There's been so many excellent prospects to talk about lately that I haven't been writing about drops as much lately. However, I wanted to talk about prospect churn strategy. Knowing when to let go of underperforming prospects to grab the next big thing is a valuable skill in dynasty leagues. I ask myself, "Do I think this player will get picked up?". If the answer to that question is no, or if you don't care if they get picked up, then you should drop them from your roster for a player you are more excited about. I'm always an advocate of being aggressive with churning, and at the end of the day, most of these prospects will not be valuable fantasy assets. Just because you were into a prospect last season doesn't mean you have to hold through a brutal start, particularly when no one will rush to add them from the wire until they turn around their performance. That's another key aspect: keep your drops on a watchlist. If there was something you liked about these players before, keep a close eye on them, and if they turn their performance around or start showing the skills you want to see, be ready to pounce again. For example, I recommended Will Wilson last week, but the playing time wasn't enough to avoid churning him out in some leagues to speculate on names like Ben Casparius or AJ Blubaugh. However, I'm still watching that situation closely and am ready to strike if circumstances change.

Note: all stats current through Tuesday 4/29/25 and all minor league statcast figures are sourced from TJ Stats.

Dynasty Baseball Pickups - Prospects Live
Prospects LiveTaylor Corso

My Recent Transactions

(360-750 MLB players/210-600 prospects rostered)

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. Bold names with an “*” indicate that the player is highlighted in the article below.

MLB Pickups

Andy Pages, Tim Tawa, Trevor Larnach, Ben Casparius (x4), Ryan Gusto (x3), A.J. Blubaugh (x4), Bryan King, Shelby Miller, Will Wilson (x2), Cole Henry (x2)

MiLB Pickups

Gage Jump (x6) *, Jared Thomas (x3) *, Sean Linan, Nate Dohm *, Christian Oppor (x2), Tyson Hardin, Tim Elko *, Blake Burkhalter

MLB Drops

Luis Rengifo, Joey Bart, Carson Kelly, Matt Vierling, Osvaldo Bido, A.J. Puk, Luis Matos, Mickey Moniak, J.T. Ginn, DJ Herz, DL Hall, Will Wilson (x5), Alexis Diaz, Jack Suwinski, Connor Gillispie, JT Brubaker, Erik Miller, Jakob Junis, Brent Suter

MiLB Drops

Tai Peete, Hao-Yu Lee, Cole Mathis, Khal Stephen, Adam Serwinowski, Gabriel Rincones Jr., Tyson Hardin, Dakota Jordan (x2), Jose Anderson, Robert Hassell III (x2), Jackson Baumeister, Victor Bericoto (x2), Austin Overn, Dante Nori

Mid-Week Pickups

Gage Jump - 22/SP/ATH/A+

Height/Weight: 6’0”/200 lbs
Throws: L
Fantrax Rostership: 4%

Top 600 Prospect Ranking (Feb 25): 568
My 600 Prospect Ranking (Feb 25): 347

PLIVE- (Career): 97
PLIVE- (2025): 94

Tools (2025): Fastball: 60, Curveball: 60, Slider: 55, Changeup: 45, Command: 40

2025 stats (A+): 18.0 IP, 3.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 39.0%K, 6.5%BB

Why To Pick Up

Gage was a player who intrigued me from the jump during my FYPD research, leading me to be the only one to rank him in our February prospect rankings at 347. Jump, the 73rd overall pick in last year's draft, performed very well at LSU last season after his 2023 Tommy John surgery. In his small sample pro debut this season, all he's done is shove, posting a ridiculous 32.5% K-BB rate. While his 3.50 ERA and 1.17 WHIP are good, his 2.08 FIP, .385 BABIP, and 69.4% strand rate show he pitched even better. He's also coming off a start in which he threw six shutout innings with 13 strikeouts.
The arsenal backs up the performance with two plus pitches in the fastball and curveball and a very good slider. Here's how Matt Thompson described it in his offseason scouting report:
"Jump has a unique delivery and comes at hitters from a ¾ arm slot. He gets down low in his motion and utilizes his lower half, creating one of the steeper VAAs and giving the appearance of a flat fastball. The fastball gets plenty of whiffs up in the zone and is a plus offering, sitting 92-94 and touching 97...The curveball is a high-spin pitch with a 1-to-7 break and tunnels well off the heater. He will also throw an above-average slider and a fringy changeup that only gets used against right-handers."
Matt also gave Jump mid-rotation upside. And while Matt did question the overall command, which received a 40 grade, Jump has shown few issues statistically as he has a walk rate of 6.5% and throws strikes at 66% while allowing just one home run this season.

