Top 50 Signees by Bret Sayre ith another year comes another crop of players to The back half of this list is as weak as ever, and I’ve added Wenter pro ball from both the amateur and international in gaps to denote the best places to position yourself. That ranks. Before we dive into the individual values of the players said, my rankings are anything but chalk here, so you’re likely at hand, and the corresponding integers they appear next to, to find players in higher tiers slipping because some of your we need to take a step back and diagnose the draft class as a leaguemates put more stock in draft position than thero s. whole. Before the list, we get to the most exciting part: the fine Figuring out the right approach to a dynasty draft is often print! So just imagine the next few sentences coming at 4x even more important than figuring out the right players, and speed. The following list is intended for dynasty leagues of that involves planning ahead and being active. It means approximately 14-16 teams, with one catcher. It assumes a knowing where the true talent of the class lies and where separate farm team, and if your league does not have a the tiers are, then using that information to either trade up separate farm team, please bump up the players with faster or trade back should the opportunity arise. The crop of 2016 timetables. If you’re in a deeper league, channel safety. If signees was weak overall, and the only thing that made it you’re in a shallower league, channel risk. Finally, each even close to tolerable were the international signees. In fact, player’s situation is factored into their values. This can mean in each of the last two versions of this list, there were 13 organizational history of developing players and/or future international players to help hide the weakness in the June home ballpark (though the latter is discounted a bit since draft class. these players are generally pretty far away). Yes, I copied that This year there are six. Yes, a couple of them are very high directly from last year’s version. No, I’m not ashamed. The profile, and that helps round out the early part of the list, game doesn’t change, only the names. but what it doesn’t do is make the back half much more Without any further ado, here are your top 50 players who tolerable. And this gets into where the strength of this class signed during the 2017 calendar year. lies: the very top. There hasn’t been a top five this strong since at least 2014, and arguably back to 2012—when the 1. Shohei Ohtani, RHP/OF, Los Angeles Angels top of the class was Darvish, Rendon, Cole, Bauer, Bundy, We’ve been waiting, and he’s finally here, but we have to and Cespedes. So if you were fortunate enough to score a talk about the elephant in the room. Fantasy games break high-end pick this year, congrats. You’re one step ahead of at the thought of Ohtani, and depending on what platform everyone else. or settings you use for your league, his stats may be applied If you’re saddled with a non-top-five pick, we need to slow differently. Will he be two different players, like Yahoo has down a minute here. This is a safe place where we’re allowed mentioned? Will he be one player you have to declare as to get excited about the players we’ll have the opportunity a hitter or pitcher prior to each transaction period? There to add to our rosters at no cost to us. The write-ups below are so many unanswered questions beyond “How much will accentuate the positives, but don’t let them paint a picture the Angels use him as a hitter” that there should be some that will get you in trouble. The shiny toy syndrome always lingering reservations regarding how valuable he’ll be in applies. These players (for the most part) haven’t failed yet, fantasy leagues. But he’d occupy this spot even if you told and we haven’t seen the shapes of their failures. As people me he’ll never pick up a bat in the majors, so there shouldn’t with dynasty draft picks, we read through analysis and see be lingering reservations about taking him first in dynasty the group as a collective unit of potential future stars and drafts. reliable starters. We are experiencing with prospects the cognitive bias noted scholar Barney Stinson coined the 2. Keston Hiura, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers cheerleader effect. There was no better hitter available in the 2017 draft, and there are only a handful of better places for a player to call home than Miller Park. Hiura comes with both some defensive and injury question marks, but the combination of hit and power tools is unmatched on this list. He has the raw 397 FUTURES GUIDE 2018 skills to eclipse .300 and hit 25-30 homers to boot, and he at will, though the fact that he’s in Cincinnati puts a very should be a fast mover. That combination is as tough to beat slight damper on that. They’re both fun but risky profiles, as Hiura is with a fastball. and the predraft hype combined with the draft-pick pedigree might make Greene seem like the easy choice here, but 3. Luis Robert, OF, Chicago White Sox underestimate Ramos at your own peril. In dynasty leagues, 4. Royce Lewis, SS/OF, Minnesota Twins you’d take an OF2 over a SP2 any day of the week. This is a tier unto itself, and there are a lot of similarities between these two players. Some of the excitement around 9. Jake Burger, 3B, Chicago White Sox Lewis comes not only from the fact that he has plenty of 10. Shane Baz, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates upside (he could steal 30-40 bases, while also pushing 20 I really shouldn’t have used the power conceit in the previous homers if everything coalesces), but also from his extreme tier, as it’s probably even more appropriate here. There aren’t youth when compared with his level. He held his own in an many destinations better for power-hitting prospects than 18-game sample at the end of 2017 in the Midwest League. The Cell—you’re going to have to give me at least three years That is a data point. Yet, we don’t have to go back very far to to get a new sponsor on the tongue when a stadium has a fun see the same exciting things about Robert. In his last season nickname like this—and Burger has a meaty swing capable in Serie Nacional, a then-18-year-old Robert hit of 30-plus homers. Whether he stays at the hot corner is an .401/.526/.687, with 12 homers and 11 steals in just 53 games. open question, but it’s more of a down-the-road question That’s more impressive than any player we’ve seen come to as well. Baz may not quite have the fastball or the upside the majors from Cuba at that age. Robert may not have the that Greene has, but he is every bit as impressive of a prep upside of a Yoan Moncada, but a fast-moving 20/20 outfielder pitching prospect as we’re accustomed to seeing toward the capable of hitting for strong averages (and high OBP, if you’re top of drafts. The fastball/slider combination is potentially into that sort of thing) is a real possibility. plus, but it’s the full scope of the four-pitch mix that gives him SP2 upside. 5. Jo Adell, OF, Los Angeles Angels If you want to make the argument that Adell belongs in the 11. Brendan McKay, 1B/LHP, Tampa Bay Rays tier above with Robert and Lewis, I wouldn’t fight you all that Here is where we see that fun does not always equate value. hard, but there’s more risk in Adell’s profile despite the fact McKay is as much of a true two-way player as we’ve seen in that he showed up in pro ball more advanced than many a long time, short of the top player on this list, and that’s amateur scouts thought. The tools are undeniable (he awesome. It’s interesting to think of the ways the Rays could probably has more raw fantasy upside than anyone on this deploy him. Could he be a 500-PA first baseman and a list), but the Kentucky native will need to keep working on reliever? Could he be a starter and a pinch hitter? Either way, reducing the swing-and-miss in his game as he advances to his fantasy value isn’t additive. As a hitter alone, he’s unlikely tap into that extreme potential. to be more than a solid CI option. As a pitcher alone, he’s unlikely to be more than an acceptable SP4. And the developmental risk is weird enough that I completely understand wanting to be hands-off with this one. I won’t be, but the ranking reflects my comfort level anyway. 6. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, San Diego Padres Have I gotten any more gun-shy about pushing high-upside left-handed pitching prospects in the wake of Jay Groome’s disappointing pro debut? Nope.