Farm Futures: 156 NL West Prospects You Need To Know

Usually I use these divisional articles to write up every fantasy-relevant prospect in each team's farm system, but given the lack of a minor-league season in 2020, there's just not much new to say about a large percentage of the prospect universe. I am still going to rank the fantasy-relevant prospects in all 30 systems, and I've already written outlooks on the site for the majority of the top-250 prospects on my top 400. I'm also providing a list of prospects in each organization that could contribute in 2021 along with an overview of each system. 

Feel free to ask me any prospect-related questions in the comments or on Twitter.

DIAMONDBACKS

Players We Could See In 2021: Seth Beer, Pavin Smith, Corbin Martin, Stuart Fairchild, Andy Young, J.B. Bukauskas, Humberto Mejia

Dynasty Overview: This is a very well-balanced, deep system. The strength of the system is obviously the hoard of intriguing outfielders, but Geraldo Perdomo is the shortstop of the future, and there is plenty of pitching on the way. I list the players for 2021 in order of how they are currently ranked, but on next week's update to the top 400, Smith will be ranked well ahead of Beer. Slade Cecconi and Blake Walston are the pitchers with viable No. 2 starter upside. Bryce Jarvis, Corbin Martin and Tommy Henry are more likely to be No. 3/4 types, while Luis Frias (who will be a faller on the update), Conor Grammes and Levi Kelly are high-variance pitchers with big stuff who may end up in relief. Bukauskas has a chance to be Arizona's long-term closer if he can throw enough strikes.

ROCKIES

Players We Could See In 2021: Colton Welker, Yonathan Daza

Dynasty Overview: I only included three pitchers here for obvious reasons, and conversely, I probably wouldn't have included this many position players if they didn't have a chance to hit in Coors Field. The Rockies have signed a lot of toolsy players from Latin America in recent years, but they're all still in the lower levels of the minors. They are behind the rest of baseball in many ways, and one of those ways is that they have to keep most guys in the Dominican Summer League for two seasons because they don't have a Gulf Coast League or Arizona League affiliate. The top four position players project to have a chance to be everyday big leaguers in a few years, but the rest are low-probability lottery tickets.

DODGERS

Players We Could See In 2021: Josiah Gray, Zach McKinstry, DJ Peters, Keibert Ruiz, Luke Raley, Sheldon Neuse, Andre Jackson, Zach Reks, Edwin Uceta, Gerardo Carrillo

Dynasty Overview: This organization is so loaded, it's kind of overwhelming. There is a plethora of pitchers and position players who are essentially big-league ready with nowhere to play. This will hopefully lead to a few of them getting traded to second-division teams, but the Dodgers also don't have any glaring holes on the big-league roster, so they might not be inclined to swing a notable trade. In this organization, I value upside even more than with other systems, because it's just hard to see guys like McKinstry, Peters, Ruiz, Raley, Neuse or Reks ever having more than a part-time role. Like with the Rays, the Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches that actually hurts the fantasy value of the non-star players, because it's so hard to break through with an everyday role or a steady rotation spot.

PADRES

Players We Could See In 2021: MacKenzie Gore, Ryan Weathers, Luis Campusano, Jorge Ona, Dauris Valdez, Pedro Avila, Ivan Castillo, Mason Thompson

Dynasty Overview: Even after this winter's trade frenzy, the Padres still have some big-time prospects at the top of the system and some intriguing lottery tickets in the lower levels. I wouldn't make this bet straight up, but I wouldn't be surprised if Weathers made more starts than Gore in the MLB rotation this year. After his spring exploits, Joshua Mears will obviously be added to the top 400 on next week's update, and he'll probably enter the top 200. He could be Franmil Reyes 2.0. Valdez is a 6-foot-8 reliever who could be a closer in a couple years. He also has the coolest nickname in the minors: "Exxon Valdez". One thing keeping this system above other top-heavy systems is that the 2020 J-2 class, and to a lesser extent the 2019 J-2 class, have a chance to turn out some high-level prospects.

GIANTS

Players We Could See In 2021: Heliot Ramos, Joey Bart, Sean Hjelle, Jaylin Davis, Camilo Doval

Dynasty Overview: We're not quite there yet, but the Giants are a couple years away from having a juggernaut in the majors and down on the farm. Fortunately, the top position players in this system will not be blocked when they are ready for prime time, and we will likely see Ramos be the first of that talented crop to break through this summer. I bumped Luciano down a tad on the top 400, as there was already very little separating him from the players right behind him, and he looked the least big-league ready of that group this spring. The 2018 J-2 class is already pretty legendary, and they'll churn out another couple studs from the 2019 and 2020 classes. This is an organization that I expect will get the most out of the pitchers it has — we might see that from Logan Webb this season. For those in really deep leagues, Anthony Rodriguez and Alexander Suarez could be big risers this season.