Final Thoughts

Despite his stellar walk rate, Jump has hit two batters and thrown a couple wild pitches. He's also been an extreme flyball pitcher, garnering groundballs just 17.6% of the time. The Athletics also don't have the best track record with pitching development. Overall though, there is a lot to like here and despite the combination of performance and arsenal there is very little hype surrounding him. Now is the time to strike before he strings together a couple more great games and starts to you know what up the rankings.

Where to pick up: Leagues with 200+ prospects rostered

FAAB bid: Minimal (0-5%)

Tim Elko - 26/1B/CHW/AAA

Height/Weight: 6’3”/250 lbs
Bats: R
Fantrax Rostership: 6%

PLIVE+ (Career): 116
PLIVE+ (2025): 134

2024 stats (AA/AAA): 590 PA .289/.346/.439, 18 HR, 3 SB, 7.1% BB, 29.3% K
2025 stats (AAA): 100 PA .356/.430/.713, 9 HR, 0 SB, 11.0% BB, 28.0% K

Why To Pick Up

Where to pick up: Leagues with 350+ prospects rostered

It's time to talk about Tim Elko. Honestly, I had no intentions of writing him up despite his insane hot streak in which he hit eight homers in 10 games. I looked at Elko at various points last season and always came away underwhelmed. However, when Greg brought him up in a discord with Kyle and me, I decided that I could at least take a look. I was legitimately surprised by what I found. Elko isn't the same guy he was last year. For starters, he's hitting the ball much harder, which is challenging as Elko already ranked in the top 88th percentile in average, 90th, and max EV last season in Triple-A. Even still, Elko's average EV is up four mph to 95.4, his 90th EV is up two mph to 109, and his max is up four mph to a ridiculous 116.7 mph. That last mark might be the hardest-hit ball at the level this season, as the only ball hit harder was Rainer Nunez's 119.6 (which does not seem accurate).

However, Elko hitting the ball hard is nothing new. What is new is his increased contact, particularly in the zone. Elko's contact rate has jumped 4% this season, and his zone contact rate has jumped more than 10%, going from the 6th percentile at the level last season to the 68th percentile this year. His chase rate and whiff rates have also gotten drastically better. Elko is walking more than ever before, and while his strikeout rate doesn't stand out, it's the lowest it's been since High-A and has been steadily declining all season. In his last 12 games, Elko has a 21.8% strikeout rate. This improved contact has allowed Elko to get into his power more, as Elko has already matched last year's Triple-A home run output (9) in less than half the games. He's also posting an ISO about .200 points higher than last year.

Final Thoughts

Despite all the gains Elko has made this year, the profile still has plenty of deficiencies. While his chase and whiff rates have improved, they are still below average for Triple-A. He also struggles to pull fly balls; his ground ball rate is 52.5%. Greg asked me if I would rather have him or Luken Baker, and it's a great comp because there are a lot of similarities, right down to the fact that they both hit right-handed. I give Elko the edge, though, as he has made significant strides this year and doesn't have much standing in his way if the White Sox decide to see what he can do in the bigs. I would also take him over Otto Kemp (who hit two more home runs on Tuesday), but I have him ranked significantly lower than Ernesto Martinez Jr. (who Kyle wrote up a couple of weeks ago). I added Elko this week in a 30-team league, and deeper leagues are the place to target him based on his across-the-board improvements this season.

Where to pick up: Leagues with 350+ prospects rostered

FAAB bid: Minimal (0-5%)