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.
Hello and welcome to the Dynasty Baseball Pickups written series! This week we return to your regularly scheduled programming with five more recommendations from both Taylor and myself. With the Arizona and Florida Complex League regular seasons ending this week, I wanted to highlight a couple more players from the complex level - not because they can’t be recommended after the season is over, but because it can be more challenging to identify emerging talent when the stats stop rolling in. I’ve got a couple of arms from the same Complex level rotation, as well as a DSL hitter who should probably be stateside already, a bit of a forgotten name working his way back up the ranks, and an under-the-radar bat who deserves a lot more attention than he gets. Now, without further delay, let’s get into the names you need to know this week.
*Note: all stats current through Friday, July 25/25 and all minor league Statcast figures are sourced from TJ Stats unless otherwise stated.
Gonzalez was once a highly regarded prospect. As recently as 2023, he hit 18 home runs and stole 10 bases as a 19-year-old. However, a trade from Seattle to Minnesota came with an apparent swing change that has seen the impact decline. This year, however, he’s making more contact than ever, and since being promoted to Double-A, he’s driving the ball on a line more than ever; his 27.7% line-drive rate is a career high by more than five full percentage points. He has a very aggressive approach, swinging at more than 75% of the pitches he sees in the strike zone, and he makes it work by connecting on 86.6% of those swings. Even his contact on pitches out of the zone is above 80%. While the counting stats may never return to 2023 levels, the eight HR and six SB he’s posted in 2025 are already better than the five and five he had last year. It’s also worth noting that a back injury limited him to just 81 games in 2024 and could have had an effect on his play.
Why To Think Twice
That aggressive approach isn’t limited to pitches in the strike zone, as he also displays a 37.3% chase rate. While his contact ability helps dampen some of the strikeout concern typically associated with such a high chase rate, it also leads to lower quality of contact since he can get his bat on just about anything he decides to swing at. It may not happen this year since he’s played just 51 games in Double-A, but I’ll be interested to see his batted ball data when he moves up to Triple-A. He’s also still putting the ball on the ground too much with a 45.9% ground ball rate on the year (43.9% in Double-A).
Final Thoughts
In the Twins Top 20 Prospects article, Drew Wheeler noted that a “growth-filled 2025 is crucial to rebuild Gonzalez’s fledgling prospect value.” Gonzalez ranked as high as 45th overall back in July 2023, and although his stock is still down compared to two years ago, I think he has done well to recover some value, as Drew noted he could. That being said, he’s likely never going to be much of a power/speed threat, so the profile looks like it could come with some relatively empty ratios. It’s not an exciting profile, but one that should be owned in leagues of 200+ prospects rostered.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 200+ prospects rostered
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.
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!
Watch Path to the Show on Bally Sports Live & Stadium! | Amateur and Dynasty Team Writer/Podcaster | I love the Tennessee Volunteers, milk, pitchers, catchers, & you <3 P4:13
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!
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!
