1. Amed Rosario, SS
Birthdate: 11/20/95 (21 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: high A, AA
Stats in 2016: .324/.374/.459, 5 HR, 19 SB
Rosario entered the year as a guy who I was snapping up in dynasty leagues based on reports from spring training about the way the ball was rocketing off of his bat, and he carried that spring work forward into the regular season, producing 24 doubles, 13 triples, and 5 home runs, with more to possibly come.
The best part was that Rosario was able to add this power production to his offensive game while not sacrificing anything in his defensive skill set, which has always been his calling card.
Rosario is a fringe-plus fielder with a plus-plus arm that works extremely well at shortstop, especially with his excellent instincts off the bat. He has tremendous footwork as well, allowing him to likely profile at short even as he ages some and loses a touch of speed.
Rosario currently is a plus runner, but he’s not got great instincts in base stealing. He uses his running more in base running than stealing, taking an extra base frequently.
Rosario’s total package as a player has moved him into the top 10-20 prospects in the entire game. The New York Mets saw him hit well in AA for 50+ games in 2016, so it’s quite feasible that they’ll move him to AAA in 2017 with the timing being excellent as Asdrubal Cabrera‘s contract is over after next year (a 2018 option with a small-enough buyout to make it worth just buying him away).
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