MLB: Top Ten Prospects In the Northwest and New York-Penn League

MLB’s major league season is now ended, and the offseason reviews have begun. Today, we will review the top prospects that played in the short-season A-ball leagues this season, the Northwest League and the New York-Penn League.

This is the third in a series of posts on the top ten prospects in each league. This series is not entirely indicative of where a player may end up in a top 100 MLB prospect list as a player may not have played long enough to be considered. There aren’t hard and fast rules here, just a general “was this guy here long enough to be considered” feel. On a short-season league, that’s probably about 40-50 plate appearances or a handful of starts. For a full-season league, it’d probably be about double that, but once again, that can be waived in general if a guy made such an impact on the league that it’s hard to ignore his impact on being part of that league.

Call to the Pen will be having a top 100 list released in the early winter, so be looking for that as well, but for now, this should whet your prospecting appetite outside of scouting reports to come on some of the top prospects in the game!

Northwest League

1. Leody Taveras, OF, Spokane (Rangers) – Taveras played in three leagues this summer in his first pro season after being signed out of the Dominican Republic last summer. Started in the Dominican Summer League, moved up to the Arizona Rookie League, and played his last month with Spokane. He did not put up outstanding numbers with Spokane, but he flashed those incredible tools of his, showing power and speed, even though he didn’t make great contact, hitting only .228 in his 123 at bats in the league.

2. Dylan Cease, RHP, Eugene (Cubs) – Many don’t realize that the drafting of Kyle Schwarber by the Cubs in 2014 was actually a drastic under pay in slot, money the Cubs used to gobble up high school arms that had priced themselves out of the first couple of rounds. One of those was Georgia native Cease, who they snagged in the 6th round. Cease had Tommy John surgery that summer, which delayed the start of his impact on the Cubs system, but he announced his presence with authority this season. He posted a 2.22 ERA and 1.16 WHIP while striking out 66 in only 45 innings. Cease touched triple digits with his fastball on multiple occasions, topping out at 101. He has a monster curve to go with the big fastball. His command was coming back from surgery, as is to be expected. Cease has tremendous upside as a possible ace if he can bring his change along.

3. Kyle Lewis, OF, Everett (Mariners) – Lewis was one of the best power hitters in the draft in 2016, but he was a top 5 expected pick until he did the final interviews with teams, which typically include medicals. I know of at least one team who removed Lewis completely from their board after doing medicals with him. Now, I’ve not heard at all what the concern in those medicals were, but it was concerning to hear that, and then to see Lewis hit tremendously well with Everett before blowing out his knee in a gruesome way. One Physical Therapist that was discussing the diagnosed injury for Lewis stated that this could be a multiple season issue, and that he could never be able to be a full-time outfielder again based on his experience with the injury Lewis suffered. The bat is absolutely real, and he showed it with a .299/.385/.530 line with 16 extra base hits in only 117 at bats before the injury. It would be a shame if that was the peak of what we see from Lewis.

4. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Salem-Keizer (Giants) – Reynolds was among a number of college selections that the Giants made in this June’s draft. Reynolds was the first of these selections, and while he may not have any single tool that would grade as “plus”, he has above average tools across the board. He flashes solid contact skills, good power, good speed, solid defense, though probably better suited for a corner than center field, but his outfield partners in the NYPL really predicated him playing center. Reynolds slashed .312/.368/.500 with 18 extra base hits. His switch-hitting stroke has excellent gap power that could lead him to the majors as at least a 4th outfielder that hangs around for quite a while in the league.

5. Heath Quinn, OF, Salem-Keizer (Giants) – One of my favorite hitters in the draft, Quinn somehow fell all the way to the 3rd round, and he’s the second member of the S-K outfield you see here, and Gio Brusa, the third member of the outfield, would end up on the list if I went another 5 players. Quinn is a pure hitter with an excellent contact tool and big time power. He hit .337/.423/.571 with 9 home runs. Quinn does have strikeout issues, but he also walks plenty as well. Quinn has enough range to stay in right field where his excellent arm plays very well. His big bat could be an impact in San Francisco fairly quick.

6. Joey Lucchesi, LHP, Tri-City (Padres) – Many would be surprised to see the 4th rounder this high, even after he led the country in strikeouts in 2016. Lucchesi is a guy who uses deception and excellent command to have his low-90s fastball much more successful, multiple curves, and a very good change. Lucchesi may not grade out with elite pitches, but he’s extremely smart on the mound, and he should move very quickly through the system (a good thing since he’s 23). His final stats were 40 innings with a 1.35 ERA and a 2/53 BB/K ratio (seriously!!). I would put him on your radar if you’re a guy in a dynasty league.

7. Anderson Tejeda, SS, Spokane (Rangers) – Tejeda was a cheap sign in 2014, signing for $100K out of the Dominican. He made his pro debut this year, and he showed surprising big power in his bat, ranking in the top 5 in the league in home runs, in spite of playing less than 1/3 of the league schedule. Tejeda did strike out at a tremendous rate (over 1/3 of his plate appearances) and had absolutely no doubles, only 8 home runs and one triple, so the power numbers could have been fluky. Tejeda has the range and quickness to stick at short, but his arm could eventually preclude a move to second base, but his raw power at either position would be among the elite if he can work on his pitch recognition further.

8. J.B. Woodman, OF, Vancouver (Blue Jays) – Woodman was the biggest variance guy I had in pre-draft reports. Guys who liked him thought his power was game-changing and could translate to a 65-70 level power bat in professional baseball. Those who didn’t like him felt his strikeout rate was such that he’d never be able to tap into that power. Woodman received some comparisons to Andrew Benintendi among those who really, really liked him, and there could be an argument that his pro debut certainly aligned more with Benintendi’s.

9. Matt Krook, LHP, Salem-Keizer (Giants) – Call me an optimist, but I caught two games of Krook, and his stuff was some of the most electric I’d seen of any college pitcher this year. His control was simply terrible, and there’s no two ways around that, but he has a low-90s fastball that can touch 94-95. He has a breaking ball and a change that, when they are on, are plus to plus-plus pitches. From the left side, that’s three plus to plus-plus pitches. If he can get his landing point consistent, which will in turn allow his release point to be more consistent, he can improve his control and has the opportunity to be a top of the rotation type of pitcher if he can simply keep the ball in the zone.

10. Justin Maese, RHP, Vancouver (Blue Jays) – The 2015 3rd rounder started out in the Northwest League, and he was so solid in 5 starts that he was bumped up. That led a lot of guys to over-rank Maese in my eyes. He has a tremendous sinking fastball that generates a ton of ground balls. Still just 19, Maese also has a slider and change, but the slider is what looked to me like a pitch with a major league future. A sinker-slider guy can succeed as a 4-5 starter, but most likely that’s a relief profile.

Next: New York-Penn League