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. 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. Franklin Arias, SS, Red Sox (30%) – With Trevor Story coming off the IL this week, this one feels especially unlikely. But with Arias hitting .294/.357/.480 since his promotion to Triple-A, it's more than fair to ask whether the Red Sox's best lineups right now shouldn't include him.
Given the leap he has made in his age-20 season, he has to be included in this discussion, even if the promotion doesn't seem likely. Ralphy Velazquez, 1B, Guardians (23%) – The need here goes without saying, even if the Guardians did try to shore up some of their lineup holes at the deadline. And there's no question that Velazquez has earned the promotion, with almost as many homers (15) as strikeouts (16) in 22 August games.
He has at least plus power while striking out less than your average Triple-A hitter. A promotion here feels all but assured. By the way: He's the first minor-leaguer to hit 15 homers in a single month since 2021.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
