With the final month of the season just one day away, that also means we're one day away from roster expansion. Teams can no longer call up 40 players like they could back in the day, but they'll have a couple of extra roster spots to play with beginning Tuesday, and that should create a few more opportunities around baseball for some of the last remaining impact prospects still hanging around in the high-minors. Walker Jenkins beat the Sept. 1 deadline, and he might be the last truly elite prospect to get the call -- and yeah, if he's available in your league right now, he's the clear top priority on waivers.
But there are plenty of other interesting prospects without much left to prove in Triple-A who could get the call, and at least a few who almost certainly will. Scott White wrote about a few of them in his Prospects Report column last week, and before we get to the rest of the players to target for this week's waiver run, let's look at a handful of other prospects who could still make an impact for the season's final month. Lazaro Montes, OF, Mariners (16%) – First up, is the first prospect we learned will be promoted Tuesday.
Montes will join the Mariners in Boston Tuesday when rosters expand, and he makes the majors as the No. 56 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. The 21-year-old is second in the minors with 38 homers this season while hitting .249, and as you can probably glean from those two numbers, he's a bit of an all-or-nothing power hitter as a prospect, with a 31% strikeout rate. The good news is that rate has held steady in the transition from Double-A to Triple-A, so he hasn't been overwhelmed by that jump in competition.
His issues could potentially be exacerbated by the Mariners home park, which both suppresses homers and increases strikeouts, so there is real risk here that Montes will be overwhelmed. But if he can keep the strikeout rate somewhat manageable, the upside is obvious - he has a 94.7 mph average exit velocity and 57% hard-hit rate, both of which would be elite numbers among MLB hitters. For a range of possible outcomes here, look to Esmerlyn Valdez, who was one of the best power hitters in baseball for a month and has been largely overwhelmed for a month since.
He probably doesn't need to be added in most points leagues, but Montes is a fine addition in any Roto league where you're looking for power. Seaver King, SS, Nationals (9%) – The Nationals have already moved C.J. Abrams to second base, and while the official line is that the move was made to improve the team's defense, it's not hard to see it as a prelude to King eventually breaking in.
He has more than held his own since a promotion to Triple-A, hitting .306/.382/.520, and while his iffy plate discipline could be exposed by better pitching, King has looked dominant lately at Triple-A, hitting .337 with eight homers in 23 August games. Nasim Nunez is a nice player, but he isn't the future. They might as well see if King can be.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
