an injury to the Phillies OF, I don't see it continuing this week. Beyond that, Carson Whisenhunt continued to avoid walks, Dasan Hill dominated, Matt Allan stayed healthy and effective, Jake Mangum hit .311 with 7 SB, and Kameron Misner started going full breakout. Let's keep the ball rolling with this week's batch of recommendations...
Gabriel Rincones Jr. - 24/OF/PHI/AAA
Height/Weight: 6’3”/225 lbs Bats: L Fantrax Rostership: 8%
Top 600 Prospect Ranking (Feb 25): 298 My Top 400 Rank (Feb 25): 234
2024 stats (CPX/AA): 294 PA .252/.347/.453, 11 HR, 23 SB, 11.6% BB, 25.2% K 2025 stats (AAA): 63 PA .293/.333/.569, 3 HR, 1 SB, 6.3% BB, 19.0% K
Why To Pick Up
Rincones was a 3rd round pick for the Phillies in 2022, who started to pick up some buzz last season with a strong showing in Double-A. This season, he's taking his skills a step further at Triple-A, making more consistent contact, significantly improving his strikeout rate, whiff rate, zone contact rate, and chase rates, and posting above-average marks in four areas. In addition, Rincones has put up truly impressive exit velocities in Triple-A, as his max of 113.9 mph is the 9th hardest-hit ball in Triple-A as of this writing. His 109.9 mph 90th percentile EV ranks 11th at the level. In addition, Rincones ranks 64th percentile or higher in average EV, barrel rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate, and hard-hit rate at the level. Rincones is also pulling the ball notably more often this season and has done a decent job pulling fly balls.
Final Thoughts
While Rincones has made several contact improvements this year, he's also seen his walk rate dip significantly in the early going due to a more aggressive approach on pitches in the zone. Additionally, Rincones has done nothing to fix the platoon issues that have plagued him, hitting just .105 against same-handed pitching this season. Despite these flaws, Rincones has made nice strides this year and looks poised to be a strong-side platoon slugger in the bigs. Max Kepler represents his most significant roadblock to that role currently, and Rincones will need to be added to the 40-man roster when the time comes. Even still, he's a good proximity gamble, particularly in a daily moves league where lefthanded platoon bats have more value.
Where to pick up: Daily lineup leagueswith 200+ prospects rostered, weekly lineup leagues with 250+ prospects rostered. FAAB bid: Minimal (0-5%)
A.J. Ewing - 20/OF/NYM/A
Height/Weight: 5’11”/160 lbs Bats: L Fantrax Rostership: 2%
Top 600 Prospect Ranking (Feb 25): 574
PLIVE+ (2025): 126
2024 stats (CPX/A): 382 PA .233/.361/.390, 10 HR, 18 SB, 16.5% BB, 28.5% K 2025 stats (A): 40 PA .424/.500/.636, 1 HR, 6 SB, 15.0% BB, 12.5% K
Why To Pick Up
The 134th pick in the 2023 draft, Ewing garnered a bit of buzz as he got off to a good start at the Complex level last season, ranking him 334 overall in last June's PLive top 500. However, after a midseason promotion to Single-A, Ewing's suspect contact collapsed, and his numbers disappointed, crashing his prospect status and knocking him off everyone's list except Tom. Kudos to Tom because Ewing looks to have significantly improved in the early going. Compared to last season, Ewing is making far better contact, going from below-average marks in whiff rate, zone contact rate, and strikeout rate to above-average marks this year. In addition to the contact gains, Ewing has been making a better quality of contact, raising his average EV to 3 mph, his 90th percentile EV to 1.5 mph, and his max EV to 0.7 mph. His barrel rate and hard-hit rate have also been boosted. The improvements aren't just isolated to this year either, as Ewing seemed to figure things out at the end of last season. In his final 17 games, Ewing slashed .328/.453/.525 with 3 HR, an 18.7% walk rate, and a 13.3% strikeout rate. Ewing has shown the defensive ability to play up the middle at 2B or CF, though he has only played OF this season.
Final Thoughts
While the improvements from late last season are impressive, it is still a relatively small sample. Ewing also repeats Single-A at age 20 and needs a promotion to High-A for a true test. Even still, Ewing is flying under the radar right now, making him a perfect name to grab in deeper leagues before the promotion comes and the hype picks up.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 400+ prospects rostered
A Giants fan living in San Diego, been playing fantasy baseball since 2005 and dynasty since 2021. Started the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast in June 2023 and joined Prospects Live in March of 2024.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
