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.
Dynasty league trade deadlines are fast approaching, and like everyone else, I'll be looking to make some deals in the coming weeks. Generally, I try to avoid big selloffs or buys and deal more on the margins. I'm okay with trading major prospect packages if it's for a first or second-round caliber hitter, but I'm more likely to target an underrated mid-rotation type arm that could go on a run versus a true ace. I've been burned too much in the past by investing too heavily in big-name starting pitchers only to see them go down with injury before I have a chance to benefit. In general, though, I'm all about trading my non-top 50 prospects for more underrated pieces that can still help my roster. On the other hand, if I'm not a contending team, I might trade a reliever or an older player for prospects, but in general, I'm looking to compete again in the near term, so I pretty much never go for a full rebuild. I find that prospects are much easier to find on the wire than big league pieces and are usually overvalued due to their inherent risk.
Note: all stats current through Tuesday 8/5/25 and all minor league Statcast figures are sourced from TJ Stats.
2024 stats (DSL): 229 PA .239/.376/.348, 3 HR, 36 SB, 15.3% BB, 10.0% K 2025 stats (DSL): 202 PA .301/.426/.534, 8 HR, 34 SB, 15.8% BB, 18.8% K
Why To Pick Up
Like Gabriel Davalillo, who I wrote about last week, Luis Cova represents two buckets of players that I'm usually not too excited about. First off, he is an 18-year-old repeating the DSL. Generally, these players don't have a strong track record once they come stateside. Secondly, he is a Marlins hitting prospect who may have the worst track record for hitter development in recent years of any MLB team. However, like Davalillo, I can no longer ignore what Cova is doing.
In his second trip through the DSL, Cova is hitting for far more power as he has already nearly tripled his home run total from last season in 27 fewer plate appearances and has raised his ISO by 124 points. He's been on an insane hot streak lately, too, with five of his eight home runs coming in his last 15 games. Amazingly, he's also stolen 20 bases during that same stretch while getting caught stealing just three times. It's an incredible .386/.514/.737 slash with a 16.7% walk rate and a 9.7% strikeout rate.
Cova has some pedigree to back up his performance, as his $1.4M signing bonus was the largest from the Marlins' 2024 J15 class. Matt Thompson wrote up his offseason report and had this to say:
He's a small, lean centerfielder with plus-plus speed. He has the quick-twitch you want to see from an up-the-middle athlete and his jumps and reads in the outfield come naturally. His arm fits anywhere in the outfield, as well. Offensively, Cova makes strong swing decisions and only struck out at around a 10% clip in the DSL. A strong number for a teenager. He hit .239/.376/.348, but after a slow start, he was hitting .194/.351/.264 after the first month. Cova has posted strong exit velocity numbers for someone his age and size; he needs to find a way to hit the ball in the air more often, which is a common issue for a young hitter. You have to play the long game here, but Cova projects as an above-average centerfielder with power and speed. He should make his stateside debut in 2025
As usual, Matt knows his stuff. Cova has apparently learned how to lift the ball to get into more of that power this season. And while I know Fangraphs GB% for DSL should be taken with a huge grain of salt, it's worth noting that his rate has fallen from 48.1% a season ago all the way to 26.9% this year. It's also worth noting that while Cova's best performance has come recently, he has avoided the slow start he experienced last season. In his first month of this DSL season, Cova had a .270/.382/.446 slash. Coincidentally, I also wrote the fantasy blurb for Cova in that scouting report. Here's a snippet:
Cova is an intriguing player with a promising debut in the DSL. He showed a great approach, speed, and power potential. His slash line was brought down by a .255 BABIP, which is much lower than you would expect, particularly of a player with his speed.
In addition to the increased power, Cova has seen that BABIP jump 90 points to .345 this season. While that is a high number, Cova's double-plus speed should allow him to run higher BABIPs as he progresses.
Why To Think Twice
Among all MLB teams, the Marlins have the worst recent track record of developing position player prospects. As I write this, the Marlins have two position players on their active roster who were originally signed by the Marlins: Troy Johnston, a 28-year-old with four major league games of experience, and Javier Sanoja, a 22-year-old utility man with an 84 wRC+ and 96 games of major league experience. Every other hitter has come from outside the organization (including Connor Norby and Griffin Conine, who are on the IL). Trusting any Marlins hitting prospect, especially one so far away, to develop enough to even make the majors seems like a long shot at this point. This is especially true of a player who is repeating the DSL. Somewhat concerning is also the fact that Cova has struck out more in his second trip through the DSL, but most of that is concentrated at the beginning of the year, and his overall mark is still very good.
Final Thoughts
When I wrote up Cova this offseason, I called him a pickup in leagues of 350+ prospects based on the upside and the assumption he would start the season stateside. Repeating the DSL really knocked his stock down for me, but his recent performance shows that there is still some hope. As a result, I'll be recommending him again as a pickup in similarly sized leagues. Also, shoutout to Tom for being the only one on the team to rank Cova in the most recent update.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 350+ prospects rostered.
FAAB bid: Minimal (0-5%)
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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.
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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.
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.
Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
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.
